Stockton Joins Our Little Family

He's here!!  

Stockton Jean Cullimore was born on October 7th at 10:59pm.  

He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20in long.

This is how our sweet little guy came into this world:

First off, let me start where I left off, at 38 weeks pregnant.  That week my body gave a lot of signs (I will spare you the details) that perhaps I would go into labor on my own and possibly have him before my due date (Oct. 8).  So I got busy doing all the things that you hear to get things rolling, I scrubbed my kitchen floor and did a lot of cleaning around the house, I briskly walked up and down the hills in my neighborhood pushing James in a stroller, I did squats, etc.  I can't say doing these things did not help things progress but they ultimately did not put me in labor.  The only thing that they noticeably did was wear me out haha...Ok, I guess my house needed to be cleaned and it doesn't hurt to get some exercise ;) 

Going into this pregnancy, my doctor said since it was my second I could get induced as early as 39 weeks.  As tempting as that was, I decided to give myself an extra week to let my body do what it needed to do and hopefully go into labor on my own, I just did not want to go past my due date.  So I set up an induction date of October 7th.

Well that weekend it was becoming apparent that I was not going to go into labor on my own but I was ok with that at that point.  Unlike my last few weeks being pregnant with James, this time my body was ready.  I was dilated to a 3 and other things were happening that led me to believe it would be a lot smoother this time around.

Sunday night the hospital called us to let us know that we were scheduled at 11am to come in and get started but to call an hour before to make sure things were running as planned.  Monday morning we called and they had a few unplanned patients that day and were waiting for a room to become free.  After a few frustrating phone calls telling us "we are still waiting" and one that said "it'll be a few hours", we finally got the go-ahead to come in at 3:15pm.  It was so hard to wait.  We got into our room and I got changed and then we had to wait...again.  It was good though because during this time, Carson was able to give me a blessing.  I am so grateful to have the Priesthood in my family.  By 5pm I was hooked up to Pitocin and we were getting the party started (only 6 hours late). 

Soon after they hooked me up, the doctor came in and broke my water.  I was still only a 3 at this point.  The doctor left to perform a c-section at American Fork hospital and told me when he got back, I was all his.  I thought, Well hopefully this doesn't last two days then like it did with James or you may be re-thinking that statement.  ;)

This time around we decided we would like our family there with us to welcome this boy into the world.  Of course only the women were invited :)  Andrea was not there but instead was so kind to offer to take James while this was going on and we are so so very grateful for her. Courtney was so nice to take pictures for us with her nice camera and did such a great job capturing this special experience for us.  Cardin and Brandi were not able to be there in person but we were able to FaceTime them.  Crazy thing- technology these days.  Glad they were able to be there with us.  

Our family started showing up just as my contractions started to pick up.  Kristy and Lisa were great doula's.  So was Carson :) I figured I would get an epidural cause I'm a wuss but for some reason I wanted to see how far I could handle the pain.  I really wanted to experience as much of it naturally as I could handle so I put off having the epidural.  It was nice because as the contractions picked up, I found it was much more bearable to get out of the bed and try different positions to help me get through the contractions.  Getting up and allowing gravity to help also helped speed up the process.  As soon as I got out of the bed, I was at a 5 within an hour or so.  

That's some intense back rubbing!

You can tell when I'm having a contraction 

and when it's my "rest time".

"Oh man this hurts."

"Ok, we're good, someone get me some ice chips." :)

After I reached a 5, the contractions started coming quicker and were more intense.  I can not say there weren't any tears shed and maybe a few painful outbursts but I was getting through the contractions.  It actually wasn't near as painful as it was with James and I only hit a 4 with him before I got the epidural.  Maybe I just knew what to expect? 15 minutes later, my nurse checked me again and I was at an 8.  I went from a 5 to an 8 in 15 minutes!!  Then I panicked and said, "Get the Anesthesiologist!"  It's a good thing he was able to come fairly quickly as I will tell you my delivery was again not ideal.

getting the epidural

ahhh much better

Shortly after getting the epidural it was time to push!  It was a little after 9pm at this point.  We couldn't believe how quick things were going.  Such a better experience this time around thus far.  Of course my doctor was back and "I was all his" so it was go-time!  Everything was smooth sailing up until this point.  I began pushing and pushed for quite some time when my doctor informed us that Stockton was posterior and was stuck on my pubic bone.  I was worried I was faced with the possibility of a c-section but my doctor reassured me that it would not be necessary.  

I was so grateful I hurried and got the epidural when I had.  I really believe I could have done it without medication if my delivery was as fast and smooth as my labor but I can not imagine going through the delivery I had without any medication.  I pushed for just shy of 2 hours and excuse my being so graphic, the doctor had to reach up there and try and turn Stockton.  When that wasn't working, he acted as forceps and aided in getting Stockton's poor little head under my pubic bone.  

  

We were all a little worried.  I kept hearing my mom say, "Come on little guy, come on."

Finally after an emotional and grueling two hours of pushing, baby Stockton was here!  The poor little guy had a huge purple goose egg on the top of his head but he was here and was healthy.

Overall this time around, the experience was SO much better.  It's always such a great, spiritual experience bringing a child into the world, but it was much easier on all of us this time :)

We can't believe how much Stockton looks like James when he was a newborn.  

James has done so well adjusting to having a little brother.  This was my biggest concern and so far I'm not sure why I was so worried about it.  James adores Stockton! He will come up and rub his head and give him kisses.  He loves to help me change his diaper and get him dressed.  He's a good little helper.  He will say in a high pitched voice, "Aww look at him!  He's so cute!"  or "Ohhh he's looking at me." haha he's so sweet.

Carson goes back to work this week so we'll see how it goes! Wish us luck!  Carson has been such a big help.  He is such a great father and husband.  I couldn't have asked for a better companion and father to my children. 

Love my little family of 4!