Owen Isaiah Andresen

There's only one reason for my long absence, as I'm sure you can guess, and yes... it's because OWEN IS HERE!!

Usually I'd be totally on top of posting his arrival to the world but, to be honest, it's been crazy here with three kids even having my husband and the grandparents here to help. Plus, it's been nice to just have some time to soak him all in and spend time as a new family of five. But, I still wanted to get around to blogging about his arrival when I had the chance and now seems as good of a time as any (considering he's now a week old!). So, without further ado...

Owen Isaiah Andresen
Thursday, January 27, 2011
11:45pm
6 lbs. 8 oz. & 18.75 in.
born via natural waterbirth

So, the day of his arrival goes something like this: I started out the day working from home as my last day was supposed to be Friday, January 28th. I'd been spotting, cramping, and losing big chunks of my plug since Wednesday (the 26th) when my midwife stripped my membranes. Around noon on Thursday, I started to get stomach cramps and contractions so bad that I couldn't focus on my work and told my boss that I was taking the rest of the day off due to not feeling good. I laid down for a little while and that seemed to help me feel slightly better so then I decided to get up and go for a walk. My sister in law, Samantha, invited me over to her place so I went over there for a couple hours and we decided to do some more "baby boot camp" so she invited her friend, Stacy, over to help. We went for a really long walk, did some jogging, sprints, squats, lunges, jogged up stairs, and did the elliptical. I got some good contractions, but it didn't seem like it was working.

Exhausted and sweaty, I came home and took a shower before heading out to pick Jayden up from daycare around 5:30pm. I got home shortly after 6:00pm with both boys and Joan took off to go home. Aaron was at a project management dinner party for his work in downtown Seattle at the time so I was on my own for the night. Around 6:30 I noticed I was having some mild contractions followed by excruciating pains to my cervix. Unsure of what was going on and definitely in no state to be chasing after 2 boys all by myself, I called my mom for help with the kids and also to be with me in case this was labor starting. By the time she arrived, we noticed that I was indeed having contractions and that they were about 6-7 minutes apart so we called my midwife and I called Aaron saying he needed to come home ASAP. My midwife, Ali, said that I could come into the birth center once my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart which wasn't long after the initial phone call. Aaron arrived home and we called Ali back around 8:00pm saying that the contractions were 5 minutes apart so she asked us to meet her at the birth center at quarter to 9:00.

We arrived at the birth center at 8:40, checked into Birth Suite #3, and they checked me. I was 4-5cm. My blood pressure was borderline high and so they wanted to see what my blood pressure would do before deciding if I needed a hospital transfer or not. Luckily, it dipped back into the safe zone so they decided I could stay at the birth center and have my waterbirth. My contractions got down to 2 minutes apart and we decided to break my water. My water was broken at 6cm and the contractions immediately got super intense. I'm sure all of Kirkland could hear me screaming from my room... and I'm sure it sounded like something from a horror movie, but frankly I could have cared less. Anyone who can do a "silent birth" is either insanely strong or completely crazy... I haven't decided which.

After they broke my water, I got into the jacuzzi tub which helped to alleviate some of the pain from the contractions, but they were still really intense and at one point I found myself starting to push with the contractions, but since I was unsure of whether or not I should be pushing I asked them to check me for dilation. I was only 7cm and my cervix was still posterior (towards the back of Owen's head instead of the front). They said his head was so low and that's why I felt the need to push. They decided to have me get out of the tub and labor in the bed for a little bit on either side to hopefully get him into position and push my cervix forward. After 2 contractions, I felt Owen wiggle and then I had 3 of the most intense contractions ever. So intense and painful that I was literally begging for medication. I didn't want an epi, but I was praying they had something to take the edge off. The two student midwives told me this was a great sign as it's usually right about pushing time when most women start begging for the medication, so they asked me to get back into the tub instead. I labored in there for a little while longer before I again felt the need to push with my contractions. This time it actually felt better to push with my contractions so I kept doing it, but I was still afraid I wasn't fully dilated yet especially since I thought I felt the need to push when I was only 7cm. I asked them to check me again, but the contractions were on top of one another and I just couldn't bear the thought of an internal exam when I was in so much pain already.

