On Saturday September 6th, our second son arrived, just 2 days after his expected due date of September 4th. The last 3 weeks have been busy and tiring, but awesome and special every step of the way. Like when Landon was born (blog post here), here's a set of updates & stories I wanted to be sure I recorded and shared.
Cohen's Birth Story
Real contractions started on Saturday morning at 7:30am. I woke up feeling fine, having had a great night's sleep the night before. When I got out of the shower, I felt my first 'real' contraction, got goosebumps, and instantly knew that this was the real deal (after having many contractions on Thursday and Friday that didn't feel anything like this one). For the next 2 hours or so, they came every 10-12 minutes. I sat comfortably in the rocker in Cohen's nursery, wrapped in a blanket, with plenty of water to drink, and a heating pad on my lower back. For some reason, Campbell's Chicken & Rice soup sounded really good, so Sean went to Safeway to pick me up a can. I ate soup and half a peanut butter sandwich at the dining room table with Landon, breathing through my contractions as they came.
By 2pm, they were about 6 minutes apart and starting to get more painful, and a lot more intense. Sean called the hospital, and they urged us to "come on in"...so, we did.
After saying goodbye to Landon (and crying like a baby afterward), we drove to the hospital. We arrived at Stanford at 3pm, and found out I was 4cm. They admitted us at 3:45, I got my IV, put on my awesome hospital gown with moons and stars on it, and said "Yes" when our nurse, Mari, offered the epidural. Got my epidural by 4:30, and it was a good thing because the anesthesiologist was called into an emergency c-section when he was finishing me up. He joked that it could have been 2hrs or more before he would have been able to come back to me...whew! Lucky us.
Dr. Parman arrived at 5pm. She checked me (5cm), broke my water, and said that our boy had a "full head of hair" just like his brother!
At 6:25pm, I was sitting pretty, no longer in pain, and watching college football with Sean. They checked me at 7:30, and I was only 6cm (bummer, as I thought I would be further along). Less than 90mins later, my nurse checked me again based on how I was acting, how Cohen was reacting to the contractions, and to our surprise I was complete...10cm and ready to push! Only, I WASN'T ready to push, yet. The epidural was only working on my right side, so I was in a lot of pain, and I wasn't MENTALLY ready to push. I remember how long I had to push with Landon, and wanted a few moments to "gear up" and get ready for the work ahead. My nurse and doctor were happy to let me "labor down" because the baby was doing fine. So, for nearly an hour Sean and I talked and breathed, and prepped...getting ready for the big debut. (If it were up to Sean, I would have just pushed him out...but, I knew I needed a little time, and I'm so so glad I got it).
I started pushing at 10pm, and Cohen was out at 10:50pm! 16hrs of labor (compared to 37 with Landon) and 50mins of pushing (compared to 3hrs with Landon).
Was Cohen born "sunny side up"?
Yep! To our surprise, little man made his debut into the world face up...which is pretty uncommon, and supposedly *much* more painful. Good thing my epidural did its job!
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| 40 weeks pregnant! |
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| Us...just minutes after Cohen was born! |
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| Cohen's first photo |
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| All dressed up, and ready to go home! |
Cohen's Birth Story
Real contractions started on Saturday morning at 7:30am. I woke up feeling fine, having had a great night's sleep the night before. When I got out of the shower, I felt my first 'real' contraction, got goosebumps, and instantly knew that this was the real deal (after having many contractions on Thursday and Friday that didn't feel anything like this one). For the next 2 hours or so, they came every 10-12 minutes. I sat comfortably in the rocker in Cohen's nursery, wrapped in a blanket, with plenty of water to drink, and a heating pad on my lower back. For some reason, Campbell's Chicken & Rice soup sounded really good, so Sean went to Safeway to pick me up a can. I ate soup and half a peanut butter sandwich at the dining room table with Landon, breathing through my contractions as they came.
By 2pm, they were about 6 minutes apart and starting to get more painful, and a lot more intense. Sean called the hospital, and they urged us to "come on in"...so, we did.
