Another Sweet Blessing

So Monday I went to another OB appointment and my doctor measured me and knew it was time. I had been measuring big for weeks now and she felt it was time to induce. She told me she kept hoping I would go into labor, but the baby was getting big and with my huge desire to have a natural birth we needed to take a different step. This was totally different then my first pregnancy so I was nervous about it, but we would only be inducing a week early. I was term and beyond ready. As you all know I was carrying a watermelon and looking more and more like a moose. We had an ultrasound scheduled for the day before we got induced and we saw that baby was at least 9 lbs. I was really nervous, but totally excited to meet this little, well actually big baby:). We were scheduled to be induced Thursday morning at 7:30, but we had to call when I got up that morning to make sure they could take us. Well they had over 5 women deliver that morning so they kept pushing us back. We ended up coming in at 10:30, which actually was a blessing because I was able to get a little more sleep and time to relax. Knowing you are about to go into labor is very nerve racking. The one great thing about being induced though was having Braxton with his Grandparents knowing I had nothing to worry about with him. He was so excited too because he knew the next time he saw his Moma we would be holding a new baby. Once getting to the hospital we had to go through the whole admission process and at 11:30 my doctor came in and broke my water. When my water broke with Braxton my labor went so fast and since I was already 4cm with this pregnancy I figured contractions would start up intense right from the beginning, but this wasn't the case. Yes I had contractions, but they weren't close enough to do anything so after 2 hours of walking around and trying other positions, I told my nurse we should probably start pitocin which would bring the contractions closer together. Once we started pitocin my contractions started to increase big time. My nurse felt since pitocin doesn't usually start for 30 minutes this was all me and stopped pitocin. The contractions were coming full force and I was miserable. I knew I was already 4cm, but didn't want an epidural too early. My nurse checked me and said I was already 6cm and we decided to get an epidural. To all the woman that go without pain medication I salute you, but I am no hero. I got my epidural and minutes later said something is not right my left side is killing me. I was miserable and kept telling my poor husband I wanted to be done. I have to say my husband was a rock star for me that day. He did everything I needed. He knew exactly how to take care of me and I would have never been able to get through it without him. My doctor came in and checked me and said well hunnie the reason your hurting so bad is because that baby is right here its time to push. All I could think of is Oh my god this went so fast. I mean it was like a 20minute span between your 6 to ok lets push. I keep telling people I need to get my epidural half off because I didn't really get to use it. I was soo ready though and excited to meet this little bean that I was determined to see this baby as soon as possible. 12 minutes later Conrad yelled out its a boy and I had a new little one in my arms. I will tell you this that I will NEVER find out what I am having again if God allows us to have more kids. That moment when Conrad told me Its a boy was seriously amazing and it just made everything worth it. There are no words to describe it and honestly there aren't enough surprises in life. I highly suggest it:) trust me you wont regret it. I still couldn't believe I had another precious boy..even though I thought I was since everyone thought it was a girl. I have to tell you though having another little boy is amazing and we are soo in love. Braxton is over the moon about having a little brother and I think they are going to be amazing together. And the ultrasound was correct..Brady was born 9lbs 1oz 21inches long and totally perfect:)

After baby boy was born Conrad and I both looked at each other and said you feeling anything towards the name. Yes if you can believe this we still weren't 100% sure what name we would go with. I kept thinking we would have this feeling..but we didn't right away when we saw him. Our nurse, who seriously was amazing, said you guys don't have to know right now. She was right we didn't..so we waited. When we chose names Conrad always wanted Kamden and I was falling more towards that till the night before. I really started falling in love with the name Brady. So when Conrad looked at me and said his name is Brady I knew it was right. I also wanted one my kids to have my maiden name Whittaker as their middle name because my whole life I have went by the name Whitt so it was really important to me. So that's why we went with Brady Whittaker Bontrager:). It was perfect:). Plus we just love Braxton & Brady together:).

We are VERY much in love with our family of 4. Unfortunately the day we were suppose to go home Brady's blood work showed his bilirubins were high so he spent most of the day under the lights. We were able to go home on a wallaby hoping that within a couple days we would be fine. Although that didn't quite workout and Brady peaked up to 21 and is now in the hospital. He has been doing awesome since we have been here. He has picked up on feeding and the more intense lights have brought his bili down to 16.8. Hopefully by tomorrow we will be at the 14 mark and we will be able to go home. This hasn't been what I imagined for us, but I know this is what is best for Brady. It isn't hard being here for Brady and making sure he is taken care of..the hardest part is missing my other sweet boy Braxton. Luckily the ladies at his pre-school have been soo supportive and helping us get through it. I don't know what I would do without them. When we were in the hospital with Brady it was very obvious that Braxton was having a hard time not being with his parents. He didn't understand why we were staying with Brady and making him stay with our parents. It was really hard and then being stuck in the hospital again has made it even worse. However, Conrad has been going home with Braxton and we even had dinner together the other night at the hospital. I can already tell the difference in Braxton..he just wants to know his parents still love and care about him. That is why I am so anxious to get back home and give both my boys all the love I can. So if you get a chance please pray that we can do exactly that.

Ok wow this has been the longest post ever, but I cannot help but express my love for my new family of 4. We are soo blessed that God has given us this new gift. To my 3 boys..Love you more than words can say:)

The Waiting Game..

