Since the last time I blogged:
- Taylor & I were sealed in the Orlando Temple
- I gave birth to the most perfect baby boy
- My mom and grandmom came to Florida
- Baby was in the hospital
Our Sealing
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| Families are forever. |
Taylor and I made our marriage eternal on March 7, 2012 in the Orlando, FL temple. My best friend, Mary flew all the way here from MD to be with me on the most important day of my life and it was amazing having her here. Our sealing was attended by an intimate group of family and friends and it was absolutely perfect. We are so grateful to know that our family is forever and we were especially thankful to baby for not showing up before this most important day so he could be born under the covenant. Speaking of baby...
Bentley Taylor Smith
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| Welcome to the world, little guy! |
My perfect little man was born on March 21, 2012 at 6:40 am. He weighed in at 7 lb 2 oz and was 21 inches. But getting him here was no easy task. Allow me to share his birth story:
My due date was Sunday the 18th, but that day came and went... along with Monday. Early Tuesday morning I took a trip to triage for some concerns I was having but they sent me straight home as I was still only 1 cm dilated and not contracting regularly. I took a nap, went out to dinner with my in-laws, and had a seemingly uneventful day... until bedtime. At around 11:00 pm I started having the most horrible headache I've ever had in my entire life. I was in tears and I started shaking uncontrollably. When this all culminated in me getting sick, we decided to call my OB. He suggested that I head back to triage to make sure everything was OK. We arrived at 2:15 am and proceeded to sit int he waiting room until 4:00. Once they finally got me back to triage, they ascertained that I was still only 1 cm dilated, but my contractions were 5 minutes apart (although very mild). The doctor finally came in with some medicine for my headache and said that they would probably just send me home with a prescription but she wanted to check with my doctor before discharging me. She came back about 5 minutes later with a surprised look on her face and said "Actually, we're admitting you to be induced since you're past your due date anyway." My jaw dropped. I came in for a headache and I was leaving with a baby!
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| Waiting... |
Around 10:00 am I was moved to my cozy antepartum room where I was FINALLY able to get some food (yay room service!) and Taylor was able to take a nap. They began the induction process at 11:30 am by giving me a dose of Cervidil to help dilate my cervix. I then had 12 hours to sit back and wait. My contractions continued to increase in intensity during this and by the time the 12 hours were over I was having to breathe through each contraction. At 11:30 I was informed that I was dilated 2 cm and baby was VERY low so we were moving to Labor & Delivery! We got to L&D around 1:00 am and they started the Pitocin. This is also when I caved and got my epidural. (For the record, I had really wanted to try to go naturally. But at this point I was so exhausted and my contractions had been pretty strong for a long time. I had no fight lieft in me and if I was going to push this baby out, I was gonna need some help.) By 3:15 am my water had broken and I was dilated to a 4. I decided to try to get some sleep to get myself ready for the workout ahead of me. When I woke up about an hour later I turned to Taylor and said, "Hun, I think you should call the nurse. I think I feel like I wanna push?" She came in and told me not to get my hopes up. But, lo and behold, I was almost to 10 cm and about ready to push! Everybody got ready, the midwife came in and we got down to business. After about an hour or so of pushing he was here! It was the longest day/night of my life, but it was totally worth it!
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| Meeting my boy for the first time. |
To save you the trouble I'll give you the Readers Digest version of the last few weeks. After Bentley was born, my mom and Grandmom Rose came to FL to help out. They cooked and froze a ton of meals for Taylor and I and spent every waking moment fawning over my cute little dude. On the 28th, though, we all ended up back at the hospital because baby boo had apparently come down with a urinary tract infection. Taylor and I spent 2 days by his side--and sharing a twin bed--while he got tested and treated. Since then he's had some issues trying to gain weight, and breastfeeding has been an uphill battle for us. But, at 5 weeks, I can finally say that things are going well and Bentley is thriving (and Mommy is sleeping--yay!).
Hopefully now that this is all caught up, I'll be better about posting his cuteness for you all to enjoy. For now, I'm taking the lazy route--here's a taste, and see Facebook for more photos. ;)
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| My sleepy puppy :) |
