connor todd wessler

connor todd wessler

27 july 2013

7:26 am

7 pounds 13 ounces 

21 1/4 inches

on friday, july 26th i wrote a blog post with thoughts on being 39 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant. i wrote that i was willing to go a week overdue before being induced this time, but ended the post with, "please be good to your mama little guy and just come...like tonight! ha!" i published it at 9:55 pm and headed out to the family room where dave was playing a video game and laid down on the couch to read a conference talk. around 10:15 pm (i think) i felt a sudden pain in my lower abdomen. i stopped reading and said, "that was a weird feeling!" a few minutes later it happened again and dave said, "maybe you're having a contraction!" it's funny to think that i had birthed 2 babies, but still didn't really know what a contraction felt like! when they initially started i was trying to not get my hopes up, just in case it was false labor. 

the "pain" (which we soon realized were contractions, ha!), began happening fairly regularly (about 7 and a half minutes apart to begin with). when i would feel one begin, i would tell dave and he would start timing it using a handy-dandy app on his phone. the contractions varied in length and intensity while we chatted about the fact that we might be having a baby that night/day!! some of them got harder and harder and i would have to stop talking and breathe through them. finally around midnight i realized, "i really think i'm going to have a baby" and decided i had better take a shower (i had gone to the gym that morning, but had yet to take a shower! yes, a little vanity kicked in...and a desire to be clean! :). even though my contractions weren't consistently spaced or even consistently intense (some were pretty wimpy), at 1:06 am we decided to call the doctor to see what they recommended (as of 4 days earlier i was already 4cm and we didn't know how fast i would progress since i hadn't gone into labor on my own before). the doctor called back at 1:12 am and told us we should come in. at 1:15 am dave called and woke up my parents and told them it was go time! we left our house around 2:00 am (or so) after giving my parents a brief rundown and dave and my dad giving me a blessing (we decided that the middle of the night is definitely the best time to drive down colorado blvd to the hospital!) and by 2:30 am we were on the way to our room (all of the times are thanks to the call history and/or text messages on dave's phone). i had really wanted to have the experience of going into labor (versus being induced like i was with logan and emma) and so i was so excited that our little guy decided to cooperate (and even come early). it was all really exciting! 

 last pregnancy picture

i was between 6 and 7 cm dilated when we got to the hospital 

by 3:47 am i had my epidural in (i think it was actually before that, but that is when i sent dave a text message to come back to the room) and i was feeling good! apparently i was really dehydrated and they pumped 3 liters of fluids into me! 

 once i got hydrated and got my epidural my contractions started to space out and i wasn't really progressing. they suggested starting me on pitocin to augment my labor, but i wanted to wait a little longer and see if my body would do it on its own. dave and i got a little sleep and after a couple of hours i still hadn't progressed and at so at 5:50 am they started me on a low dose of pitocin and by 6:51 am i was ready to start pushing. my regular doctor was out of town and so dr. zarlengo delivered our little guy. we had never met him before, but he was hilarious and literally kept me laughing in between pushes. once again i was so grateful for my epidural because i could laugh at the funny things he would say (like, "let's grease the runway so he can slide right out!") and just enjoy the moment. at 7:08 am i started pushing and connor arrived at 7:26 am (although we didn't know his name yet).  

my positioning while i was pushing was such that i literally watched connor be born. it was amazing and such a miracle! so happy to be holding this guy in my arms! 

 i am so grateful to be able to share these amazing moments with dave (and have him remind me not to hold my breath during contractions!). there is no one i would rather have by my side. he makes me feel like i can do anything! and it just melts me to watch him with a newborn. he is so sweet.

 and suddenly we are the parents of 3 kids!

logan and emma were so excited to meet connor. they couldn't wait to hold him. it just melted my mama heart! and i was so excited to see them. it was pretty crazy to think that in the time that the kids were sleeping (and we would have been sleeping), we had a baby!

emma sat down and immediately held out her arms to hold connor.

not a fan of his first bath

precious! i can't wait to watch these 3 grow up together.

 testing out the carseat

our first picture as a family of five!

i absolutely love my time in the hospital. i could get used to ordering my food and having someone else cook and clean for me! really though, to me the hospital is a sacred place. a place where i can just soak up my fresh from heaven baby without any other distractions. plus i love the special time dave and i got to spend together with connor, just the 3 of us. but i was also excited to head home and be together as a family again (a family with 3 kids! whoa!). the whole experience is just such a miracle and once again i am overwhelmed with the beautiful plan that heavenly father has for us (both as individuals and families), that allows these precious spirits to come to our family, where we can learn and grow together. it is amazing!