My Birth Story

It's been almost 10 weeks since I gave birth to Landon so I really need to get in gear to share my birth story!

My pregnancy with Landon was so smooth. I found out I was pregnant January 19 and we shared the news in March. He was a complete surprise to us but God felt we were ready for another. =)

My due date was Monday, September 19 but we scheduled an induction for Friday, September 16. It just made it a little easier on everyone having him on a weekend. Weeks leading up to his birth was an emotional roller coaster for me. All I could think about was Adalyn and how I thought bringing him home would effect her. I was so scared I wouldn't be able to focus my attention on both of them and my heart just hurt thinking about leaving Adalyn out of anything. The days before I had him consisted of me cleaning the house, making lists, and playing with Adalyn. Mind you I was a few days shy of 40 weeks pregnant, huge, hips hurting, back hurting, and tired. But if Adalyn wanted to go outside in the 90 degree weather, so be it. I wanted to spend every single moment I could just as the "two" of us, and if that meant sweating while pushing her on her swing or playing with chalk in the driveway, I was going to do it.

We were due to be at the hospital Friday morning between 5:45 and 6:00 AM. Thursday night was out last night as a family of three and we made the best out of it. We did our normal nighttime routine and once again explained to Adalyn that she would be getting a brother. Before I layed her down in her bed for the night, I gave her one more big hug and just stopped and smelled her. Oh that sweet smell of a child. So many thoughts went through my mind. I thought about the past 22 months and all the joy, laughter, and love she brought into our lives. Once I layed her down, Adam and I picked up the house and got things in order to leave out in the morning. We were having to leave by 4:30 AM so my mom came over around 11:00 or so Thursday night so she would be there when Adalyn woke up the next morning. I was really hoping to get some much needed sleep but we ended up not going to be until really late. I saw every hour as I tossed and turned. I was having contrations and was just so uncomfortable. The alarm went off at 4 which didn't make a difference since I was up anyway. We got up and got dressed, did my make up, grabbed our bags, and took one last picture of my belly.

The trip to Nashville went pretty smooth. No traffic since it was so early in the morning. I was having contractions the entire time though. Sitting in a truck and having contractions for an hour is not very fun. Once we arrived, we filled out paperwork, got our armbands, and sat in the waiting room. I wasn't able to sit long due to my contractions so I ended up walking up and down the hall for atleast 30 or so minutes. According the a nurse, there were a lot of people having babies so we were waiting on a room. Once we finally got in a room, they hooked me up on the monitors and got the show on the road!
My nurse was Tracey ( i think?) and oh my gosh... I wanted to punch her within the first 10 mintues of meeting her. So did Adam. She was WAY to chipper for my taste. Atleast she was nice though, but man, she really got on my nerves. She finally calmed herself down and acted more like a normal person after a while. She put the monitors on my belly and kept coming in my room every couple of minutes b/c she wasn't able to track his heartbeat on her monitor b/c it kept slipping off. She made the comment that my belly was a perfect basketball and that was why is was sliding. I was finally able to lay on my left side and it stayed in place. She said Dr. Thornburg might insert an internal heart monitor thing on his head if it continued to slip off. Around 8:00, my doctor came in and tried to insert the monitor. (I can't remember what its called)OH MY GOSH. She tried 5 times and I seriously thought I was going to die. I did not have my epidural yet and I do believe that was the worst pain I experienced. After failing 5 times, she gave up and just broke my water. I was 2-3 cm dilated when we got to the hospital and I knew breaking my water would really speed things up. The contractions got bad really fast. I could barely breathe inbetween them and to make it worse, I was having to get up and pee all the time. The first time I buzzed for my nurse to come and help me and waited and she never came. I was in so much pain and I needed to pee BAD so i start unhooking myself from every machine in my room. She should have came and helped! Atleast I didnt mess anything up while doing that. It was very interesting trying to get up to walk to the bathroom. I had to do it inbetween contractions which was funny. When i finally got back in the bed, i couldnt take the pain anymore and asked for the epidural. She came in pretty quick so I was happy to see her. With Adalyn, they had me sit on the side of the bed and hunch over like a cat. this time, I layed on my side and pushed my back out. I liked laying down better. After she was done, I felt 100 times better. After that, our parents and Adalyn arrived. It was around 10:00 or so. Look how excited Adalyn was!
She was so excited to see us and to keep her occupied, we all had gotten her some coloring books, crayons, books, etc. I was progressing pretty fast which was great. I was ready to meet Landon! My nurse came in and checked me and told me I was at 10. Yay! She said she wanted to wait on pushing for a little bit so he would continue to fall down in the birth canal. Then I thought that was strange and I was so ready to push! But looking back, I totally see why she had me to wait. She came back after a little while and kicked everyone out. Had me to do a practice push and she said whoa! I'm calling your doctor. Shortly later, Dr. Thornburg came in and we got the show on the road! I used a mirror for my birth. I did for Adalyn, too and it made it so much easier to see my progress and what I was doing! I ended up pushing about 8 times and Landon was born at 2:15 PM. I was so exicted and couldn't wait to hold him. They took him away and cleaned him up. He was a little blue so they gave him a little bit of oxygen. He also didn't cry when he came out. His eyes were open and he was looking all around. So alert already! She assured me that it was ok that he wasn't crying and that he was just fine! I watched as Adam filmed him getting cleaned off and just was so eager to get my hands on him!


