If it wasn't for the complications with my delivery with Andrew, I'm pretty sure I would've been fine with Mason staying put for a few weeks past his due date. However, since I was trying to make sure Mason wasn't too much bigger than Andrew was, we tried to be induced a couple weeks early. That didn't work out and he ended up being almost 2 weeks late instead...
I think I covered our attempts to be induced in enough detail so I'll skip ahead to the trip to the hospital that ended with us actually bringing home our baby!
Going to the hospital for the third time made for a very interesting start. We basically parked in the same area we'd parked the other two visits and walked in like we owned the place. It felt very fake. Even though we knew we'd be leaving with a baby for sure this time, we were calmer than the other times. Maybe knowing we would finally meet our baby was why we were calm.
My midwife broke my water right away and then started me on Pitocin not long after that (around 11:00 am). My contractions continued to get stronger and were fairly consistent so they just kept gradually increasing the Pitocin and letting things progress as naturally as possible. Before long I was 4 to 5 cm dilated and was ready for the epidural. I tried to wait it out a bit because I was told that working through the pain could potentially help Mason to lower. However, my contractions went from being able to work through to very painful between two contractions (nothing gradual about it!) so I decided to go for it. Once I got the epidural I felt better instantly. This epidural affected me differently than the last time - I was actually able to move my legs!! It was fabulous. At around 11:30 pm I was checked and was told I was fully dilated. This was after a couple hours of laying on my stomach with one leg up on a stack of 5 pillows - another attempt to hopefully get Mason to lower! Even though I was fully dilated, my midwife chose to wait a while before having me push - this was another step to help lower the chances of Mason repeating Andrew's exit... When it was time to push, I did so for about 20 minutes and was finally able to meet (AND HOLD!) Mason. I didn't realize how much I missed out on by not being able to hold Andrew right away! It was indescribable how wonderful it was to have that time with my baby.
It was definitely love at first site! I was very excited to be having another boy, and when I was finally able to meet him, it felt exactly right. I was looking forward to seeing Andrew and to have the two of them together. I kept thinking about how fun it will be to have stories of "my boys"... It felt great to have Mason join our family. And even thought it's cliche - our family definitely felt complete!
After an easy delivery, we were moved to the recovery room. It was a small room, but thankfully that didn't stop people from stopping by to meet Mason. Grandma Cindy brought Andrew and Alli to the hospital later that morning - they were our first guests. We had Andrew come in alone so that he could be the first to meet Mason. It was so fun to see them together for the first time. Andrew was the first to meet him but Grandma Cindy was the first to hold him. Throughout the day we had a lot of visitors. And even though we were exhausted, it was great to see our friends and family and be able to introduce Mason to all the people who already loved our little guy!
His visitors: Grandma Cindy, Alli, Stephanie, Grandma & Grandpa Cain, Ryean-Marie, Aunt Melanie, Madison, Brooke, Michael & Leslie, The Gamradts, Great Grandma & Grandpa Ellyson.
Note: Grandpa Mel had to wait a couple days due to the timing of the work that needed to be done on the farm (apparently Mason forgot to check his schedule!) and Ryan Tuomisto was unable to make it because he was sick. Also, Uncle Ed was there but they got kicked out before he had a chance to hold him. Aunt Melissa would've loved to be there, but found the drive from South Carolina to be a bit tricky...
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We are excited to introduce Mason Cain Dyk...
He was born on June 28th at 1:01 am. He's a big boy - he weighs 9 pounds 11 ounces and is 21 inches long!
Everything went great and after all the wait, we couldn't have asked for a better experience with the delivery and recovery. The midwives & nurses were joking with us that we were going to stick with plan A. 'Plan A' included the perfect outcome anytime something needed to change (for example Mason remained high for quite a while, but 'plan A' included him dropping into position when the time came) or if there was something that made me a little anxious they would remind me that that wasn't included in the plan so not to worry... In the end, we literally had the best experience from start to finish. Our nurses were wonderful, the midwife that delivered Mason (Peggy Kibble) was fabulous, and everything that needed to work itself out for the delivery to be a success fell into place without anything uncomfortable or scary needed to make it happen. And I'll spare you the rest of the details but even the little things that you would want to be avoided were avoided and we're on our way to being 100%!
Andrew is pretty excited that Mason 'came out'. When he visited us in the hospital the first thing he said was that he wanted to bring him home. Then he asked to give him a big kiss. And to top it off, he told him he loved him before he left. He's going to be a wonderful big brother (at least until he realizes what it really means...). :)Thank you to everyone who has been thinking and praying for us. Thank you for all the visits while we were in the hospital and all great gifts for Mason and Andrew. We truly appreciate you all!
It's great to be home and we're looking forward to figuring out how to function as a family of four!!
