The Cruthirds Clan: Happy Birthday Reid!

Obviously I am WAAAAAAAY behind on the blog and I honestly havent had the motivation to play catch up until now. With that said, here is where I needed to start back up and document the birth of our sweet baby boy, Reid Alexander. I will spare some of the actual birth details, but as far as his birth story, here it is....

On Tuesday morning (4/12/11), I went for me weekly checkup and my doc told me I was dialated to a 4 and she was surprised that I had not gone into labor yet. Especially since I was early with Pierson. I had started having some consistent contractions that weekend before but they were only 8 minutes apart and then they eventually went away. Not to worry though because I was still only 38.5 weeks. Needless to say, she told me a few things to expect following the checkup and since I was dialated to a 4. I left and went about my errands before picking up little miss from MDO. That afternoon once Ryan got home, I went for a walk, no children, no dog, no stroller. It was wonderful! I was able to listen to music and just pray about all this things that were unknown waiting ahead of me. I was also praying for patience as I was really wanting to naturally go into labor and was ready for him to come! I must admit, I took quite a power walk :) Hoping to maybe help things along. I had been having minor contractions for about a month whenever I would exercise, but I was having some more intense ones on this walk and there were a few other things that I will leave out that were going on, but I just thought that was the aftermath of the doc appointment and being dialated. So...came home, showered, had dinner and went to bed. Woke up at 4:00 for a usual bathroom trip and what I thought was just part of that stage in pregnancy was obvisouly not anymore and seemed that my water had broken once again. I wanted to start timing my contractions because I remembered that they came on pretty strong once my water broke with Pierson so I laid back in bed with the stopwatch. Waiting and waiting and nothing. A few contractions here and there but nothing at all past uncomfortable and far apart. So, I went back to sleep for a bit and then got back up and showered, just in case :) I told Ryan what was going on and he strongly encouraged me to call the doctor. I was still waiting for contractions to get stronger, but I called and they told me to go ahead and go in and get checked. I did NOT want to do this yet. I did not want to go and have to sit for hours at the hospital waiting, I would rather wait at home. I called Ryan and let him know and he started his way home. I started getting stuff together, getting Pierson taking care of, picking up the house, etc. When Ryan got home, I was moping the floor :) and he was trying to light a fire under me to get me in the car. I finally left around 10:00 and we dropped Pierson off at our dear friends, the McKenzies, house to play. Once we checked in, they confirmed that my water had broken but we werent sure when it had actually broken, while I was walking or during the night. I got checked in and the doctor broke the rest of my water and that is when my contractions really started to kick in finally! Our sweet nurse respected our birth plan to have the baby naturally and let me labor on my own with Ryan. Thankfully, I moved quickly on my own and did not need pitocin either. The contractions were rough to say the least, but my amazing husband and baby daddy :) was right there by my side the entire time. He was so calm and encouraging, I couldn't imagine going through it without him. I got to the point where there was really no break in between and I felt the strong urge to push. Ryan reminded me that when I had reached that point with Pierson, it meant the she was ready and so the nurse checked me and sure enough, Reid was ready for his arrival. My doctor quickly arrived and they prepared everything for delivery and two pushes later, there he was! He arrived at 1:59pm weighing in at 7lbs. 15 oz. and 20.5 inches long! He came out and immediately peed on the doctor!!! They placed him on my chest while they cleaned him up and it was love at first sight. I had wondered how I would instantly love another child the way I loved Pierson and every other mom with multiple children told me that you just do and now I know that is so true. There are a ton of pics to follow so just beware,,,,,

Big sister Pierson meeting her new little bro! She was so sweet to him!

Our happy little family of FOUR

Pierson opening her gift from baby Reid :)

Our precious little boy

Back at home, Pierson getting spoiled by her grandparents!

Reid getting welcomed to his new home with Pop

Nana and Pawpaw

Checking everything out

Big sister wanting to be a part of all the action with her baby brother

The first expereince of getting peed on in the bath :)

I've been trying my best to get a little special Pierson time when Reid is sleeping during the day and one of the first things she wanted to do was have "pink toes" like mommy. She got her very first pedicure :) I was shocked at how still she as while I painted them!