#silas david

It’s been a while! Tumblr hasn’t been working on my phone but baby is finally here! Silas David was born 2/28/17 at 6:09PM. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19.75 inches long, born at 40w6d gestation. He is his daddy’s TWIN! He passed all of his tests and we were released on March 2nd. Birth story coming soon!

I scheduled an induction at my 40 week appointment for Tuesday, February 28th (1 day shy of 41 weeks). I arrived at the hospital around 8:30am already at 5cm and contracting on my own but didn't even feel it! My doctor decided not to use pitocin because I was having regular contractions. The labor and delivery nurses tried 3 times to get an IV in and each time it failed (this was super painful). After about an hour they finally called the IV specialist and got my IV placed. My doctor ruptured my water at 10 am and I started to really feel the contractions so I got an epidural at 10:35. The IVs seriously hurt worse than getting the epi! After the epidural things slowed down a little so I started pitocin at 11:35. Silas' heart rate had some minor decelerations that weren't solved by switching positions so they stopped the pitocin after an hour. They checked me for dilation around 2:15 and I was 6cm. Got checked again at 3:15 and I was up to a 7. By 3:45 I was 8cm dilated and they started the pitocin again to get me the last 2cm. Baby tolerated the pitocin well this time and by 4:30 I was 9.5cm and 100% effaced! At 5:15 my contractions were coming every minute and a half to 2 minutes apart so I knew I was getting really close to delivering. I was fully dilated and effaced but made the decision to allow baby to descend by himself to save energy. I began practice pushing at 5:54 with the nurse, my doctor was called in at 6:04 and after seeing how I was pushing rushed to put on her gown and gloves. She told me to stop pushing but his head was delivered after I stopped anyways. She told me to push one more time and he was out! Silas was delivered at 6:09pm after 15 minutes and 6 contractions with his cord wrapped around his body. I cried tears of joy! I had a mirror to watch his entry into the world and both DJ and my mom were in the room. I had minimal tearing on my labia but otherwise no tearing on my actual vagina/perineum or any other complications! Baby had a small blood vessel burst in each eye because of the fast delivery but the doctor said it's normal and will clear up on its own. We did skin to skin for an hour and I breastfed him, an experience I'll remember forever. I can't believe my labor was that fast and easy! I expected to be miserable but the worst part was the IVs and being thirsty because I was only allowed ice chips but wanted liquid water. I feel so lucky to have had a vaginal birth with no complications that resulted in a healthy baby boy 🍀

1 week update! Silas weighed 7lbs 9oz at his 1 week appointment, 2 ounces shy of his birth weight but his pediatrician isn't concerned and says he's gaining about an ounce a day. He ate 2 ounces every 3 hours for his first week and is using Similac Pro Advance for immune support to be switched to regular Similac Advance when we finish the current tub. I'll make a post explaining why we chose to formula feed later. He wore preemie size diapers for the first week and just moved up to newborn at exactly 1 week old. The newborn diapers are still too big for him but the preemies didn't have enough absorbency. He's still in newborn clothes and will be for the foreseeable future (depending on the brand). Koala Baby and Gerber onesies fit best and are the smallest. Carter's is the next best fit. Gerber newborn pants are still a little big though. He sleeps in his crib at night and naps in his bouncer (we only let him sleep for an hour in there before we move him to his crib though). Absolutely HATES diaper changes but loves to pee on me every chance he gets! He tolerates tummy time for a few minutes before fussing. He's doing really well and looks more like his daddy every day ❤😍