Mr. and Mrs. Powell

This is a little long and "word-y" but for my record books :)

We are SO happy this sweet baby is finally here and healthy!

Gosh we love him so!

While feeling a little down, ( the pregnancy emotions were getting to me :) my mom called me on Wednesday night September 23rd and told me she booked a flight for the next day (( Thursday )) to come be with me and keep me sane before the baby came :)

I was so excited.

Excited to have something take my mind of being uncomfortable and playing the "waiting game".

I got really spoiled with Ryan and he came 2 weeks early, so in my book of pregnancy I was already almost a week "over due" even though I was only almost 39 weeks HA.

As most 38 week pregnant women do, I felt like I was about to POP.

Baby boy was measuring big just like his brother so the doctor had scheduled to induce me on Sunday the 27th of Septemeber ( at 39 weeks ) if the baby hadn't come by then.

My moms flight got in Thursday morning September 24th and THAT NIGHT I start having contractions about 7 minutes apart. ( wonderful timing mama! )

They weren't too long or too painful but they were consistent.

Just in case they turned into something more, my in-laws came to get Ryan Thursday night to stay at their house.

( insert tears while I hugged and said goodbye to Ryan and told him how much we loved him and how special he was to us - not knowing if it was the last time it would be just us three before baby came )

After my in-laws took Ryan, my mom, Aaron and I went walking for a couple of hours tracking my contractions with Aaron's "contraction app" on his phone.

Every time I would have a contraction, I would yell "HONEY!" and he would hit the "start" button on his phone HA

We got really good at tracking those crazy things.

We got back to our house around 11 PM from walking - I was EXHAUSTED.

We decided to try and get some sleep and see if anything came of it.

I was awaken on Friday September 25th at 5:30 AM with a hard back pain contraction.

I woke Aaron up squealing - "BABE, I THINK THIS IS IT!"

I had never been so excited to feel pain in my life!

I jumped in the shower and sure enough my contractions were about 4 minutes apart lasting about a minute long each.

Aaron and I knelt and said a prayer, we got our bags together and were out the door by about 6:45 AM heading to the hospital.

We got to the hospital only to find that every delivery room was FULL.

( what the - baby day! - The whole city decided to go into labor that night )

I got checked into Triage and they told me that my contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes and I was dilated to a 3.

The triage doctor told me I had 2 options.

#1. I could wait in triage, get hooked up to IV's, and they could keep tracking me every hour

or option #2. I could go walk around, get something little to eat and go to my 39 week doctor appointment that was scheduled for 10 AM that morning and have her "check me" and then come back to the hospital HA

We decided on option 2.

I didn't want to sit there in triage for hours and hours just waiting for my body to dialate.

With my hospital bracelet and basketball ^^ ( I know it's massive ) we headed to the mall and walked and walked and walked and walked.

We even ran up and down the escalators.

People stared at me and probably thought I was some crazy lady - contracting ( OUCH! ) and then running and then stopping when a contraction came again HA.

My contractions were still 4 minutes apart about a minute long each - They had been like that since 5:30 AM and were starting to wear on me - my body was getting pretty tired and we couldn't understand why they weren't speeding up! How long were they going to keep coming like that!?

After walking for a couple hours around the mall my mom, Aaron and I headed to my 39 week doctor's appointment. My doctor stripped my membranes to try and speed up my labor I was experiencing. I was now dilated to a 4 and she told me she would see me in a couple hours at the hospital - basically told me that this baby was coming today :) ( BEST NEWS EVER )

After my doctor's appointment we went over to the hospital and checked in AGAIN.

They stuck me in triage for about 2 hours while they waited for a room to open up and get cleaned.

Finally I got into a delivery room!! YAY!

By now it was almost 3 PM, I was STILL dilated to a 4 and contractions were still coming about 3-5 minutes apart.

LONGEST 10 hours of my life!

My body was exhausted and they gave me my epidural at about 3 PM.

Come to find out, my sweet baby boy was TURNED! He was posterior and every time I contracted the baby's head was hitting my pelvis bone causing my body not to dilate but causing my awful back labor.

Because the baby was still high up they didn't want to break my water and risk the cord slipping out before the head. So now I just had to WAIT.

( My favorite little boy came to hang out with me for a couple hours ^^ )

On large dosages of pitocin we waited and waited while the doctor kept coming in, and checking me, only to tell me I was still dilated to a 4 :(

I was started to get really nervous that my body wouldn't dilate and they would have to switch my birthing plan…

Finally at 11 PM that evening, they agreed baby was far enough down to break my water.

As soon as my water was broken, my body went into MEGA labor speed.

6, 7, 8, 9!

At about 2 AM my body was dilated to a 9!

While relieved that my body was able to dilate we were a little nervous I would start pushing and the baby would still be posterior causing a more complicated delivery.

We were so anxious for him to arrive and praying so hard for a healthy delivery.

Then it all happened so fast, it was almost a blur! All of the sudden I was ready to PUSH.

My sweet husband grabbed my hand and talked me through the whole thing.

And after only 12 minutes of pushing - on September 26th, 2015 at 2:32 AM out came our beautiful baby boy!
( who had turned on his own in the womb! such a blessing )

There are no words to describe that moment.
It really is the closest thing to heaven on earth.
My heart was bursting inside.

Our little Luke.
8.1 pounds 20.5 inches long of pure heaven.
( EXACT same as his brother - TO THE OUNCE! )

Just in case you are in need of a Professional Swaddler ^^ call my husband :)

We got about 30 minutes total of sleep that night and we were running on 36 hours of sleepless adrenaline,

but ohhh was it worth it.

Ryan came early that morning to the hospital to meet his baby brother for the first time.
My heart burst into a million and one pieces.
He loves his "baby luke" so much.
( and yes, you can see the nose and every face feature ^^ baby luke is a mini Ryan!
(( YOU should see Ryan's baby pictures! HA )) Aaron and I keep having to double take when we see Luke! - It is de-ja-vu. Sweet sweet brothers )