Becoming a Big Brother

*I forgot to add this post earlier, so I don't forget when I go to scrapbook these photos*

Ryan's parents brought Porter up to the hospital after his nap, around 4:30pm. I wish I'd have thought to take our video camera to the hospital... we are TERRIBLE with using our video camera. Anyhow, Ryan snapped these pictures of Porter meeting Hudson for the first time.

He was so intrigued, I guess that's the word. He loves Baby Landon (who LeeAnn watches on the days she watches Porter as well) and just two weeks before we'd gone up to the hospital to see Katie and Baby Nolan. I kept telling him that Nolan came out of Katies belly and that Baby Hudson was going to be little and tiny like N0lan when he comes out of my tummy. I just kept trying to make him understand that the belly he always talked to would eventually produce a BABY! By Monday, when I asked him who he was going to get to meet tomorrow he said "Baby Hudson come outta your belly like Nolan outta Taties belly"

When he first saw Hudson he just stared. I had him sit on the bed with me and held Hudson for him. He was so sweet. He kept saying "Hi Baby Hudson! You come outta mommy's belly? You come play with me? OOOhhh Hi Baby Hudson!" He was so gentle with him... softly stroking each cheek, then his forehead and then his nose... kind of inspecting all of his tiny little parts.

It didn't last too long as he heard the train outside and "Oooh I dotta get down and see dat train!!" HAHA!

However, since coming home, Porter is SUCH a good big brother. The first day home, I put Hudson in the sling while Porter napped. When Porter woke up, he groggily stumbled around the living room to all the "baby items"... the boppy, the swing, the carseat, the bouncer, and into Hudson's room. The whole time I kept asking "What are you looking for?" but he didn't answer... he just slowly inspected each item. He finally looked up at me and said "I can't find Baby Hudson!" HAHA!

Every morning he comes into my room and says he wants to go see Hudson, and he wants to wake him up. He pushes his stool up next to his crib in the morning and stares at him. When we go somewhere, he tries to help Ryan carry the carseat by holding onto the side. I'm so proud of him for being such a good big brother!

Just for kicks....

Porter:

Hudson:

It's decided....

He shall be dubbed Hudson Riley Barczak.

Strange... I keep thinking of him as "Riley." Which is just odd for me as we've always like Rylee for a girls' name. Anyhow, the birth certificate has been filled out... Hudson Riley he is.

Welcome Hudson (no middle name) Barczak!

Yep, we still do not have a middle name for him. I think right now its between Hudson Oliver and a new one... Hudson Riley. Ryan pulled that one out of thin air about a week ago and while I dismissed it at first as I think of Riley as a girls name, I am starting to think it fits him better than Hudson Oliver. So, no idea where we're going with that.

So... I'm totally insane for having delivered a baby mere 8 hours ago (literally, as I type- 8 hours ago) and I'm raring to go. I can't quit blogging! HAHA!

We got to the hospital around 6:45am and it was just so strange to be so.... normal... and just like "Hey, let's get this labor started." I was a nervous wreck, I could barely talk to Ryan or the nurses even though they all were trying to chat it up with me. I was dreading the whole entire day.

Here's a quick rundown of labor:

• Started me on pitocin at 7am. I was 4cm dilated
  
• Contractions started about an hour later, and they weren't bad at all.
• 9am I was 4cm dilated and 50% effaced at this point
  
• Doctor checked me at 10am and I was 5-6cm and 80% effaced and he said if my water were to break I'd go quickly, so he ordered my epidural and upped my pitocin to 12 (it started at 2, then 4, then 6 and so on ...)
• The contractions were terrible at this point and I thought I was going to die. I was trying to figure out how to turn the pitocin machine down HAHA!
  
• My epidural arrived around 11am, and I survived the 30 minutes of hell waiting, and then after a few milder contractions I was numb and feeling great.
• By now my mom, Ryan and Leslie were there and we were just chatting about furniture and moving and all that fun stuff. Leslie (who wasn't able to have an epidural with Reyna) was dumbfounded... she said "We're just sitting here talking about TABLES and you're in LABOR!"
• Around 12:15/12:30 the doctor came in and broke my water. I was 10cm and ready to go, so he had my epidural turned down so that I'd feel the contractions and the urge to push. I didn't like this.
  
