Ian Glen Koval

He kept us anxiously waiting but he finally arrived!

 

Ian Glen Koval

 

Ian is a happy addition to our family and we are so glad to finally have him here.  Technically, he was a few days early but both Ben and I were convinced he would have come earlier.  It was a lesson in patience for me, especially as I became more and more uncomfortable.  I had been having Braxton Hicks since about 27 weeks, so it didn't seem fair that I spent a huge portion of my pregnancy dealing with contractions!  But Ian is here and that's all that matters. 

 

 

 

The morning started at 4:30am with my 3rd trip to the bathroom for the night and a painful contraction.  I tried not to get excited about the fact that it hurt...I'd had plenty of painful contractions that didn't lead to anything significant.  I went back to bed but didn't sleep well over the next 2 hrs.  I kept waking up with more contractions.  At 6:30am I started keeping track of them...every 8-10 minutes apart.  Luke woke up at 7:30am and I was excited for an excuse to get up and have a distraction, still trying not to get too excited.  Luke and I ate breakfast and watched Blue's Clues. 

 

Soon my contractions were every 7-8 minutes apart and definitely more painful.  I started having to "breath" through them and each time Luke would ask "What's wrong?!"  I'd respond, "My tummy hurts."  And he would sweetly lean over, kiss my huge belly and say "Oh, I sorry...it's ok."  (I have the sweetest boy in the world!) 

 

At this point, I knew we needed to go to the hospital, so Luke and I woke Ben.  I quickly took a shower and my contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes.  After a quick family picture and lots of hugs and kisses for Luke, we left for the hospital.

 

 

We arrived at the hospital at 10am and they took me to triage.  A few days prior at my doctor's appointment I was 3cm dilated.  They quickly agreed with me...I was in labor.  Contractions were coming every 2-3minutes and I was 5cm dilated.  They admitted me, got me hooked up to monitors and started my IV.  I was relying a lot on Ben.  Each contraction seemed to get exponentially worse and Ben is convinced I almost broke his hand during one contraction. We talked about when I should ask for my epidural.  I said "Well, lets see how I feel after the next one..."  I would regret waiting that extra contraction.  I asked for my epidural at 11am...I was now 6cm. 

 

The anesthesiologist finished my epidural at about 11:45am.  I laid down, relieved to soon have some relief...however, it did not come and laying down made it so much worse!  And then my water broke.  It was such a strange sensation...difficult to explain but we knew at this point, it wouldn't be long.

The contractions got so much worse.  And my epidural was not kicking in.  Ben kept hitting the button to give me a dose and finally the anesthesiologist came back and gave me a "stronger" dose.  In the mean time, I'm trying to deal with the contractions.  I did NOT scream.  Ben later told me how funny it was to listen to me.  During contractions all I would say was, "Ooohhh shoot...oh my heck..."  Little did he know, I was thinking a lot worse expletives in my head and trying really hard not to let them out of my mouth :)

I started feeling "pressure" and I was completely dilated...his head was "right there."  The nurses asked me to wait to push because my doctor was finishing another delivery next door.  Finally, right before pushing, my epidural kicked in.  I must say, I was terrified of the thought of delivering naturally, which is why I regretted waiting that one extra contraction before asking for my epidural.  My claim to fame now; I have labored naturally and delivered with an epidural and that is perfectly fine by me! 

When the doctor finally arrived and I was all set up, I pushed maybe 3 times and he was here!  And everyone in the room was shocked!  Ian was 9lbs 5oz and 21 1/4 inches long!
 

 

Poor little guy was born so quickly, his face was bruised and he had some broken blood vessels in his eyes and all over his face.  But he is adorable!  It all happened so quickly, I was overwhelmed when he was finally here.  I couldn't believe it.  My chunky monkey :)

 

My sweet baby

 

Daddy holding Ian for the first time.

It soon sunk in...I have 2 kids! I couldn't believe that either :) But I was anxious for Luke to come meet his brother. Although a little apprehensive at first, that quickly went away and Luke loves Ian!

 

Brothers!

 

Luke thought it was so funny that Ian didn't have a shirt on.  "Where's his shirt?!"

Luke loves his brother!

 The rest of the day was spent cuddling and giving lots of kisses to new Baby Ian.  We all love him so much and again...we're so glad to finally have him here!

Ian's name is very special to us as well.  Ian is Scottish and means "John" in Gaelic; John is Ben's middle name.  And Glen comes from Ian's Great Grandpa Crouch.  We figured Grandpa Crouch would prefer him to be a "one N Glen."  And so...Ian Glen Koval. 

 

Our First Family Picture

Side note: My epidural did end up working REALLY well!  I had Ben push the button a few extra times before delivery and I was numb for hours afterwards!