I always loved hearing

the birth stories as I was waiting for my baby to arrive. Especially the easy ones. It gave me hope that things would go smoothly.

So I guess it's my turn! And things did go smoothly! (Relatively)

My second born, William Alexander (Xander for short), came into the world yesterday night at 9:55pm. 8lbs 14oz, 21in. I was 40 weeks and one day. On August 14th (the day after my first sons birthday!)

At around 11:30 that morning I saw my Dr for a check up. I was already dilated to 3cm, 75% effaced, soft and anterior cervix. I hadn't been experiencing any contractions yet and asked my Dr. to do a membrane sweep to move things along. She was extremely happy with how well she was able to get up in there and really do a good strip! My first born arrived at 40+2 so I felt like things would happen soon anyway. And they sure did! I started getting crampy on the drive home. After lunch I tried to lay down and nap for a bit but I started feeling real contractions so I got up and decided to go for a walk with my mom (this was around 2:30) and started timing. By the time we got back from our walk my contractions were 4-5 min apart but not very strong. Still just feeling like uncomfortable cramps. I sat in the yard and chatted with my husband and played with our 2 year old son (who had just had a birthday the day before!) by 5pm contractions were about 2-3 min apart and getting much stronger. I only lived 15 min away so I wasn't worried to much about laboring at home for a bit. Especially since things weren't too uncomfortable yet. But at that point I called my Dr. and said I thought I should come in.

We Arrived at the hospital around 6. And that's when things started getting really painful! By the time they checked me I was 7cm and a couple contractions later my water broke in triage. They got me to my room in a hurry then! I asked for an epidural and they were worried there would be enough time. I almost cried! I could've kicked myself for waiting so long to go to the hospital. (For the record if you're considering an epidural the earlier the better! I had mine at 4cm with my first and just relaxed all day. I had no idea contractions would get that painful for me.) Fortunately they were able to get the anesthesiologist pretty quick and I got my epidural around 7pm. I was 8cm dilated at that point. Sweet relief!!

They gave me a drug to help slow my contractions and give my cervix more time to efface before pushing. The baby's heart rate kept dropping every time I had a contraction ever since my water broke so they were monitoring us both really closely. There was a lot of getting up on my hands and knees and trying different positions to keep him from getting too distressed. The doctor was really worried I would need a c section if we couldn't keep his heart rate up enough until my cervix was prime. BUT by 9:47 we were good to go! I pushed for 3 contractions. A total of 8 min. (There was a lot of motivation to get him out as quickly as possible.) And William Alexander came into the world! He had had the cord wrapped around his neck but was doing fine. We had skin to skin right away. Then I nursed him after 10 min or so of crying and cuddles. (Gotta make sure those lungs work)

He's so beautiful. And so loved. Today was full of visitors and cuddles. Including our 2 year old who was instantly in love. ❤️ We can't wait to take him home. So far he's passing all his tests with flying colors. So we should all be able to sleep in our own beds tonight. Hooray!