• I only felt bad contractions on one side from this point on. Kind of weird. One side felt a bit numb still, the other felt like my sciatic nerve was shooting down my leg. I had about 30 minutes of kill-me-now contractions and then they got me ready to push.
• Doctor checks, says "get the nursery staff in here, the baby is right there." I was almost in tears thinking about pushing. I dreaded the thought of the pain I had with Porter.
  
• I so did not believe him when he said I'd push once and we'd be saying Happy Birthday. Sure enough, I pushed twice and there he was! I was in disbelief and even said (gasp) "Hey, I could do that again! That was nothing!"

Hudson was face up like Porter was (in which the nurse told me today that its extremely rare to deliver "O.P" ie... face up... and the fact that I "only" pushed for 2 hours delivering an OP baby was great. So, when Dr. P told me Hudson, too, was face up, I was freaked out. Well, he ended up flipping at the last minute. Thank God!

I tore... bad. Up to my urethra (sorry, TMI for some of you I'm sure). OUCH. Leave it to me to tear the wrong freaking way! Anyhow, so far I'm not dying, but its painful to sit.

I was dumbfounded at how great I felt after delivery. It sure makes a difference not having to push for 2 hours! I felt like I could get up and go home!

Ryan and I both kept thinking it was so weird that he was OURS... it seemed like he was someone else's kid we were holding. However, after spending the day with him its feeling more normal. He's so cute (although of course we're biased) and he reminds us a lot of Porter but with a bit smaller nose and chubbier cheeks. He's not wanting to eat much, and I think all day he's had about a total of once ounce, but hopefully he'll be a little more raring to go tomorrow.

As I type now, he's laying next to me sleeping, being a good boy and letting his mommy blog!

Oh... I should post the stats:

Hudson ______ Barczak
7lbs 2oz
20.5 inches long
Born at 1:18pm

Estimated time till induction:

Its 5:22am. I have to be a the hospital between 6:15 and 6:30am.

I'll update as soon as I can.

T Minus 1 Day!

I am in a little disbelief that tomorrow at this time I'll be in the hospital in labor. I'm extremely nervous this time around. With Porter, he was early and I was so uncomfortable that all I could think about was being done being pregnant. I don't remember being nervous or scared about delivery... I embraced the fact that I'd be done being so uncomfortable.

Now its my last day home with just one child. Ryan won't be home until late tonight (class), and Ryan's parents are taking Porter to stay the night so we don't have to worry about getting him anywhere in the morning.

I've been racking my brain thinking of any last minute things I need to do while I'm pregnant. I really want to take a few pictures of Porter talking to Hudson. Its the sweetest thing. He loves to lift up my shirt and talk to him. He says the cutest things like:

"I gotta say hi to baby Hudson"
"Hey baby Hudson.. you wanna come out and play with me?"
"What doin', baby Hudson?"
"C'mon! You come out now? C'mon!" (with hand motions... so cute)
"Love you baby Hudson!"

I am going to try to get video of him and attempt to set up my camera timer and take some pictures. We'll see how that goes...

I'm feeling all emotional about saying goodbye to Porter today as I know it'll be the last time I see him as my only child. Is that strange?

So anyhow... I'm just freaking out a little bit about this last day of pregnancy. Like I've said before, I am not sure how much I'll be leaning towards having a third child after Hudson is here. It makes me sad to think this could possibly be it. We obviously won't make any rash decisions for quite awhile, but I know for sure we won't be adding onto our family until Hudson is about 4 or so. I'm just trying to enjoy his little kicks and movements while I can.

I'm also freaked out about labor and delivery! I'm so so nervous this time around... the "amnesia" seems to be wearing off and I'm remembering the pain and exhaustion of delivery and pushing for 2 hours. I'm hoping Hudson comes out face down like he is supposed to and maybe that'll make it a little easier?

Well, I guess I should get off here and bask in the last afternoon of being huge and round and full of baby. I'll try to update as soon as I can!

