Creating Cruz..20 hour Labor & 2 weeks w/o sleep!

Are babies magical? YES! Is it magical to be 41 weeks.... big and pregnant & have to be induced into labor because your kid is so comfortable up there? No!

Those that followed my pregnancy know that I had a pretty pleasant 9 months! Check out my youtube channel for weekly Pregnant with Lacey videos, if you missed those updates. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoJOKQnEy8_9TQl3w8pNKGg

When it came time for this little booger to arrive, he literally refused! It didn't help that we were in the process of closing on our new home and signed the papers a day after his due date. We laugh and say that he was already a posh baby- refusing to come out and live in our apartment.

Preparation:
On Friday, April 7th- we checked into the hospital to be induced. My cervix was showing no signs of opening and pushing Cruz into this world, so we started the 12 hour "softening" process.
While at the hospital, I glanced over at my completely drained husband! He was like the energizer bunny- moving our life from a 2 bedroom apartment to this 2 story home. He got everything in and settled in 2 days. By the time it was game on for the baby, he was already running on fumes.

The nurse woke us up at 4:40am Saturday morning to begin the Pitocin in my IV. This medication was going to bring on some hard and fast contractions and start opening up my cervix to get this kid out of there! It was a slowwwww day! My family arrived about 9am with "Team Cruz" t-shirts. I was only 1 cm dilated, so I felt terrible that they would have to wait so long.

By 6pm Saturday evening, I was only 2cm dilated. My OBGYN came in and saw the disappointment on my face. She decided that it was time to break my water herself. OUCCHHHHH!! She reached up there with a tool that looked like a knitting needle and POP! "That should get this party started!"
10 mins later- WOW! My contractions started coming with zero warning. My grandmother came to my side and told me to squeeze and started going on a rant about how easy her labor experiences were and I just zoned out. I was in extreme pain- every 2 minutes at this point. My nurse had just left for her break and I wanted to scream. I only endured those crazy, earthquake type contractions for 30 minutes before requesting my epidural!
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The anesthesiologist came in and it all happened so fast. They asked my family and Darrance to leave the room. They didn't want him passing out while seeing the needle going into my back!
I squeezed the pillow through a hard contraction, tried not to budge while he stuck this crazy thing into my back...& just like that- ahhhhhh, MAGIC!! I felt nothing and I was in heaven!

At 9pm, We were only at 4cm dilated- so I sent everyone home to rest. My grandmother told the doctor, "I'm not going anywhere until this baby comes and if you all let her sit here too long- I'm going to do this D-Section myself!" She had a serious and threatening tone that made us all laugh. My doctor said calmly, " Well, it's a C- section and when we get to that bridge, your granddaughter will have to make that call."

My poor grandmother snuggled as best she could onto that hard, small couch next to my bed. My aunt nestled at her feet and Darrance placed pillows on the ground for a little bed. My poor baby!
We all tried to get a little rest until 1 am. The nurse checked and said, " Oh yeah! We are at 9cm- let's get ready!" What?! Get Ready? How? It was show time and I had no idea what that meant. She got everything set up in the room, big lights came out of the ceiling and she placed a large mirror at the foot of the bed for me to watch. "I don't think I want to see," I said. The nurse felt like it would be motivation to push harder.

Delivery:
I was nervous with only the nurse in the room as I started to push. She reassured me that the doctor and other nurses would come just in time....ummmm what?
It was a short period, but it felt like 2 days of awkward pushing. I could see his head coming out, but I was soooo tired! I felt defeated and as if they were going to have to suction this baby out...I felt like I was failing him as a mom already.
The nurse called for back up and in 2 mins, the room was filled. I pushed for less than 5 minutes with this team in the room and out came my screaming baby! They took him out and placed him directly on my chest. He was slippery and sliding everywhere, they were trying to suction him, I was in complete shock and everything was...just fine! We were all ok! 2:32am, April 9, 2017- He was perfect! 


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Darrance cut the umbilical cord and his proud face was one that I will never forget! I felt a rush of peace and the only thing I could do was tell Cruz, "Mommy is here baby...everything is going to be ok...shhh, shh, shh.."

The next few hours were a blur! We were both so exhausted and being shoved immediately into parent mode was crazy. I couldn't even use the bathroom on my own, Darrance couldn't keep his eyes open and they pull Cruz next to my bed as my full responsibility. The nurse walked out and I was so confused- wait!! That's it? He started to cry and I knew it was time for some boobie action...I don't know how, but we survived that first day! ....barely... Cruz choked on my milk and started turning blue, we pat his back several times but were scared to death, ringing the nurse call button over and over again. She arrived super calm and smiling. LADY!! My baby is choking! Welcome to parenthood, Lacey...

Postpartum:
We didn't say a word to each other as we drove 50 mph all the way home, with Cruz in the backseat and all of our eyes weary. We pulled into our new neighborhood and my heart started beating at a lively pace and I couldn't fight back a big smile. I rubbed my husband's back with pride as we pulled up to our new home with our new baby- " We did it, baby!"

Well, we did that part...but the next two weeks- WHOA!

Breastfeed, they all said. It will be fun and healthy, they all said......Whyyyyy?? Ok, let me stop being dramatic! Knowing all of the health benefits for this sweet baby, I will stop complaining.
To sum up our first two weeks, I'll say that we did the best we could! With minimal sleep, tons of visitors and overall adjustments to life with a newborn- we were completely drained and completed full at the same time!! 

There is no other appropriate response to this whole process other than gratitude...abundant gratitude! Thanks, God....Thank you, Darrance...We are doing it, baby!
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