Big Brother

When we brought Alston home to meet Trey, we kept Alston in the car seat and brought him onto the couch where we told Trey his baby brother wanted to meet him. Trey looked at me and then Alston and was clearly confused. He went to touch the baby and then smacked him on the head. Then he pinched his hands and tried to gouge his eyes out. You'll notice both Dave and I holding Trey's hands back in one of the photos. Not the greatest homecoming from a big brother, but at least we got it on video to use later for blackmail. The next few days he was much gentler and excited to see "baby brudda". Trey helps us change Alston's diapers by handing us wipes. He is the first to announce when "Altun" is crying and constantly asks "where'd baby brudda go?" every time we put him in the crib or bassinet. He's very helpful and is very excited to sit next to Alston in the car. Trey and I ran an errand to the store without Dad or Alston and he was very sad not to have his baby brother with him. I think they are going to be great buddies!

Alston's Birth Story

On Monday, November 3rd I went in for my weekly OB appointment. Doc checked my cervix and I was dilated 3 cm and up to 60% effaced (from 1 cm and 50% last week). I asked him to strip my membranes. It was quick and somewhat painful ;) Afterward, he did an ultrasound to check the size of the baby because I kept expressing concern about having a 10 pounder. He measured 4 times and claimed the baby was about 7 pounds. I laughed thinking he was way off. I went home and had mildly uncomfortable contractions 10-12 minutes apart for the rest of the day. I had an emotional breakdown on the drive home, thinking about how little time I had left with just my one baby, so I picked up Trey and we went to Chik fil A and played in the play area, then went to the tot area at San Tan Mall. I'm sure I wore him out, because he actually asked to take a nap when we got home. Not normal!

I continued to have contractions through the night and next day, about 8-10 minutes apart. They were not painful, but it was hard to get comfortable. The next day, Trey and I ran errands and picked up some castor oil. I heard it can get labor going if you're about 3 cm dilated, so I thought I'd give it a try. I took the full dose with Dr. Pepper (gagging it down the whole way). It tasted like vaseline!! I put Trey down and took a one hour nap. I woke up and nothing. I decided to do some cleaning and was able to finish the kitchen and bathrooms when the castor oil "kicked in". It cleaned me out very quickly. I was actually quite excited about that because I got seriously backed up when I had Trey. I remember that being the most difficult part after having a baby! I took castor oil at 1pm, "cleaned out' at 4pm, then felt strong contractions come on at 5:45. They were immediately 5-8 minutes apart. After the 4th one, I had to lock myself in the bathroom to get away from Trey because they hurt. I realized that I was actually in labor, so I called Dave at 6:15 to have him come straight home from work. He got off at 6:30 and had a 10 minute drive. Once he got home, I told him I was ready to go to the hospital. The contractions were now 3-5 minutes apart and I had to sway and crouch to find relief. Dave was rubbing my back through a lot of the contractions and Trey kept coming up and rubbing my leg saying, "you ok, mommy?" It was really sweet.

At about 7pm, we left Trey with Aunt Ree and headed for the hospital. I got to triage and had to wait to be seen. When I got in, the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and I was at a 4. I was so irritated! I thought for sure I would be farther than that with how close together they were! An hour later, I was at a 5 and 75% effaced. They admitted me. I wanted to try the jacuzzi tub, but after over an hour of being forced to lay in a bed with contractions, I was ready for my epidural. I'm glad I requested it then, because it took FOREVER to get it in!

The nurses walked me to my delivery room and tried to get an IV in my arm. The first nurse tried twice and couldn't get a vein, then she tried my hand and blew the vein. I have a massive bruise on my hand from it still. After about 20 minutes trying to get the IV in, all while remaining "as still as possible" through several contractions, they got it in and I was able to sign for my epidural. The anesthesiologist came fairly quickly after that. It took her 3 tries and roughly 45 minutes to get the epidural in. She told me I had a very "bony back". After about 10 contractions in the most uncomfortable position ever, I was so done. I jokingly asked for a c-section as the epidural was starting to kick in. After the epidural kicked in, the nurse checked and found me at 6cm. We invited family in from the waiting room and sat around and chatted for a few hours. At about midnight, I asked for visitors to leave so Dave and I could rest. Around 1am, I felt tons of pressure and called for the nurse. She checked me and told me what I was feeling was the bulge from the bag of amniotic fluid. She told me it was right there and would burst soon. About an hour after that, I felt even more pressure and called her again. The nurse came in, checked me and found me at a 7. About 2 minutes after she checked me I felt a gush and a tremendous amount of pressure. She checked again and I was fully dilated and effaced!

The nurse, Amanda Jo, had me do two "practice pushes" and on the second one, asked me to stop. I wanted to push so bad, I felt so much pressure! She had me pant through the contractions and called the doctor because the baby's head was crowning. We called the girls back into the delivery room and Dr. Beck came a couple minutes later. I was still panting thru contractions when Dr. Beck came in. Finally, I could push! 3 short pushes later and he was out. He had a perfectly round little head and a cry just like a little girl. He was so much smaller than Trey, it was strange. I fell in love.

Alston Alan Rich
November 4, 2009
2:06 am
7 pounds 14 ounces
21 inches long

The Negotiator

My Trey has become quite the negotiator. I really think he turned into a 5-year-old over the last couple weeks. Last night I went in to check in him before I went to bed and found him in this position. I thought it was cute and very unlike him, so I snuck back in with the camera to take a picture. Dumb idea. He woke up 5 minutes later screaming. I went back in to console him and he wouldn't hear it. He wanted out. I kept saying, "it's time for bed", "lay down, go to sleep" and he tried everything in the book. "I don't like it. I don't like it". "I take a nap before". "I want to play". I ended up giving him a hug and telling him to go back to sleep and walked out of the room. Where does he learn these things?! The funny part was that he hadn't taken a nap at all yesterday. He wouldn't go back to sleep for another 2 hours. Not fun when you have a newborn. He's such a smarty pants though. It's been so fun to see him learn and grow.

Alston: One Week Old

Alston had his one week appointment today. He is as perfect as can be. He's grown an inch already and has returned back to his birth weight. Some of Alston's recent feats are: he can projectile poop (Mommy is usually the target), he only cries during diaper changes and when he's hungry, he sleeps 4-5 hour stretches at night, he has survived many attacks by his big brother Trey, he sleeps A LOT, he has serious diaper rash because he never tells us when his diaper is dirty, he cries like a girl and he is so sweet we love him to pieces!