I guess not....

Well, we thought tonight might be the night. I started having contractions around 6pm, and they were about every 2-7 minutes. At 6:30 Ryan called his parents to come over to watch Porter, thinking we needed to head to the hospital. I kept saying "No, no... its probably because I didn't eat much today... I haven't had anything to eat in awhile." So, I finished with dinner, and decided to hop in the shower just in case we did have to go to the hospital.

By the time Cathy and Dave got her and I was out of the shower, my contractions were about 10 minutes apart. And then they stopped for awhile, and started back up from 8-10pm being pretty regular, about 10 minutes apart give or take a few minutes. And they were getting a bit stronger, more painful.

I called L&D only because the booklet they give you says if its your second child to come in when contractions are 5-10 min apart. With Porter, I never went to the hospital b/c of contractions... I went in for my appt. and was sent to L&D from there. Anyhow, I let them know what was going on, asked how far apart I should wait to come in etc. They said every 5 minutes and pretty regular.

So, I laid down to get some sleep, figuring if we ended up going in in the middle of the night I'd better at least get some sleep. Cathy and Dave had taken Porter home with them just in case, so we didn't have to worry about him tonight.

I just woke up and its 1:45ish. I haven't noticed or had any contractions in awhile. Go figure. I probably should have gotten off my butt and walked around more, as they seemed to be more regular when I was up and moving. I'm just too lazy LOL!

I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings...

Contractions

I've been having contractions since yesterday afternoon... nothing regular. The closest they were was about 15 min apart last night. Ick, they're painful though! I'm not looking forward to the pain of giving birth.... I hope I'll be able to get an epidural pretty quickly on Tuesday!

Anyhow, maybe this weekend will be D-Day, who knows. I'll keep you updated.

"38" Week Appointment

I went in for my appointment today and she said "Ok lets see... 37weeks 5 days" I cringed and made a face. UGH!

So she says she'd talked to the doctor and he said next week would be fine for an induction if I'm open to that. Of course!

Then she asked how I went into labor with Porter, so I told her I went in for my 38 week appointment, was 4cm dilated and I was sent to L&D to have my water broke.

She said I might follow the same pattern and since I was just about 38 weeks she asked if I wanted to be checked. Heck yeah I do!

I was so afraid I wouldn't be dilated at all.

Well, turns out I am 3cm dilated and she scheduled me to be induced Tuesday, May 20th! So... just 4 more days of being pregnant!! I can't wait to meet this little guy!!

Almost 39 Week picture

Or... maybe almost 38 Week picture... according to the measurements of the freaking gestational sac at 5 weeks. Why did I open my big mouth? They'd probably induce me on Friday if my due date was "officially" May 23rd in their records. I'm so so done this week. Up to last week I was feeling ok. I was thinking "Ehh, I should feel happy that my hips don't hurt as bad as they did a month and a half ago, my sciatic nerve only acts up every once in awhile lately, my back doesn't hurt, my neck doesn't hurt, my bra is halfway comfortable this time and Hudson isn't ripping my ribs apart like Porter was at this point."

Well... I spoke too soon. As once Monday hit I ended up with an upper backache that has been on the verge of giving me a migraine. And my legs feel like they're being ripped off at the joints. My inner thigh joints hurt SOOO bad. Especially when I am sleeping and I try to roll over. It nearly brings me to tears. I'm ready to be done... ready to have this little guy here so we can get things back to somewhat normal and focus on all this freaking house stuff. Ugh.

I have two more days of work (I decided, after we found out we're going to have to pay at our house closing) to work an additional week because at that point I was feeling pretty darn good. Now I feel like crap and I wish I'd taken the week off.

Anyhow... the point of this post. A picture. Because I haven't taken a side view belly picture since 24 weeks. Slacker!!

Less than 2 weeks!

Oooh I am getting so excited to have Hudson here. I can't wait to see him and see what and who he looks like and see how Porter reacts to him. Katie had her baby on Wednesday (baby Nolan!) and Porter and I went to see them.... he was so sweet with him. I hope he's the same way with Hudson.