Finally holding him!

After Adam and I had some private bonding time, we were very eager for Adalyn and our family to meet our beautiful little boy. Adalyn was so excited to see him. We had been talking about him for 9 months after all!



Aroun 5:00 or so, everyone left. Adalyn and my parents stayed in a hotel near Baptist so it wouldn't be such a hassle driving to Nashville everyday with a toddler in the back seat. We had a few more visitors that night which was great. Labor and Delivery was so full at Baptist it took until 9:00 that night for them to move us to the postpartum suite. Once there, the nurse gave Landon his bath. He screamed the entire time I believe.

After his bath, I nursed him then sent him to the nursery so we could get a little bit of sleep. His nurse brought him to me around 4:00 that morning, then we had to send him back to the nursery. All babies have to be in the nursery between 6 - 9 AM for all the Pedetricians to come in and look over the babies. There were 63 babies that Saturday morning!!! Crazy! The rest of the day we had visitors and just walked around the postpartum floor. It was nice to get up and stretch my legs.

So proud!

It's a Boy sign on our door
We left Sunday around 11 AM-- first time in his carseat
Family of 4 now!
I am so blessed!
My recovery was a breeze!! Thank goodness. I was up and moving around like I hadn't even had a baby. For that, I was very thankful considering I didn't have time to feel bad since I had Adalyn to chase around. =)

