Surprises!!

Who says there are no surprises with baby number 2? HA! This is a continuation of my earlier post about my 3rd trimester...

Saturday morning December 29, started like any other day. Cape was playing with new toys from Christmas, and I was ironing fabric for what I thought would be in Shepherds room. There was still snow on the ground from 3 days earlier on Christmas. Around 8:30 as I was ironing I had to make 3 restroom breaks within about 15 minutes. But what was strange was it was very involuntary. I know, too much info. Sorry this is for me to look back at years from now. After the 3rd time (i was thoroughly confused) I called my doctor's after hours line and spoke with a nurse. I let her know I wasn't sure but thought my water may have broken. She said go to labor and delivery and they would check to see if it had ruptured. I went to wake Kyle up (he'd taken NyQuil for a sore throat) to let him know what was possibly going on. He went into movie-like panic mode, :) hopped in the shower, and kept asking me questions. I was in denial up until I'd gotten out of the shower myself, then I was certain my water had broken. I quickly threw things in a bag, as we waited for Nana to get to our house to watch Cape. I hadn't been able to reach my parents! We hugged Capester and headed for the hospital. Kyle kept saying how calm I was being. Honestly God took over my thoughts right when I knew my water had broken. He knew that I would go into worry mode. Would he be too small, lungs not developed, have to be in NICU, not go home with us? Scary.

The nurse confirmed my water had broken (no one needed to tell me that at that point!), and that we were indeed having a baby that day! It was about 9:45 AM. Kyle was in charge of letting people know that our sweet baby was coming nearly a month early. 3 weeks and 5 days early to be exact! We were moved to a delivery room, and the nurses helped get me comfy and settled in. I hadn't started having many contractions, but the anesthesiologist came by on the way to another room so I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. After 3 broken "tubes" or what ever they are called I finally was hooked up. This is where my teeth chattering started. I did that with Cape too. It's involuntary constant teeth chattering until my babies are born. My Mom and Dad (in shock still that we were actually having baby that day) made it to the hospital around 11, and stayed in the room to chat with us until I was ready to push. It helped the time pass quickly even when I was laying on my sides to get baby to move on down. Dad and Kyle can make the time go fast with their jokes and talking. All the nurses kept saying how much fun they were having in our room. After laying for an hour on my right side I took a break for baby's sake and rested in a normal sitting position for about an hour. When it was time to switch to my side again as soon as they moved me I started major contractions and was ready to push. We waited about 20 minutes, and then it was go time when Dr. B arrived. She asked Kyle if he were ready to deliver his second son and if so to get him in his scrubs! After about another 45 minutes of prep and pushing (which was longer and seemed much harder than the first time - even with a little baby) our sweet second son entered into this world.

At 4:15 PM on Saturday December 29, 2012 our Shepherd Finch Wooldridge was born! He weighed in at 5 lbs 7 oz, 18 inches long, and PERFECTLY HEALTHY! If I would have delivered 3 days sooner, or he would have been just 8 oz. lighter he would have had to go to NICU. Answered prayers! I had been praying hed be over 4 pounds, healthy and able to go home when I did. All answered prayers. The Lord heard the cries from this mommies heart even while he kept me calm. About 30 minutes after I nursed him for the first time Mom and Dad came back in, then Brandi arrived. She'd surprised me and driven with both kiddos by herself from Cedar Park! And to top it off Camron was still in town from his Christmas break, and helped occupy Cape at Nana and Papa's house, then came to see us too. Needless to say I was and still am overwhelmed with gratitude! Little did I know that I also had two wonderful friends at my house taking down our Christmas tree and cleaning! Blessed we are....beyond thankful! We love you so much little brother. Cape took a few days to want to get close to Shepherd or me, but he came around like we knew he would.

It was a fantastic day all around. What a surprise! The only downer that happened was Lolli and Pops were sick, and Kyle started feeling sick and wound up having the flu. He was terribly sick, so he missed seeing us for the next 7 days. Mom and Cape came to pick Shepherd and me up from the hospital, and we went to stay at their house for a week. We were so grateful to have family live here so that we didn't have to worry about Cape, Shepherd, or myself getting sick. They all took much good care of us!