Miles of Smiles: November 2015

Ok, it is high time that I included our dear Tanner in my blog. Tanner was born Sept 19, 2015 after a relatively short labor. I had some contractions the night before that seemed more consistent, but I wasn't about to be faked out again, as I had a ton of contractions with Tanner, thus leading me to believe this baby was definitely coming early. Well, he was my latest. 1 week late and 8 lbs 9oz, 20.5 inches long to be my heaviest baby yet (by 2 ounces). Blake was just a tad bit smaller, but Tanner has been growing much faster than Blake was due to his ability to keep lots of milk down without spitting it up, and also due to the fact that his Mommy was able to supply a ton of milk, whereas we struggled with that the first time around.

Thankfully, we had a neighbor who was willing to be on call in the middle of the night because naturally the only time we go in in the middle of the night is when we have two other littles sleeping peacefully in their beds. I woke at around 1 or 1:30 and realized my contractions quickly became consistent and fairly close together. I woke Scott (or he woke--geez, I should have written this sooner!) and I told him they were about 5 minutes apart. They hurt, but I could handle them. Well, he thought we should go to the hospital with them so close together and after considering it for a moment, I agreed. Well, the contractions quickly escalated and by the time Beth got to our house (around 3:30), I was bent over trying to control the pain.

I didn't want an epidural, and since I was 8 cm when I arrived at the hospital, I figured he was coming fast. Plus, they said it would take 45 minutes for an epidural and I (and they) figured it was possible he would be born before then. Also, they said they could break my water to speed things up. I agreed b/c, why not?? Well, after they broke the water, the contractions became much more painful, to which they said, "well, now you don't have the water as a cushion." What?! Thanks for telling me that AFTER you broke it!! Well, of course, I wasn't progressing as fast as expected and now my contractions were quite intense. The anesthesiologist was now in the building and since I had been started on the drip just in case, I could have relief in an instant. I thought, why do I make myself go through this? Yes, give it to me. Of course, after that, everyone disappears from our room and we seem to be forgotten about for quite a while. Finally, they decide that yes, let's deliver the baby before the next c-section since she is a healthy 10 cm., which i had probably been for a while. They considered going to do the c-section first, but I am thankful they delivered Tanner b/c unbeknownst to me, he had the cord wrapped around his neck. He came out purple, but quickly took some breaths and his color returned. I had to fight some guilt afterwards for getting the epidural when later I knew he would have delivered probably an hour earlier if I hadn't gotten drugs and may not have been purple. They have assured me he was fine b/c his heartbeat was fine and showed no signs of distress. But honestly, they weren't very good about even keeping that device on me. It was falling off so I had to put it back on. So, knowing I couldn't do anything about it and the experts were telling me he was fine, I had to put it behind me. But, what if there was some damage they don't know about and don't make the connection to that??? A mommy always wonders, but he seems just fine :)

I again had some difficulty pushing since I couldn't feel anything, but thankfully was able to get him out much sooner than Blake (I pushed for 2 hours with him). We had an ultrasound the day before and had a scheduled induction in case Tanner didn't arrive by Tuesday, and at the ultrasound, they guessed him to be about 9 lbs 5 oz. Scott has guessed to the ounce the size of our other babies, but was thrown off by their estimation, so he guessed high. He was a bit disappointed about that, but still didn't quite think he would have been spot on, but he guessed higher than he though due to their guess.

Tanner wasn't named for a while b/c Scott and I couldn't decide on his name, but just before having to give them our SS# paperwork, we had it figured out and he ended up with Tanner Jude Miles, which if he chooses in the future, he can also go with TJ. :)

Here are some photos of our beautiful baby boy! I still love looking at these!

He's here!!!

All wrapped and cozy

His cute little hat he got at the hospital. Dang we make cute babies :)

Love from his sister

Love from his brother

With his Grandpa Miles

Grandpa miles came to watch the kids. Beth had dressed Sadie, or let her dress herself. She had her swim top on, pajama pants, no socks and tennis shoes when she arrived at the hospital. It was so cute