Playing catch up

I have not been able to blog in a few days. I have the same excuse I always use... busy! Let's see, two Sunday's ago, Oct. 30, was Landon's 1st day in the nursery! He was 6 weeks old and it was a spur of a moment kind of thing, but we decided to drop him off. He had started to get squirmey during Sunday School so we would have to end up taking him out of his car seat and trying to get him to be quiet. I know we were a huge distraction so after we dropped Adalyn off in her class, we thought it was time to leave him, too. We knew he would be in excellent hands and I have to say, it was nice to be able to sit through Sunday School AND service without having to worrying if he is going to wake up, cry, grunt, etc. He was out like a light when we picked him up and ended up sleeping until 3 that afternoon. This past Sunday I was so sick I didn't go to church. Adam and Adalyn did and I called my mom to come over so she could keep Landon. Saturday night I got a headache- then my neck and back started aching. I was so worn out. Adam and I had been at the hospital for a few hours with my Grandmother who is dying and it is really taking a toll on me. From the time I got into bed Saturday night at 9:45 until 4:00 that morning, I had taken 10 IB Profin and it hadn't touched any of my aches or pains. Sunday morning I could have sworn I was dying. I had a small fever of 100.8 and was just so weak. I was freezing but yet sweating. Ah, it was awful. I am so thankful for my mom coming to the rescue! I was able to get 2 good naps in which helped a lot. It must have been a 24 hour virus of some sort b/c I am better now. My neck is still sore for whatever reason but I feel much better. Monday I had my follow up appt. with my doctor so Adam left school a little early so he could come with me. It was at 2:30 so Adam didnt have to miss too much work but that just meant we would be in rush hour on the way home. Landon slept the entire way there and through my appt. He woke up as we were trying to get on the interstate screaming to eat. So we pull over at a gas station, Adam gave him a bottle and as soon as he puts him in his seat, the crying starts. Oh me. It took close to an HOUR to get ON the interstate b/c of stupid people who cant drive. Once we were on the interstate, it was slow moving at first, then it finally got better. It's pretty safe to say Landon cried the entire way home. I climbed in the back seat and tried to console him anyway I could and when that didn't work, I went back to the front and turned the radio on as loud as Adam and I could handle it. That's how we drove home--- listening to country music way too loud just so we didn't have to listen to him cry. Poor kid. monday night was also the 1st night I only had to feed him once! He must have cried so long on the trip him that it wore him out. He was fast asleep by 7:45 and woke up at 2 something to eat. Talk about nice! He did pretty good last night, too. 11:30 and then again at 4:00. I have no idea why people say they want to sleep like a baby. Babies do not sleep well people! They are up every 3-4 hours or so and cat nap throughout the day! I want to sleep like a toddler. Adalyn is asleep by 7 or 7:30 and doesnt wake up until 6:30 or 7:00 and then takes a 2 hour nap that afternoon. Now THAT is some good sleep. Adalyn informed me the other day that Landon's poo-poo stinks. When really, I should inform her that hers is way worse. I changed the biggest poopy diaper I have ever seen from that girl Monday morning. All I could say is " Oh my goodness" over and over again as I was cleaning her up. Well my little parrot started saying it, too. Which is one of her favorite sayings anyway. It was funny but seriously very nasty. I have no idea what she ate to cause that. The mornings in the house consist of cartoons. I try to juggle feeding Landon, then fixing Adalyn's breakfast, changing diapers, brushing teeth, and then maybe fixing some toast for myself. Mickey is still her favorite but Little Einsteins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates are close 2nd. She does not like Capt. Hook, or "Hook" as she says. Yesterday as she was watching it he took something and she pointed and yelled at the TV, " No sir hook!" haha. Gotta love her manners! she catches on to everything so Adam and I find ourselves spelling at times just so she won't know what we are saying. She even calls Landon, "son". She will say, " hush son!" bahahah We asked her what her brothers name was the other day and she said, "brother riley clark". I love hearing what she has to say! Her birthday is Sunday so that is all we have been taking about lately. We ask her how old she will be and she says, "twoooo!" and believe it or not, this child can sing Happy birthday to you. Nancy must have worked with her on that Saturday when she was there. That night she was taking a bath and started singing it to her hippo and when Adam figured out what she was singing, he had her to sing it to me and low and behold, she sang the whole song. Amazing. Her party is Saturday afternoon and we are so excited!
I guess he does not like the butterfly stickers his sister is decorating him with...


Autumn spent the night!



I love baby feet... so precious!



He doesn't look too thrilled about becoming a future quarterback! Daddy would not like this


The most beautiful girl I know


"make the crying stop!"

Landon meets his uncle and aunt

This past weekend Christopher and Brandy came home! It was their first time meeting Landon and he was 6 weeks old. It was so good to see them. We miss them so much- espically Adalyn. Oh that girl loves them to death.

Bath time

Bath time is always an adventure when it comes to bathing Landon. He is either very content in his little tub or he is screaming bloody murder. Check him out... This is right before he started to scream. Notice the pacifier is falling out and his mouth is getting ready to open wide...

Hopefully more enjoyable baths are head for this sweet boy!

Happy Halloween!

Sunday night Adalyn stayed with my parents and I ended up taking Landon over to my mom the next day so I could visit with my grandmother at the hospital during the day. By the time I got back to my parents, it was right around 3:00. Adam was about to leave work and head home to get Adalyn's costume and then come to my parents so we could get her ready to head to the square. My mom came with us (my dad was still at the hospital with my grandmother) and Jerry and Nancy met us there. Adalyn was Minnie Mouse. (just like every other little girl, too! I knew it would be common, but she adores her so it just made sense that she dressed like her for Halloween)I tried on the Mickey Mouse ears handband the night before and she immediately took them off. ha. So I just knew she wouldn't wear them trick or treating. But to my surprise, she did! We kept telling her she was Minnie Mouse and it made her really excited. She looked so cute in her costume!
I loved how it turned out. I was hoping the outfit wouldn't look "pieced" together but I just adore it.

She had a great time walking around the square. She would say "Treat" when she would ask for candy. She saw Holly and that of course made her day, too.

Here are a few random pictures of our Halloween!