This Is Us: Roman's Birth Story

Roman is FINALLY HERE!

So it all started Monday September 9th.. I was 38 weeks pregnant and my doc had told me at my last appointment that I was cleared to start trying to get this little guy here. We had tried almost everything in the book! Jalapenos , off roading, long walks, I was still going to crossfit and doing EXTRA squats ontop of the 100 I did during the workouts.. I was progressing slowly but nothing that was sending me into labor.

Since I knew this was going to be my last baby [ unless another little miracle pops up ;) ] I REALLY wanted to experience labor all on my own without having to be induced. I was really hoping for my water to break on my own!

Well my sis in law text me on the 9th and told me to try and eat a whole fresh pineapple. She'd heard it sends you into labor. I told Devin he should get me one but he kinda laughed at it. I finally looked it up online and all the reviews were positive.. pineapple sent the majority of them into labor. So Devin ran to the store and made me eat the ENTIRE pineapple.. it was a big one too!

That night we went to get some icecream with my SIL and niece at Coldstone and one the way home contractions started kicking in. So we went for a little drive. They went from 15 min apart to 2 min apart by the time we got home and I was in tears by then.

So we headed to the hospital! That was 9:30 pm by then. The nurses got me all hooked up and checked me and I was progressing, but slowly. Then the contractions just stopped for a whole hour.. nothing... I was so bummed. One cute little nurse could tell I was in misery and just so ready to have our baby. She told me there was a doc in the house and she could see if he'd be willing to break my water, but that would mean no backing out! I quickly said yes! Even tho I was bummed because I really was hoping my water would break all on my own, but I was so ready and sick of being miserable.

The doctor said he felt good about breaking my water and so he did. He broke my water at 11:30 pm and not soon after my contractions kicked into gear. They got harder and harder. I was still torn on weather I was going to go natural or get the epidural. They checked me again and I had moved from a 4 cm - 6 cm within the hour. At 1:00 am the contractions were so intense and I was having the hardest time holding it together. I was squeezing poor Devin's hand off and it caused my blood pressure to raise a little bit so I had to go on the air to help me calm down. I finally decided I was gonna give in and get the epidural. At 1:30 I got my epidural, they say it sends a shock down your body when it's inserted ( it did with my others) but with this time it send a HUGE jolt! I literally almost jumped off the table! It ended up making my left leg and left arm completely numb but that was it. I still felt every single contraction! They told me that I was progressing faster than the epidural could keep up with, so pretty much, the epidural wasn't going to really do it's job of numbing the contractions out...so back to breathing exercises and squeezing the crap out of Devins hand. All the sudden I got a huge urge to push, so I told the nurses and they checked me. Within a half hour I went from a 6cm - 10 cm and Roman was on his way. The nurses kinda freaked because they hadn't even called my doctor yet. They weren't expecting me to go that fast.

They hurried and called her and told me she'd be here within 10 min and if I could hold the urge to push it would be better to have my doctor here to deliver me so I wouldn't tear or anything. I kinda chuckled... hold the urge to push this baby out for 10 min!! Ya, it was the longest 10 min of my life! But, I held every urge in, I ended up pushing down on Devin's hand and smashing it into the bed instead, it helped... My doc literally got there just in time, 3 pushes and he was here. It was amazing and intense all at the same time. I am so glad it was only 3 pushes because by the 2nd I literally thought I was going to pass out from the pain for 1 and for 2 I was so completely exhausted from the entire labor that I don't think I could have gone much longer on my own.

For the first time, out of all my kids, I got to hold him and keep him after delivery! All my others were whisked away to NICU.. It was so nice getting to just have him. I instantly fell in love. I knew i'd love him, but since this pregnancy was unexpected and just felt so odd the whole time I didn't feel as attached as I did my other pregnancies and it really made me sad. But as soon as I held him.. that wave of love just crashed over me. I seriously could not put him down.. I don't think I really did haha. Devin and I are always fighting over who gets to hold him or feed him :) We are just trying to soak in the moments because I think we realize now just how fast they grow up! I mean my "babies" are now 5 and 18m... where does the freakin time go!!

I only had to be in the hospital for 2 days which was also a new thing.. with my others being in NICU the least amount of days we were at the hospital was 5 days.

Lys was so excited to meet Roman and she just can't get enough of him!

Henry REALLY struggled. When he came to visit me in the hospital he was so mad, he wanted to be near me but didn't want me to touch him, he also wanted NOTHING to do with Roman. If one of us was holding him he'd run and cling to the other one. When we got home he got so clingy and whiny. He was just really upset! Now....

He just loves his brother! He is always kissing him and wanting to help feed him. It's really cute!

Hazel didn't really have a problem adjusting. She instantly went into big sis mode and has been constantly checking on him for us. She also loves to follow her big sis and so she wants to try and hold him and burp him and feed him too. She can say "Rowan" pretty well too.

She's very fascinated by him and loves giving him kisses too :)

We are just so inlove with this little man! The transition from 3-4 kids really hasn't been that bad either. He is way easy. Sleeps and eats every 4 hours. I feel like I have more energy now then when I was pregnant! I actually get to sleep a whole 3-4 hours rather than toss and turn every 15 min. Plus I don't hurt when I do stuff now!