There’s something special about having a child and when you think it may be your last one, it makes it a little sweeter. When it comes to labor and delivery, I absolutely love it. I think it’s beautiful and even though it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I somehow want to do it more and more. I’ve had really great pregnancies with all of my boys and that made the whole experience that much better. Although, Finn’s labor threw me for a loop. I expected his birth to be the easiest with it being my third labor and delivery, but that was definitely not the case.
So, here’s a little backstory on my labor and delivery with my older two boys. My pregnancy with Harper was great and with it being our first baby and all of our family living out of state, we wanted to plan so we could have everyone to be at the hospital with us. I was scheduled to be induced at 39 weeks and checked in early that morning with no signs of labor. Induction is a process and a long one typically. After being induced in the early am and laboring throughout the day, Harper made his arrival that evening. He was beautiful and healthy. He made me a mama.
Rohen was completely different. I knew I wanted to go into natural labor with him. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I had not ever experienced that with Harper. I started having labor pains at week 39 and at 39 wks 2 days and they got more intense into the night. I knew this was it. We called our parents so they could make the drive up and called a friend to come stay with Harper while we went to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 2-3 am and by early to mid-morning, Rohen was here. Quick and effortless, he had come into this world. All eight pounds of him dripping sweetness. This was a whole new experience because we got to share it with Harper.
Now onto my sweet Finn Adler. At this point, I’m thinking I’ve totally got this and know what to expect. Wrong. Life is always throwing ya curve balls. This again was an easy pregnancy and when 38 1/2 weeks hit, I started having labor pains. Finn was due on January 6th and it was going to work out perfectly as we had planned for the family to come in after Christmas and be here for his arrival. It’s now January 1st and day four or five of counting contractions on and off again. Rohen’s labor came fiercely and he was here. I expected that to be the case with Finn, but he had other plans. This little man was content and didn’t want to budge. It was the night of January 1st and my contractions were anywhere from 5-7 minutes apart, just like it had been on and off for several days. I called my doctor and told her what had been going on and advised that I head on into the hospital. We got there by midnight and the nurse checked me and started monitoring me. Two hours had gone by and I hadn’t progressed much so I started walking the halls. An hour later and I had only dilated a centimeter more. At this point I’m five days into contractions, we have family there with our older boys and this mama is ready to have this baby in her arms. I did not want to go home, so I decided to induce. They started the drip around 5:00 am and then we waited. I tried to rest as we were up most of the night. I didn’t have much progression until mid-morning then I really started dilating and thinning out. I went from like 7 centimeters to being ready to push within an hour.
My doctor made it back to the hospital and we were ready to have this little guy. I pushed through one contraction and he was here. Finn Adler made me a mama a third time and he was precious. He arrived at 12:31 pm and was 6 pounds and 18 inches long. My heart made room to love this new little bundle and I couldn’t get enough of him. There’s something so sweet about that skin to skin time right after birth. I snuggled him on my chest for the longest time, he latched immediately and I just soaked up those quiet moments as long as I could. Daniel went and got the boys so we could introduce them to Finn. They were completely smitten and my heart was so full seeing our three boys. Life has changed and it’s hard to remember it before these boys stormed in and stole our hearts. Our family of five is a dream of mine that has come true and I’m so thankful for my boys.
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