Introducing Max!

Lately I have been thinking a lot about last year at this time when I was pregnant. One year ago I was approximately 32 weeks pregnant and was anxiously awaiting Max's arrival. As we will soon be approaching Max's 1st birthday this summer, I have often been thinking back to that day..........

Sunday August 7
-1:00 a.m. I am sent home from the Medical Center of the Rockies. The 3rd time I was sent home from a hospital in 3 days as my contractions were steady but I was having no dilation progress. I am dilated to 2 cm... which I had been dilated to for almost 2 weeks. I am having contractions 2-5 minutes apart and they are getting much more intense. I took 2 baths which eased my discomfort momentarily but as soon as I was out of the tub, it was back. I finally told my mom through tears that we had to go.
-5:30 a.m. I am admitted to Cheyenne Regional after discovering that I was now at 3 cm so I was making progress! I cried tears of joy--finally! Contractions are 2-5 minutes apart.
-7:30 a.m. ish My mother in law and sister in law arrive at the hospital because they just so happened to be visiting hubby's other sister in Denver. Very convenient timing! I am breathing through the contractions. I am STARVING because I haven't eaten since 5 p.m. the night before and have been up all night. I am on a clear liquid diet so I can only have chicken broth and popsicles-ugh! I am being checked and monitored. Everything looks great.. we are just waiting!
-12:30 p.m. I am dilated to 5 cm and I can no longer hold off on the epidural. Pain is steady and I am having no relief between contractions. My anxiety about the epidural disappears as I am just ready to have some relief from the pain. Epidural takes effect immediately and I feel like a new woman! I am talking and laughing and able to play on my phone. My AMAZING nurse Victoria encourages me to take a nap but I am just too excited. No nap for me.
-4:00 p.m. I am dilated to 8 cm and the doctor breaks my water. We are thinking that in the next hour or 2, Max will be gracing us with his presence! I keep telling everyone that I am feeling a lot of pressure in my butt and they just laugh and say "that's good!"
-6:00 p.m. I am still at 8 cm. What?! My progress has halted....... but I keep telling everyone about the pressure I feel
-8:00 p.m. Dr. Foley is off and Dr. Nelson takes over
-8:30 p.m. I am dilated to 9.5 cm and feeling lots of pressure. My new nurse, Sandy, says "Dr. Nelson is putting on his pajamas and then it's baby time!" YAY! Dr. Nelson and several nurses including a pediatrician enter my room. It's party time! I push once. I push twice. I push three times. Dr. Nelson checks Max and says that he is face up... he needs to try and turn him. Umm... OUCH! He is unsuccessful and unknown to me, has discovered that the cord is wrapped around his neck and his heart rate drops a little. He says, "Mallory, you are not going to be able to get him out. We are going to have to use forceps or prep you for an emergency c-section." I cry. "No! Neither one!" I look at my mom helplessly. All I can think of is what if the forceps catch his eye or his ear and like rip it off or something?! Dr. Nelson says, "We have to do one. And you need to decide right now." He is sweet and calm but it doesn't ease my anxiety. Both my mom and mother in law tell me that it's okay to choose forceps, it will be fine. "You don't want a c-section after all of this" they tell me. I agree to forceps. Before I know it, Dr. Nelson has inserted the forceps and I push one last time.
-9:10 p.m. Max Henry is born weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz and is 21.5 inches long. He came out face up with his eyes open (weird!) with a blue face and the worst conehead that I have ever seen! His cord was wrapped around his neck and knotted twice. He didn't cry immediately and I didn't cry until I heard him scream. As soon as I realized that he was okay... waterworks! Both of Max's grandmas are ooh-ing and ahh-ing as he is getting cleaned up and I call my hubby while I am getting stitched up to deliver the news. Once clean, Max is handed to me and I get to take a good look at him. His color has come back and he is very alert. He is absolutely perfect and looks very much like my newborn pictures! We cuddle and he keeps trying to eat my face. He's hungry??? He's hungry!
-10:00 p.m. I nurse Max for the first time. My little piglet latches right on and nurses for 6 minutes which apparently is a lot! I have no idea what is going on. It is a whirlwind!
Monday August 8 (Max's due date!)
-1:00 a.m. Mother in law and sister in law leave the hospital and spend the night at my house. After 2 bags of fluid and after my epidural wears off, I am able to shower (with my nurse Sandy standing outside of the door... I think I made her nervous) and my mom, Max, and I make our way to the nursery where Sandy shows me how to bathe Max.
-2:00 a.m. We settle into our postpartum room and after Nana snuggles Max for a bit, I take him from her and she gets some much needed rest. I spend the rest of the night staring at him. I am overwhelmed with joy and the love that I have for this little boy. I only wish that his dad was here with us.
-3:00 a.m. Max & I now share a nurse and I call her twice that night to pump the fluid out of Max's stomach because he keeps gagging. I guess coming out face up caused him to swallow quite a bit of fluid.
-7:00 a.m. After being awake for 46 hours, I fall asleep cuddling my baby.

