Well who would have thought that after two weeks of revealing to you all the name and ultrasound pictures of Austin, our little man would make his debut and make Andrew a big brother! I had told Kyle from the middle of my second trimester that my pregnancy just felt different and that I would be surprised if I carried to the full 4o weeks. Andrew was born right on time...literally, right on time, in typical Courtnie fashion, 3 hours shy of my actual due date. If you followed my blog through my pregnancy and delivery with Andrew, you remember that I was very fortunate to have a rather easy labor and delivery. I feared, that because of this, I was going to have one of those infamous labor stories of "I labored for 36 hours." Somehow, however, I am equally blessed to say that Austin was just as easy...if not easier... (I know mommy friends, I can feel the death glares from here!)
I knew early on in my third trimester that I was not going to make it to my due date. The pain and soreness I felt let me know that my sweet little man was going to make his debut earlier than March 10th.
After an anniversary/Valentine's Day celebration/week, I was pooped! I had promised Kyle for a couple weeks that I would take him to see American Sniper but was fearful that my pregnancy hormones would make me a complete disaster. For Valentine's Day, however, I decided that he could deal with my hot mess, tear-fest and enjoy a date night. While waiting in line for our tickets, I could feel moisture running down my legs. It was warm that day so shoot, maybe it was sweat or heaven forbid, my pregnancy bladder failed me and I just pee'd my pants. Then it hit me! With Andrew, I had leakage 3 days before I delivered. Nothing big but enough to make me go "hmmm." Well wouldn't you know it, 5 days later, my body stayed true to it's labor "is a'comin!" signals.
On Thursday morning, Andrew climbed into bed with me and we enjoyed some sweet morning snuggles and fell back asleep. At 9am, Andrew woke me up to say the sun was awake and it was time to start the day. As I sat up to get out of bed, there was a sensation that was WAY NOT NORMAL in terms of fluid. I stood up to walk to the restroom and the whole way to bathroom, I felt drips. I questioned if it was my water breaking since I envisioned water breaking and having a huge gush of fluid. But being 37 1/2 weeks pregnant, I didn't chance it. I called my doctor and they of course, said it was time to make my way to labor and delivery. So, I called Kyle to let him know that he may want to make his way home. He did not answer! AWESOME!! I received a text message that he was busy and would call later, to which I replied, "well Austin will probably answer!" Wouldn't you know it, my phone rang quite abruptly and Kyle was on his way home. We made it to the hospital around 10:30am (I know it seems like a long time but I wasn't going to rush and panic, plus I needed my chauffeur. Apparently, February 19th was the day of babies as we had to sit in the lobby for quite some time. There were no beds or delivery rooms available. Shoot, I could have had my baby in the lobby...surely that would have been a first!
At 12:00pm I was admitted and sure enough, my water had broke and I was 2cm dilated. Every hour, I seemed to dilate a cm so I seized the opportunity to get my epidural early...I DO NOT DO PAIN! At 4pm, I was checked again and had dilated to about 5cm. My dad had called to check in and given what seemed like a slow progression, we told him not to rush, get dinner, and come when he could. The plan was for my mom to be present during the delivery and my dad would watch Andrew. At 4:59pm I was checked again and to our surprise, the nurse informed us that she could see the head. It was Go Time!!!
The team of doctors and nurses worked swiftly to change, lights were turned on, and the scene was set. This time around, Kyle remembered to count...all the way...if you remember, with Andrew's birth, he got a little distracted and stopped counting mid push...that's my coach for you! But this time, he was the best partner and coach. After two contractions and two sets of pushes, all of a sudden my sweet little prince was on my chest, belting out a healthy cry and letting the world know he was ready to party.
So if you were wondering what happened with the Andrew and Grammy situation, my dad arrived literally as Austin was born and didn't make it in time to get Andrew out of the delivery room. Both my mom and Andrew were able to witness Austin's birth. It was not our plan but it ended up being the most beautiful gift as Andrew was obsessed with his brother. While in my tummy, Andrew would not leave my side and to know that brother was coming soon, Andrew was not going anywhere. He and my mom were trying to stay by the curtain but Andrew would not have it. He could care less about the blood and just wanted to know why he is baby brother was crying. He handled it like a champ!
So alas, after literally a 5 hour labor, my beautiful boy was born at 5:12pm, weighing in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces and a lengthy 19 1/4 inches long. I am so blessed to be able to say that I had two smooth deliveries. (I can feel the eye rolling from you mama's that did not have such this experience...twice...sorry!)
Austin's birthday, was a popular day as the Rancho Springs Woman's Center was filled with several of our family friends having their babies as well...and early too if you can believe it! It must have been something in the water!
We are proud to announce the arrival of our family's newest addition:
Austin James Wallace
