I felt the first contraction on Tuesday, February 25 at about 5:30pm while I was just finishing up some emails at work. My labor with Jesper had been so fast (6 hours from first contraction to delivery) that my doctor had told me to come in to the hospital as soon as I felt organized contractions because I needed at least 4 hours of antibiotics for group B strep before the baby was born. After another couple contractions, I called Josh on my drive home and told him to ask Nissa to come over to our house to watch Jesper just in case.
By the time I got home, the contractions were about 8 minutes apart but they weren't very organized and weren't really painful. We ate dinner, chatted for a little while with Nissa, grabbed our bags, and headed out the door around 7pm. I thought it might be a false alarm, but better safe than sorry.
We were put on monitors for a couple hours when we arrived at the hospital to see if I was really in labor. When she checked us in, the nurse didn't think that we would be staying (she said "we'll probably see you back in a couple days"), but she wanted to monitor the baby for a little while just to make sure everything was ok. However, by 9pm I had dilated another 2 centimeters so they admitted us. "Let's have a baby!"
They put me on antibiotics right away. After that was completed, we walked...and walked...and walked...and walked around the hallways. At 2am they checked me again but I had only progressed to 4 centimeters. Labor stalled out at that point, and Josh and I decided to try to get a couple hours rest at about 4am.
The next morning, we tried walking again to get things started. It was unsuccessful, so they broke my water. That was still unsuccessful, so they started Pitocin at about 9am. Hard labor started around 11am, and Oscar Gray arrived at 1:37pm. Josh was amazing through the entire experience (although he was wishing pretty early on that he had brought his tennis shoes for all the walking that we did!). I had decided to labor without pain medication and I couldn't have asked for better support through the entire experience. He entertained me while we were waiting to be admitted and through the hours of walking and helped with counter-pressure on my back through every contraction.
"It's a boy!" I said as they handed Oscar to me. He was perfect - and he looked just like his older brother. :)
The labor and delivery with Oscar was more difficult - longer and a little more painful - than it was with Jesper. However, the recovery was much quicker. Breastfeeding was successful from the first hour after he was born and I was feeling like myself within a few hours. We checked out of the hospital within 24 hours after he was born.
Oscar was slightly jaundiced but not enough to need light treatment. He was also slightly tongue-tied, but not nearly to the same extent as Jesper. We had the doctor clip his frenulum at his one-week appointment - Oh, how I wish that we had known to ask about that with Jesper!!
Jesper met Oscar in the evening of February 26. He was a great big brother from the very beginning. "Is that my baby?" he asked. He got to hold him and received a "big brother" gift at the hospital. We had gotten him the book Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site. We read that book several times per day for the first 3-4 weeks after Oscar was born. He loves to lay on the blanket with Oscar during tummy time and put his diapers in the diaper pail. He has needed a little extra TLC at times and had a few meltdowns, but overall has been adjusting beautifully to having a new brother.
Oscar loves to be held! He wouldn't sleep anywhere but in someone's arms the first week at home. I slept with him in the rocking chair, on the couch in our room, and in our bed. We gradually transitioned to his crib and he was sleeping normally in his crib at night by 2 weeks (thank goodness - I was one tired mama after nights in the chair and couch).
It took a couple weeks to adjust to life with 2 boys. An almost 3-year-old is awfully loud and busy compared to a newborn! Jesper stays home with me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while I'm on maternity leave. Those are really busy days, but we're starting to get into a rhythm and my multitasking skills have grown.
We love Oscar and Jesper so very much and feel blessed to have two happy and healthy little boys. We are looking forward to years of cars, dirt, and skinned knees. :)
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