Baby #2 is born

Welcome to the world 

Easton Rhet Merrill

Monday April 11th 2016

3:15pm

8lbs 20 inches

Waiting for this little man to make his debut was much different than waiting for his sister.  Before Lucy was born I was perfectly fine to remain pregnant but was over anxious to have her here and to see her sweet little face and be able to squeeze her little cheeks and love on her.  Before Easton was born I was not perfectly fine to remain pregnant, I wanted him out!  The end of his pregnancy was much more difficult than Lucy's and I was in much more pain (in my hips and pelvis specifically) and was having a lot more contractions a lot earlier on.  I of course also wanted him here to see his sweet face and squeeze his little cheeks and love on him also.  

At my 36 week appointment the nurse checking me in asked if I wanted Dr Leavitt to check me to which my very quick response was YES!  I was more or less just very curious to know if all the contractions I had been having were doing anything to progress me yet.  He checked and I was 70% effaced and a fingertip dilated.  Not even a 1, just a fingertip.

At my 37 week appointment I was convinced I would have made more progress... 70% effaced and 1 cm dilated.  Not much progress.

38 week appointment, I KNEW I would have progressed. All those contractions had for sure done something to help get this little man here.  And he had finally dropped a little to help with the effacement, right??  Nope.  70% effaced and 1 cm dilated.

39 weeks appointment (well 39 and 3 days to be exact) 75% effaced and almost 2 cm.  I no longer was convinced he would be coming early (I thought he would come early my whole pregnancy).  Dr Leavitt did strip my membranes and I held on to hope that that would put me into labor THAT DAY.  But, just in case we scheduled an induction for the following Monday (40 weeks and 1 day).  

Sure enough stripping my membranes did absolutely nothing for me and Sunday evening my mom arrived at our house to be our Lucy babysitter so we could head to EIRMC first thing the next morning.

Monday April 11th at 6am I called the hospital to see if they had a bed for me.  Much to my dismay the answer was no! WAHHH!!  They did tell me to call back around 7 and they would probably be able to have me come in.  We decided to head to IF a little before 7am just in case they said "Come now!" when we called.  If not, we would just go get some breakfast and hang out until they did have room for me.  

I called and they said if I could be there at 8am that would be great!  Heck yes we could!  8 o'clock sharp we were in Labor and Delivery. Since they knew we were coming they were completely ready for us and showed us to our room (same room Lucy was born in) and let me change.  From there we went on to answer 1,000,000 questions, got IV going, etc.  Our nurse was amazing and efficient and had me going on PIT by 8:45 (perk to having your mother-in-law work as a L&D nurse in the hospital you are delivering at, she hand picks your nurse for you :))

 She checked me to see where we were starting from and I was still 75% effaced and between 2-3 cm dilated.  

We were left to hang out and let the PIT do its thing until Dr Leavitt could come on his lunch break to break my water.  They graciously hooked me up to the portable monitor and we walked the halls for awhile, came back to our room and played Uno dice game, watched TV and just hung out.  

 At 12:40pm Dr Leavitt was there to break my water.
I was still only 75% effaced and still only between 2-3 cm :(  

Since there were 7 other women in labor that day and thanks to experience from Lucy's birth, I asked for my epidural right after my water was broke and thankfully the anesthesiologist was able to come right in and put it in.  When I got my epidural with Lucy I was already in a good amount of pain and had a contraction right as it was placed which made for an interesting experience.  This time I was still not in a lot of pain yet and my contractions were a little farther apart so I was sure it would be a better experience.  Although it wasn't terrible I did feel an awful "zing" right as it was placed and at the exact moment that my anesthesiologist told me "you might feel a slight zing."  No other word to describe it besides "zing" and it was not comfortable or fun!  But, it didn't last long.  The site did hurt more than I remembered it hurting with Lucy.  It also did take longer to take effect than Lucy's did and it was very uneven and took a good chunk of time to even out to both sides.  It finally started working as it should and I was able to get a little rest.

At 1:55pm my nurse came in to check me before she started her lunch break.   I was 4-5 cm and baby boy had dropped more so I was more thinned but not much more.