At one point I felt pressure and a bit of burning, so I put my hand down there and reached up a bit and hit something with my fingers. I was like, "Oh my gosh... I think that's his head!" and I asked Ali if she could feel what I was feeling and if it was his head. She felt it and said "Yes, that's his head" so I immediately knew that I was fully dilated and he was crowning already. So, with that I had renewed determination and pushed as hard as I was able to with each contraction. I started to feel the intense burning and I knew his head was coming out so I pushed as hard as I could through all the pain and before I knew it, I felt relief from his head coming out and my midwife team asked me to give a couple gentle pushes. I gave a couple small pushes and Owen came sliding right out and was placed up on my chest at 11:45pm... after a total of 5.5 hours of active labor & 22 minutes of pushing.

As soon as he emerged from under the water, it was like instant tears for everyone. My mom, mother in law, sister in law, and aunt were all in the room in addition to Aaron and I (my dad was at our house with the boys) and we were all crying happy tears. Owen let out a small little whimper and I just held him close on my chest. I can't even describe how surreal that moment was. I just wanted nothing more than my son in my arms, crying tears of joy that he was finally here...and just how perfect he was. After getting cleaned up, I crawled into bed with my little guy and he immediately latched and fed for a good hour.

They weighed him (6 lbs. 8 oz.) and measured him (18.75 in.) during his newborn exam as well as gave him his Vitamin K shot, which he slept through, and gave him a clean bill of health. He scored a 9 and 10 on his APGARs and is just perfect. :) I, on the other hand, was showing signs of preeclampsia right after birth because my blood pressure was high, and again talk of a hospital transfer for me emerged. Luckily, it went down again and I was given the okay to go home with my new little boy within hours of his birth. We arrived home around 3:30 am on Friday morning and settled in as a new family.

It's amazing how after all those months of hoping for a girl to finding out how to welcome yet another son to the bunch just doesn't seem to matter. I had an epiphany in that moment... and thank God that He knew better than me as to what I needed. I needed Owen. My son. I stared down at my beautiful little boy and in that moment I knew he was meant for me and I for him. This was how it was meant to be. He was perfect and exactly what I needed. My heart and my life was (and still is) filled with complete love and joy and happiness. I wouldn't trade him for anything in this world and he's the piece of the puzzle that was missing and that fits perfectly. I'm so in love.

The boys both love him, especially Jayden. He asks multiple times a day to hold baby Owen and is very protective of him. He tells people to be careful and that they cannot hurt his baby. It's so cute to see him stroke Owen's head and sneak kisses onto his cheeks when he thinks no one is looking. He's so gentle and nurturing and has really taken on the role of the loving, doting big brother. Jaxson seems relatively uninterested most of the time but will come over and point at him with a simple exclamation of "Baby!" before running off to play with his cars again. He's still wrestling with the idea that Owen's binkies and blankets aren't for him to steal and sharing Mommy is a bit of a challenge, but he's getting better. :)

He looks almost exactly like Jaxson only a little smaller and with a pretty full head of DARK hair. It will be interesting to see if his hair stays dark or if it lightens up like Jayden's and Jaxson's did. He's also such a sweet baby. He sleeps and nurses like a champion and rarely ever cries. The only time he ever fusses is when he's hungry or cold (he doesn't like diaper changes or the transition of being dressed). He's his most content when being snuggled all warm in his blanket. He's enriched our lives so much in the short week that he's been here and I know he will continue to make our lives so much more meaningful. He's the perfect addition to our family. :)

Time for me to wrap this up... my little peanut is crying for his Mommy. It's lunch time. :) Because he's such a tiny guy and he lost 10% of his body weight by his checkup (he was 5 lbs. 14 oz. on Sunday) they want me to make sure that I feed him around the clock every 2-3 hours until he reaches his birth weight. He's back up to 6 lbs. 2 oz. so we are getting there. Yay! Only 6 more ounces to go!