To say this blog has taken a seat on the back burner is an understatement. So many things have happened in the last year, the biggest of those being the arrival of our baby boy, Holden at the end of January! In the spirit of being fair (I don’t want to be accused of having a favorite), I decided to share Holden’s birth story, like I did here with Hudson’s.

Holden’s birth story basically started when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in November. For those that aren’t familiar, gestational diabetes, if not properly controlled, can cause babies to be born big. I was already a little nervous because Hudson was a whopping 9lbs 6oz when he was born, so I just assumed we’d have another big baby. On top of managing gestational diabetes, I had a few run-ins with high blood pressure. At the beginning of January, my doctor decided that a scheduled induction would take place due to the risk factors from the GD and the high blood pressure.

I won’t lie and say I didn’t keep wishing Holden would decide to make an appearance on his accord, but that didn’t happen. It worked out well that mom was able to be here to watch Hudson when we went in for the induction though, and that was something we were very grateful for! I can’t tell you how many times I stressed about what we would do with Hudson if Holden came on his own. We have so many friends who are family who would have made it easy, but it was nice not having to stress about that once mom was here.

My original induction was suppose to be for 8am on January 27th. I woke up early that morning ready to go and called at 7am. They were having a pretty busy morning, so our induction ended up getting pushed to 7pm. When we arrived that evening, we got checked in and waited around for a bit (we even got a flyby from one of our good friends from the squadron while we were waiting).

At around 9pm, they started the Pitocin. I was lulled into a false sense of security when contractions started and weren’t terrible (I’d heard awful things about the pain Pitocin causes). My body was responding really well to the Pitocin so after awhile, they decided to break my water. Almost immediately after my water broke, the pain became almost unbearable! At one point (when I was already 8cm), I remember thinking how good a needle in my back sounded. I knew by that time though, it was too late for an epidural. Thankfully the labor process was pretty speedy as far as labor goes.

Unbeknownst to me (because you know, contractions), every time I had a contraction, Holden’s heartbeat dropped pretty low. It turns out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Thankfully he was perfect upon arrival! Our sweet baby boy arrived at 3:18am weighing 8lbs 2oz (tiny to us)! Hudson had arrived at 3:17am, and though they were completely different experiences, their timeline was the exact same! The doctor told me if we had another baby, she’d expect him/her to arrive at 3:19am!

Our hospital stay was only 1 day this time and we ended up seeing our favorite nurse from when Hudson was born! She even remembered us! The other nurses’ faces were priceless when we she came in and we excitedly yelled her name. I’m sure she was thankful she didn’t have me on the first day repeatedly requesting to have the IV taken out like I had with Hudson.

The day after Holden was born and everyone’s blood sugar levels were good, we got the okay to head home! We had one very excited little boy (and his Nan) waiting for us when we got home! Let me tell you, Holden was so very loved by his big brother from the moment he found out about him and Hudson has continued to adore and dote on Holden since then. I love seeing the bond they’ve already created (Hudson is Holden’s favorite and Hudson said Holden is “his person”) and can’t wait to watch it continue to grow!