Introducing....

Shane Edward Hauser

November 23, 2011 1:42pm

7lbs 15oz and 19 inches

We are so thrilled to announce that the newest addition to our family has made his arrival.  He is beyond perfect and has instantly found his place in our home and in our hearts.  We were able to leave the hospital with him on Thanksgiving which was so fitting since he is such a blessing to our family.

I wanted to take a little time to blog about his birth story while I had a chance, and while I still remember the details of the day.  This past Tuesday the 22nd I had my 37 week prenatal appointment.  I usually go to these on my own, but for some reason Greg and I thought he should come too in case the doctor had any important news regarding my progress.  She did.  I was now 5-6cm dilated and she said she hoped my bags were packed and that we were a close drive to the hospital.  She also stripped my membranes to see if she could induce some real contractions or get my water to break.  She sent us on our way, and told me if I felt anything resembling time-able contractions to give them a call.

Greg was now officially nervous, and took the remainder of the day off to come home with me.  We lined up people to watch Nathan in case anything should happen, packed the car up, and then spent the day playing the wait-and-see game.  Nothing happened that day, and I had a very restless night of sleep. 

It was around 5:00am when I realized it wasn't just my mind keeping me up, I was also having some cramping. They felt like mild menstrual cramps, and were pretty consistent.  I decided to start timing them and they seemed to be happening every 8 minutes for about 50 seconds each.  They were hardly painful though, just more annoying than anything.  We woke up for the day at 7:00 and they were still happening.  I have always been told that when I have contractions I will KNOW they are happening.  This was not the case since they weren't causing much discomfort, but since they were consistent I decided to call the doctor on call.  He said he didn't want to take any chances since I was so far dilated and to come on in!

We got ready, had some breakfast, and gave Nathan some hugs and kisses while he stayed behind with Auntie Marissa.  The car ride over was uneventful, and if anything I was nervous because the "contractions" felt like they had completely gone away.  I really didn't want to get sent home!

We got into the nurse station at 8:30 and they hooked me up to the contraction monitor.  To the nurse, it seemed like I was just having some uterine irritations with a few mini contractions thrown in.  She checked and I was still at a 5-6.  She spoke with the doctor (Dr. Kaminskas was the doctor on call that day) and they both agreed that they would hate to send me home so they wanted me to go walk the halls for an hour. 

Greg and I paced back and forth for an hour, and I was really starting to doubt why I was even there.  I wasn't feeling anything at this point, and I had multiple nurses walk by telling me I looked way too happy to be walking the halls.  Greg and I were already talking about what we would do the rest of the day once they told us to go home.  The hour was up, and they hooked me back up to the monitors.  It was much of the same, and she commented on how I was still smiling.  It didn't sound promising.  She checked me again and what do you know...I was at a good 7cm now!  They were getting my room ready! :)

I got checked in at 11:00am to our room and got all set up in my bed.  They wanted to give me my epidural first since Dr. Kaminskas was planning on breaking my water.  It seemed so strange to be getting an epidural when I wasn't in any pain, but I agreed it would be better to do it sooner than later.  I got my epidural at 11:30 and then they broke my water at 12:45pm.  I was already 8cm by this point. Dr. Kaminskas said to plan on about laboring for another 2 hours or so before I began pushing.  She was going to go to lunch and said to press the call button if I felt any kind of pressure.

I totally interrupted her lunch 30 minutes later when I felt like I could no longer hold back the urge to push.  The nurse ran in as soon as she was paged and checked me....I was a full 10cm and his head was right there!  3 assistant nurses ran in and all started rushing to set up the room, and they were literally telling me to hang on because the doctor was running up from the cafeteria.  She got there just in time....within 5 minutes my beautiful baby boy came into this world kicking and screaming! The whole room was cheering as they put him on my chest, and I was so overcome with happiness.  He was so beautiful with his dark hair, big chubby cheeks, and pouty little lips just like his big brother. 

Speaking of his big brother, Nathan came to the hospital a few hours after he was born.  We were both nervous and excited for them to meet, and were thrilled when Nathan greeted Shane with the biggest smile I have ever seen.  He is being such a great help so far, and says "awww my baby brother" about a hundred times a day.  Our home is filled with so much love right now and I find myself constantly fighting back tears with how truly lucky I feel to have my boys.  Shane has already added so much to our family...Christmas definitely came early in our house this year!