Again we just hung out and watched TV and rested.  Since my nurse was on her lunch break, lots of different nurses kept coming in to readjust baby's monitor since he was quickly making his way down lower and ducking away from the monitor.

Around 2:40 I started feeling more pressure during the contractions.  I told Dillon about the pressure and based on Lucy's experience and quick birth he went to tell a nurse.  My nurse was just finishing her lunch but came to check me as soon as she heard the word 'pressure.' 

 At 2:55 she checked me and said "We are ready to have a baby."

She immediately called Dr Leavitt and in just a matter of a few mins he was in my room.  He asked Dillon if he wanted to help deliver and had the nurses help him get all suited up.  Then it was time to push.  

A contraction hit and they told me to push.  I pushed.  They told me to push again.  I pushed.  They told me to push one more time.  I gave a 1/2 a push and baby boy was in Dillon's hands.  Daddy had delivered his baby boy in just 1 contraction and 2 1/2 pushes at 3:15pm. 

Dillon said if he hadn't have helped delivery he wouldn't have believed it was our baby because of all the black hair! (Even though he did look exactly like newborn Lucy :))
I did end up with some tearing (not quite as bad as with Lucy but in 2 different directions) so Dr Leavitt stitched me up while Dillon and I 'oohed' and 'aahed' over our handsome new little addition.  After just a few mins I asked Dillon what he thought his name should be and he said "Easton" and I immediately agreed.  

We were so in love with our little Easton Rhet!

Dillon's mom was working that day but since they had so many other ladies in labor she was very busy and wasn't immediately able to come in and meet her new little grandbaby like she wanted but as soon as she got a spare moment she poked her head in long enough to take in a good long look and give him one tight little squeeze and tell us congratulations before having to rush back out to check on her laboring patients.  

Before long Grandpa Merrill made his way to the hospital to meet his first Merrill grandson.

While Grandpa was there we were able to move to our recovery room and enjoy more snuggles with our new little man.  

Big sister was still at home in Rexburg with Grandma Brough but got to come meet her little brother as soon as she woke up from her nap.  

 She absolutely loved him!

 Baby brother had a present all ready for big sister to tear into and enjoy

And she loved her new puzzle

 First pictures as a family of 4!

 It took quite a few tries :)

 She loved to point at brothers hair and nose and then had to point out mommy's hair and nose, daddy's hair and nose and Grandma's hair and nose

The way she looked at her baby brother melted my mommy heart over and over!!

We weren't very good at getting pictures of those that were able to come and visit us in the hospital but we did manage to remember to snap a few.

 Grandma Brough meeting baby Easton

 Uncle Chase and Aunt Taya

Uncle Landon

Daddy got to help again with baby's bath and mom was able to sit back, relax, take pictures and laugh :)

So fresh and so clean!

Daddy thought it was fun to give him an old man comb over

 Big sis was able to come back the next day to give more snuggles and kises

 And share her 'visitor' sticker with brother :)

 "Oh....toote!!!"

 And point out his nose some more

And play with his hair.  

When nap time came Grandma took sissy back home and mommy and daddy were able to enjoy some baby snuggles and get some rest

And of course we had to play with all that hair!!

And enjoy the many funny newborn faces of our little man 

 Hahaha!

When Grandpa Merrill came back to visit that evening he was able catch this adorable little smile :)

Easton did have a little heart murmur that the Pediatrician heard when he first checked him out after birth.  They monitored it and listened to it multiple times a day to hear if it was getting louder or softer.  After the first night it did sound softer and there were high hopes it would be gone (PDA completely closed) by morning but by morning it sounded louder again.  The day we were supposed to come home they listened again in the morning and said if it didn't sound better later in the day they would do a heart echo to see how big the opening was and if action needed to be taken to help it close (as simple as giving him Ibuprofen to help close it or as complicated as surgery).  Luckily as the pediatrician checked him over before going home all sounded well and the murmur was almost nonexistent and we were able to come home! YAY!

 All dressed and ready to come home!

 Not too sure about the carseat

Waving bye!

 We love you so much Easton Rhet and are so happy to have you here and healthy!