It was a crazy day but it was the best day of my life. I am blessed to be the mother of a perfect and healthy little boy. The wait and the pain and recovering from delivery and a cracked tailbone (the pressure that I felt was the back of his head bearing down on my tailbone. Combine that with the use of forceps... and Mallory had to sit on a pillow until Max was 1 month old) it was 100% worth it and I would do it a million times over in order to have my Max. I think back to that day and last summer and how far we have come and how much has changed and I am blown away. I can't imagine our lives without him. He is the most precious gift that I have ever been given.

"You will never know the depth of my love for you. After all, you're the only person that knows what my heart sounds like from the inside." <3

Max @ 10

Blog slacker? Yep, that's me. 2 MONTHS since my last post-yikes!

Max is now 10 months old. It blows my mind that I am the mother of a 10 month old little boy! He is ornery as ever and into absolutely EVERYTHING. He thinks he is part monkey and he climbs all over everything ie. mommy & daddy, the couch, the tv stand, attempts to do chin-ups on the computer desk and pack n play, etc. He is crazy! He refuses pureed food and insists on only feeding himself. He has mastered the sippy cup and can (and does!) remove his pants whenever he feels like it. He has TWELVE teeth, 8 on top and 4 on bottom. He is sleeping through the night again as of 2 weeks ago once his molars came in-- hallelujah! So I am no longer scary mommy with the dark eyes, crazy hair, and caffeine twitches. He goes to bed at a decent time.. 7:45-8 p.m. which leaves me & hubby with some adult time for us and our sanity--again, hallelujah! He is still taking 2 naps a day... when he decides to only take 1 I will probably cry for weeks. Nap time for Max is NECESSARY for mommy! He can stand alone and does frequently, but after about 10-15 seconds he realizes that he is standing by himself and quickly sits down. 2 weeks ago he took one step toward me but that was it and he hasn't attempted it since. I am glad that he isn't walking yet (too early for mommy to have a walker!) but I did assume that he would be walking by now simply because he has been crawling and pulling himself up for nearly 4 months. No walking is okay with me though!! He LOVES mommy & daddy but is unsure of pretty much everyone else. He is in the stranger-danger phase and will lose his mind if someone else tries to hold him. So don't take it personally if Max looks at you and screams.... you're not the only one! He used to let anyone and everyone hold him but not anymore! He has a TEMPER. Boy, does he have a temper. He hates being told no and you can bet that if told no numerous times (because he is persistent) he will arch his back, throw his head and meltdown. Or growl until his face gets red. Or try to claw me. Yeah, I know......... he is going to be a handful. I try not to let him get away with it because I refuse to have the bratty kid but sometimes I can't help but laugh. That's just Max. He is sweet and mean and nothing in between! He is wild and entertaining and keeps us on our toes! He will only sit still when he is drinking his bottle or if he hears Elmo's voice. I wish he still loved to cuddle but he is too busy for cuddling. He is constantly on the go until he hits the wall of exhaustion and then he just wants to be put in his crib with his paci and left alone. He no longer wants to cuddle or be rocked. He just wants to be in his bed... which is really nice! I'm glad he loves his bed... but I do miss my cuddle bug!! Hopefully someday he will want to cuddle with mommy again. Until then I will chase him around and take whatever slobbery open mouth kisses I can get!