Tyler & Jodi

Tucker James. Born 4.24.13. 6 p.m. (5:59 to be exact) 7 lbs 12 oz. 21". 

This little guy is now 17 days old. We're absolutely in love with our little monkey.

What a crazy experience this all has been! So here's a rundown on all the chaos...

4/22
I had my regular 39 week check-up with Doc. I was at a 4 and the amniotic sac was "bulging" through the cervix. (What kind of a term is that?) Doc notified me he was going out of town on Thursday so he wanted to induce me the next day! I freaked out. I cried as I left the office because it really didn't hit me until then that Baby was coming soon.

4/23
6 pm: My mom arrived from Salt Lake.
8 pm: My mom, Tyler, and I checked in to the hospital. Tyler had a final exam the next morning at 9 am so we were in a hurry, hoping Baby would arrive before then. Little did we know he was going to take his sweet time...
10 pm: I'm induced with Pitocin. Still at a 4.

4/24
2 am: I start to feel my first pain. It was just dull lower back pain. No contraction pain. I'm only at 6!
6 am: I get the epidural. (Still at a 6. Pain is not any worse. Just feels like bad period back pain.) I didn't really think the epidural was painful, just shocking and weird feeling. About 10 minutes later I feel no pain at all. I felt the best I felt since I got pregnant. Absolutely no aches or pains. It felt pretty dang good. Oh, and in goes the catheter. How pleasant.
7:30 am: Still a 6! Doc breaks my water. Tyler decides he's not going to his test. I guess a baby takes priority. For the next few hours we just hang out, take little naps, chat, and watch tv.
3 pm: I am finally a 10.
4 pm: I start pushing. Through the next hour I'm pushing hard but Baby is going nowhere. My contractions actually get further apart and weaker. Apparently my uterus doesn't know how to deliver a baby.
5 pm: Doc gives us a talk and says we have three options: continue pushing with little hope of progress, use a vacuum, or c-section. The last thing I wanted was a c-section so we opted for the vacuum. Doc suctions it onto his little head and through the next hour pulls way hard on the attached string (Tyler said Doc's hands were shaking he was pulling so hard) as I push as hard as I could. I was pushing so hard my glasses were steaming up. With two pushes left to go, Doc gave me a wicked episiotomy, cutting from hole to hole.
6 pm: After 20 hours, little Tucker made his appearance! Doc plopped him on my tummy and immediately my mother bear instincts took over as I started acting a fool, freaking out because he wasn't making any noise. He got cleaned up and while he did I asked to see the placenta, immediately throwing up afterward. Gross. We snuggled and got acquainted.

The next two days in the hospital were pretty horrific. I swear my tailbone broke in half it hurt so bad. I couldn't really move at all while I was in the hospital. The first time they got me up to go walk to the bathroom I blacked out. I lost a lot of blood from the episiotomy. I proceeded to look like a legit ghost for the next week because I had no blood left in my body.

The recovery's been rough but we are just so happy to have little Tucker here and that he is healthy! He had jaundice but not enough to go under the lights and it's all gone now. He's been a lot of fun so far. He makes the funniest faces! And I could just stare at him all day. He definitely looks like his dad when he was a newborn, except for the hair. Tucker's got brown hair and a lot more of it than his dad did. He's pretty active and actually doesn't sleep a whole lot. He hates to have his diaper changed and would love to be on the boob all day if he could. Breastfeeding was really rough the first week until I called a lactation specialist and she told me to lie down. Hello! Huge difference. We're learning a lot and are loving getting to know each other.

Welcome to the world Baby Tucker!