He's here!

We are thrilled to announce Randall Dale III is here! The good news- he picked his own birthday! He was born on April 14th, at 8:32 am, weighing in at 8 lbs, 10.9 oz, and measuring 22 inches! He's handsome and we are all adoring every moment with him. I will post the birth story I have shared with others, along with some photos.

I will try to update more later. Things are tough right now b/c Randall's plant is cutting back hours, so more than likely the internet will be shut off. :( We just need to watch what we are doing. I will *try* to update often from my sister's, but I can't make too many promises.

Birth of Randall Dale III

Turns out, my body CAN do it all on it’s own!

Monday I was feeling pretty crappy. I was super crampy and just all around tired. I had contractions all day long, but there were not consistent. Around 2 pm, they started getting more and more consistent, anywhere from 10-15 minutes apart. I still didn’t think they were hard enough or close enough together. When I got home from work, I told Randall we need to get things around just in case. We got everything ready and set everything by the door. My Grandma passed away about 2 pm that day, and my mom was the person who was supposed to get Ruthie. So, I called my sister to get back up, just in case.

My contractions were about 10 minutes apart until about 11 pm. They were anywhere from 7-10 minutes apart. About 12 am, I told Randall I think it’s time to go. They were about 4.5 minutes apart. We woke up Ruthie, called my sister, and headed to the hospital. I had about 3 contractions on the way, which meant they were still about 5 minutes apart. I end up calling my sister back, b/c I wanted to get checked before she did take Ruthie. I didn’t want her to pick her up, and nothing happen. Also, I wanted Ruthie to be there waiting, and I knew my sister couldn’t wait, so I just told her I would call her when I knew something more. Turns out, I was 5 cm!!! I told that nurse she made my day! I was guessing maybe 1cm, if that. So, we call Randall’s mom & dad, b/c they live the furthest away. They end up keeping Ruthie during the birth. We were all super exhausted, but I was so ready and excited to meet this little man!

Well, she kept checking me, and I was only progressing about a cm per hour or so. (I kept up with the times, but I don’t know what I did with the notes.) They decided to give me a small dose of pitocin just to get things moving more along. My doc was there, so I was happy to know he’d be delivering him too. At about 7 cm, they asked me if I wanted anything for pain. I really wasn’t in that bad of pain; they were hurting, but nothing like they were with Ruthie at 4cm on pitocin. So, I just told them I would take some stadol. I had two doses before I hit 9 cm, and it made me sleepy and took the edge off. They broke my water at 9 cm, and that helped move things along. The only problem was, it was more behind him, so all of it didn’t make it out.

I started pushing, and boy did it hurt! I pushed a little bit for about an hour. It wasn’t major pushing, just more of my body doing it. I didn’t have the complete urge just yet. When I did, it took about another hour for him to come out. They had some problems finding the heartbeat, so I was super scared. They had to give me some oxygen b/c I started getting upset and worrying. Turns out, he pooped inside me, so they were worried about him as well. When the head finally came out, they started suctioning him and that was even worse. He wasn’t crying, so I was flipping out, and I kept asking if he was okay. They got him all suctioned out, and he was just fine. Randy was born at 8:32 am, weighing in at 8lbs, 10.9 oz; seven ounces more than his big sister. He was 22 inches long. I tore twice, but only one needed stitches. I was super proud of myself for not taking the epi. I wanted to do what my body told me to do, and I did. I can’t say I would do it all again though…next time I WILL take the epi!

Big sister Ruthie was the first one to meet him. She was in love, just smiling at him. It melted my heart into a million pieces. There has been no sweeter moment in my life, than that one.

They had to keep us one extra night b/c his blood type made it a possibility for him to get jaundice, so they just wanted to keep him; turns out, he’s just fine.

Recovery has been a lot harder on me. My tear hurts like I can’t even explain, and I am still exhausted. Randy is nursing really well, and my milk is in. I was so happy to get a good nursing relationship with him so early on. I had some blisters popping up, but they are gone now.

Big sister Ruthie is doing really well with him. She is having a hard time understanding why she can’t lean on him, so that’s been our major problem. She loves to kiss him, and talk to him. He adores her too b/c he’ll just stare at her. It’s such a beautiful thing. Randall is doing just as great as I figured he would. He makes such an amazing father. I am so grateful for him. He's so ready for me to pump, so he can feed him and help at night.


My handsome lil man!
Snuggling with Daddy
Meeting Mommy
Meeting big sister Ruthie! Look at that precious grin!
Going home as 4!