Welcome Jackson Max!

Our third child and first son was born on June 1, 2013 on his actual due date! I woke up that morning feeling some contractions but went about my business since they were not too hard and I had been having contractions off and on for days. At this point I was already 4 cm and 80% effaced. After about 2 hours of timing they were averaging about 3 min apart and lasting about 40 seconds. Still not terribly hard but we decided to go in and at least get checked. This time around I was NOT wanting to deal with false alarms so I was even hesitant to go in at this point. I had one false alarm with Avery and several with Norah so I was not in the mood (being his due date and all) to be sent home. We had a plan to tell the nurse and doctor on call that if I was at least 5 cm I wanted to stay.
Sure enough I was about 5 cm and the nurse told us that since this is my third baby and had a history of short deliveries, she was going to do everything she could to let me have that baby that day. I was on board and they admitted me right away.
I got the epidural a few hours later but my contractions never picked up. I figured I would go ahead and get it before everything got too bad. My water finally broke shortly after that and we thought for sure we would be holding him very shortly. My body had different ideas though! It never wanted to kick into active labor. According to the monitors, my contractions never got harder (with the exception of a few here and there) and they even seemed to be subsiding. I was getting so discouraged! I really didn’t want to have a super fast labor where I couldn’t get the epidural but since I had the pain meds I was really not wanting this to drag on any more! after about 4 hours we started to request some Pitocin. The doctor on call did not want to give it to me just yet so we waited a bit longer.
**side note: I don’t understand why some doctors wont listen to the patient in situations like this. I was obviously not in a critical situation so I could think rationally. I knew that as soon as I got just a tiny bit of Pitocin I would have the baby almost immediately! I had done this twice before. I think I know my body! She wasn’t even my actual doctor! sheesh
Anyways, sure enough as soon as I got the Pitocin, I had the baby an hour and a half later at 6:15 pm. Could have been about 4 hours earlier if they would have just listened to me and Jeff. Oh well!
We had a healthy big boy weighing in at 9lb 6 oz and 21.25” long!! I knew this whole pregnancy he was going to be huge! I could feel every little ounce of him; I was in so much pain at the end!! Here are some pictures from the hospital:
Waiting and waiting…

Finally here!

We are so excited about having a son! The girls are adjusting greatly. Avery is a little momma to him. She is OBSESSED with babies right now. She is a great helper holding his bottles, changing diapers, baths, etc. She loves to sing to him and gives him kisses any chance she can get. Norah is a little jealous but only here and there. Having Avery around to play with helps with that I think. I was feeding him a bottle the other day and she came and sat next to me, took my hand from his bottle and put it on hers and she took her hands off the bottle. She wanted to be fed like a baby too. It was very cute and I knew right there that she is watching every little move I make and does not want to be forgotten about! Of course, she could never be forgotten but I know that I need to make a conscience effort to give her lots of extra love right now.
I can not believe some times that I have been blessed with 3 beautiful children! It is so surreal that I am at this point in my life. I could not be happier and thank God for Jeff and my babies every day! I could not love anyone or anything deeper and stronger than I do right now. My cup overflows!