So yesterday I was enjoying my day with my favortie 4 year old, but I started realizing I was having regular contractions and was super uncomfortable. Braxton and I were downstairs playing in the basement and I had to make him come sit down with me on the couch because I just didn't feel right. With the nice winter storm on the way and a husband in Ft. Wayne for business I figured it was a good idea to call the doctor and get checked. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. So I get to my appointment and he checks me and his eyes get huge and asks me how close my contractions are. I say 6-7mins apart..and he replies you need to go to the hospital. I was 3-4cm and 80% effaced. I told him about my husband being in Ft. Wayne and he just said to tell him not to mess around and come home. I was experiencing every emotion possible. I was so excited that today I was going to become a Mom for the second time:). Getting to the hospital was much different this time around. My labor was so fast with Braxton..a total of 6 hours.. and I didn't have time for all the nice check in stuff. This time I walked myself in to the hospital and I was calm enough to answer every questions while I tried to wait patiently for my husband to arrive. Once he was there I was even more relaxed, which should have been my first clue. After having me on monitor and checking me the doctors thought I wasn't in active labor. Meaning I wasn't progressing and they wouldn't push that being I am only 37 weeks. After a couple of hours on monitor and being checked I was sent home because I was staying the same. It was really frusterating to go from such a high to such a low. My poor husband tried to make me feel better, but I just wanted to have a moment to be upset. I felt bad that I had told everyone today was baby day and even worse that my husband rushed to get by my side, but honestly how could we have known that the baby would just say nope not ready yet. So they told me to take it easy and prepare that it would be soon. They offered me a sleeping pill prescription to get through the night with the contractions..so on our way home from the hospital we stopped at CVS and that's when I made my husband's dreams come true. I of course was upset so I wanted to get myself some goodies not to mention I was starving..and while looking around I found my husband a camo snuggie for the wonderful price of $4.99. He was so happy..so yeah we might not have a baby today but my husband got a new CAMO snuggie. He is so in love and he has worn it all day since he is working from home today.

So now we wait and hope baby comes soon..:)

Lastly, I just want to thank my wonderful Mom and Mother-in-law for all their help when I was trying to get to the hospital with Braxton. I couldn't have been so calm if it wasn't for these two wonderful ladies! So grateful to have amazing family in my life.

Braxton LOVES Sports!

So this week Braxton went to the dentist and I was completely reminded that he is soo his father's son. As you all know Conrad is a huge Michigan Fan. We have Michigan all over this house and our very own lab is named Maize. If you can believe it Braxton actually named our dog Maize..disgusting I know. Well when Braxton was little that kid loved Notre Dame. I was soo proud of myself, but Conrad always kept telling me go ahead and put all the ND clothes you want on him, but when he is old enough to make the right decision I know he will make it. Well my child made his decision and I am sad to say it isn't Notre Dame. He is in love with Michigan. He sings the fight song as good as his ABCs..its ridiculous. He will only put his blue and yellow crayons next to eachother and he will get into a HUGE argument with you if you tell him Michigan isn't #1. He also bawled his eyes out when I told him I was going to move his Michigan flag in his room. Yes he has a complete Michigan room. I just wanted his bedroom to be a sports room, but I lost that battle too. Lets just put it this way..we were at the dentist and Braxton starts going on and on about Michigan to the sweet lady cleaning his teeth. He also informs her he likes the Red Wings because of course he was wearing his Red Wings Jersey. She took this opportunity to say ohh you must like all Michigan teams then..Do you like Michigan State? Braxton's face was honestly hilarious he looked at her in disgust and said Michigan State is garbage. The dentist goes man he really knows what he likes and doesn't..I personally was embarrassed because he kept going on and on about how he would throw all Michigan State fans in the trash because they are horrible. Thanks Conrad for totally brainwashing this kid. And if that wasn't bad the dentist came in and told Braxton he was an Ohio State Fan. Braxton told his doctor I HATE OHIO STATE! What can a Mom do but laugh. I really enjoy that Braxton loves sports. I know Conrad is a huge part of it, but I love that Braxton wants to try everything..except soccer been there done that and it was awful! Can't say I mind though soccer is beyond boring (sorry people). He says he is going to be a rugby player and a football player..just like Daddy of course. We will wait and see, but you better believe this Momma will be involved with everything I can and I cannot wait until he starts playing more sports. It will be a blast that's for sure.

So in advance I want to apologize if my child ever gets in a fight with you about teams. He is VERY much in love with his teams..lets just put it this way someone at school (his very own Aunt Jenn) almost put him into tears because they were fighting about who was better the Bears or the Colts. My child might have an issue..haha.

So I will leave you with this video and then you can all feel bad for me..:) Hey at least he likes "Notre Dame a little bit." That makes me not a complete failure right?

Baby Update!

So Monday I went for my weekly doctor appointment and found out that I am measuring big for how many weeks I am. I was 35 weeks at the time and measuring 39 weeks. My doctor's first response was I would probably go early, but he would be an ultrasound to make sure everything was going ok. Today Conrad and I went to see our sweet little one. I LOVE hearing the heart beat and seeing that sweet little face. Anyways, I am carrying extra fluid and this little bug is already weighing 7lbs 8oz..which is why I have the biggest belly ever. Kind of scary since I am 36 weeks and at this point the baby is gaining a pound a week so I already have a big baby. Basically everything looked good they will just monitor me because they don't want the baby to get too big that I cannot deliver it and have to have a c-section..One thing I NEVER want to have. I go back Monday so we will see. I have been having a lot of contractions, but who knows. I really want my body to go into labor on its own so I am just hoping that happens. We will just wait and see when this baby makes its grand entrance. I am getting very excited and anxious to meet this little one:).

Even though we got great news today and saw our precious little one we also have a very sick little one at home. Braxton came down with some type of fungus and is running quite the fever. Poor buddy. Trying to get him back to himself because I would hate for me to have this child and not have Braxton with us to be apart of it all because he has to stay home while he is sick. So lets pray for a speedy recovery for Braxton:).

Hope everyone had a great winter break. We for sure did especially having hubby home for 12 days..it was heavenly:)