Porter and I went to Target the other day and picked up two packs of slow flow nipples to get us by, as well as a can of formula and... hmm... I guess that's all! I still feel like I'm so unprepared for this baby... but I guess its not like we're a zillion miles away from a store if we need to get something.

I forgot to mention... I got a steal on a swing! I found this swing on Craigslist for $20... its in great condition although the mobile has a few malfunctions (lights don't work and the mobile doesn't turn). The swing works great and the music works, so we're good. We had borrowed this same swing from my sister and those same 2 things didn't work on hers, so it must be something with that swing that malfunctions. Oh well... for $20 I'm not complaining!

Still no real headway on the middle name. I think I'm pretty set on one, but we really haven't even discussed names recently. We've tossed a few back and forth in passing, but just haven't sat down and hashed it all out. Maybe that will be a plan for tonight.

I ordered the footprint photo frame and baby book tonight. I decided to just get the same baby book that Porter has (yeah... I know... boring...), that way I didn't end up loving or hating one more than the other. Its not like I don't document on my blog or in my scrapbooks, so really, baby books aren't something I need to be particular about. And, I do like Porter's baby book.

I also need to somewhat pack a bag for the hospital. Any suggestions on what to take? With Porter we took EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink... and used none of it. They provide diapers and even formula, so that's take care of. I'm thinking thus far I really just need my camera(s), an outfit for Hudson and I to go home in, some toys for Porter for when he's visiting us, uhm.... anything else? I'll probably take my laptop as they have wifi in the rooms. Who knows if I'll be up to blogging, but you never know....

I'm so very much not prepared for this baby...

Nevermind the fact that we'll be moving somewhere (who knows where!) shortly after Hudson's arrival... but I feel like I have arrived at the end of this pregnancy and I've planned for nothing. Here are the things I keep thinking I need to get around... but I never seem to be able to cross anything off my list!

• Buy a baby book. I rarely update Porter's (although most stuff is journaled on my blog)... but I still feel like Hudson should have a baby book too. Any suggestions on good ones?
  
• Buy a footprint photo frame... NEED this asap... Porter has one with his newborn footprint impressed in the clay and I want one for Hudson. The only ones I can find are like $30... and I feel like I should be able to find them cheaper SOMEWHERE.
  
• Find our baby bottles. Wash them.
• Buy nipples for the above mentioned baby bottles.
  
• Buy a can of formula.
• Pack a hospital bag... or at least get a list ready of things I need to take (ie... camera, battery, etc etc...)
• Find a middle name for this poor child....
  

37....err 36 week appointment?

I had my "37 week" appointment today. Turns out they have my due date as June 1st. That blows! Why do they have it as June 1st, you ask? Because I had an early early ultrasound at 5 weeks done by my mom and that one single ultrasound dated me at being due June 1st. I opened my big mouth and that's what they're going by. Every other ultrasound, as well as my LMP has me due on May 23 (give or take a day). The sonographer at the ob's office even said that an ultrasound at 5 weeks isn't fully accurate because the baby is literally a little nothing blob and its often hard to measure accurately.

HOWEVER... Tracy (the nurse midwife) did say that since Porter was almost 2 weeks early and my body naturally dilated and went into labor early that more than likely I'll have this little guy early as well. And, better yet... she said that if I'm pregnant on the 23rd and I want to be induced on that day, that it sounds like a great day to have a baby to her. She said she has no problem inducing me since this is my second baby and because my body went into labor naturally with my first pregnancy. So... due date or not... I'll be making sure I'm induced on the 23rd. I'm still hoping for a little earlier though.

She did say his head was down and showed me where to pinch/push on my low low abdomen and feel his head. I was afraid he was sideways or something because lately he's been kicking out each side of my stomach. She said he's probably kicking with his feet out once side and pushing his butt out the other. That's fine with me... better than with Porter- he used to kick right into my ribs. That was terrible.

Great news... I have not gained anything. I actually lost 1lb from my last appointment. I know the doctor tried to tell me that most women gain a lot at the end... but just as with Porter's pregnancy I've stayed steady and/or lost a pound or so at each appointment.

That's about it for that appointment. I go back in one week.