After saying goodbye to Landon (and crying like a baby afterward), we drove to the hospital. We arrived at Stanford at 3pm, and found out I was 4cm. They admitted us at 3:45, I got my IV, put on my awesome hospital gown with moons and stars on it, and said "Yes" when our nurse, Mari, offered the epidural. Got my epidural by 4:30, and it was a good thing because the anesthesiologist was called into an emergency c-section when he was finishing me up. He joked that it could have been 2hrs or more before he would have been able to come back to me...whew! Lucky us.
Dr. Parman arrived at 5pm. She checked me (5cm), broke my water, and said that our boy had a "full head of hair" just like his brother!
At 6:25pm, I was sitting pretty, no longer in pain, and watching college football with Sean. They checked me at 7:30, and I was only 6cm (bummer, as I thought I would be further along). Less than 90mins later, my nurse checked me again based on how I was acting, how Cohen was reacting to the contractions, and to our surprise I was complete...10cm and ready to push! Only, I WASN'T ready to push, yet. The epidural was only working on my right side, so I was in a lot of pain, and I wasn't MENTALLY ready to push. I remember how long I had to push with Landon, and wanted a few moments to "gear up" and get ready for the work ahead. My nurse and doctor were happy to let me "labor down" because the baby was doing fine. So, for nearly an hour Sean and I talked and breathed, and prepped...getting ready for the big debut. (If it were up to Sean, I would have just pushed him out...but, I knew I needed a little time, and I'm so so glad I got it).
I started pushing at 10pm, and Cohen was out at 10:50pm! 16hrs of labor (compared to 37 with Landon) and 50mins of pushing (compared to 3hrs with Landon).
Yep! To our surprise, little man made his debut into the world face up...which is pretty uncommon, and supposedly *much* more painful. Good thing my epidural did its job!
Seriously, 8lbs 13oz?
Yes. We all expected an 8lb baby, but as soon as they put him on my belly Dr. Parman said, "I don't know...you might have a "Niner" there". She was almost right...little (big) man weighed in at 8lbs 130z, over a pound bigger than Landon and just about the same length (21+ inches).
Who delivered Cohen?
Dr. Mary Parman, the same doctor who was on call and delivered Landon 3 years ago! She, and our nurse Mari were fantastic: patient & understanding when they needed to be, and all-business and focused when they needed to be. Dr. Parman, Mari, Sean, and I were a great team!
While on vacation in Mexico, I was poolside near a Canadian family with a small baby boy. His name was Cohen...and he was a doll!. I immediately liked the name. After doing a little research I learned that it is a very common Jewish last name, and growing in popularity as a first name in Canada, but still not very popular in the US. When I shared it with Sean, he immediately liked it. So, we sat on in a for a few months before deciding (for sure) that his name would be Cohen. Michael is middle name, which is the same as Sean's.
Is it true that minutes after Cohen was born, Stacy said "I would do it again...like tomorrow!"?
Yes...to which Sean replied, "let's talk again a little later!" No joke...I felt great after Cohen was born. Exhausted certainly, but great! Like I was invincible, in control, and so overwhelmingly happy that I would do it again. So, I suppose we'll wait and see!
Is it true that minutes after Cohen was born, Stacy said "I would do it again...like tomorrow!"?
Yes...to which Sean replied, "let's talk again a little later!" No joke...I felt great after Cohen was born. Exhausted certainly, but great! Like I was invincible, in control, and so overwhelmingly happy that I would do it again. So, I suppose we'll wait and see!
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| Me and my boys (Cohen is under Landon somewhere) |
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| Seriously, it is like Cohen is Landon's long lost twin...just 3 years late! |
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| Big open eyes |
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| Landon, bed head, and baby brother |
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| Little Brother is finally "out of Mommy's belly and living at our home" -Landon |
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| This little one LOVES to snuggle. |
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| ...and, did I mention he has DIMPLES for days. Can't wait for his first smile! |
YAY, I have been waiting for this update. He is so amazing and so are the rest of you. Love love love him!
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