Tucker at 2 Weeks

  Yesterday was my original due date for my little man. I cannot believe he is 2 weeks old already. So far he is a great baby, he reminds me a lot of how Tenlee was as a baby. He pretty sleeps all day long, except for eating and getting his diaper changed. He is eating every 2.5-3 hours, sometimes longer during the day. He is awake a little bit in the evening but sometimes we can't even get him to wake up before feeding him. We typically head to bed around 10 and then his first feeding is usually between 12am and 1am. He has done great at night as well. He is doing every 2-3 hours but has went 4 hours a couple times. He is so great about going right back to sleep that I honestly do not mind getting up with him. We have had a couple rough nights...he was up every 15-20 minutes from like 10:30-3 and another night was up every hour till that morning. But other than that I cannot complain. Kooper cried his first 6 months from like 11pm-4am every night. We were both so nervous about having another baby like that, so I am very grateful for a more content baby at night.

  Adjusting to having 3 kids has been very easy for me. I was so worried about it being very overwhelming with three. But I am loving it and am very blessed that it is so far going really well. The only times I feel a little crazy is when Tyler is at class, but I have been spending those nights at my parents and since the two older ones can hang outside and play in the barn it makes it a little easier. At night is just always the hardest because Tyler and I are both ready for bed super early and Kooper is still extremely fussy at night.

First day home together from hospital

 I took a shower and came out to find daddy doing laundry like this

 1 week checkup

 I'm pretty sure that I can claim him

 He decided to pee...all over!

I am still not used to being able to go outside with a newborn. 

Tenlee and Kooper were January and November babies so 

outside wasn't possible with them. I am loving it!

First time going to church and then lunch at nana's

She love to sit and rock him on the couch. Her favorite thing to do 

is to stick her finger in his mouth and let him suck on it like a pacifier. 

 

He looks so tiny in his crib

Tucker James-Newborn Pictures

Tucker's Birth Story

 Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, 

declared the Lord. Plans to prosper you and to not harm you

This verse is Tucker's life verse I have decided. From the day they told us we had a miscarriage with him and through his delivery, I know for sure God has special plans for this little boy. I may never know of these plans but I am so very grateful to Him for giving Tucker to us. 

   What a birth story!! It is so funny how after 2 babies you are still clueless when it comes to your third pregnancy and labor/delivery. I felt like I had more questions with this one than the other two. By far this was my hardest pregnancy but it was also my easiest labor and delivery, by a long shot! I went early with Tenlee at 38 weeks and 37.5 weeks with Kooper, so I naturally assumed this one would be early as well. I always love how we plan things like this out in our minds and it NEVER goes according to our plans. Now looking back I love that it never goes the way I would like it to...it really makes God's plans for us so much more amazing than you could every plan out on your own.

(Almost) 38 Week Checkup-Friday July 10th

   I decided to switch my appointment from Monday to Friday just because of the weekend approaching. I wanted to know if I had made any progress from the 2 false alarms and wanted to talk to my Dr before the office would be closed for two days. I knew I did not want to go back to the hospital unless it was a for sure thing I was staying and delivering this baby. She said I was still at 3cm but now 25% effaced. I left once again feeling so discouraged. At this point I was thinking I was going go closer to my due date and I started to feel OK with that. I would be able to go to our fair the next week and if the baby was smaller it could gain a little more. So as discouraged as I was I started to accept that the baby was not going to be an early baby like the first two and I should just honestly enjoy the last few chances of being a family of 4. That night Tyler took me on a little date knowing the last week had been kind of rough. Tenlee was with my brother's at show for the night so it was just us two and Kooper. We went for supper and then went the Menards. I noticed that my contractions had picked up and were getting stronger that evening. Another thing I noticed was the contractions were not going away when walking. That was one thing the Dr. and nurses all told me at the hospital that real labor will not go away with different positions.  The other two times, when I would walk or switch positions they would go away. I got a little excited noticing this but I had told Tyler and myself, we were not going back down to hospital unless the head was coming out or she specifically sent me there from her Dr. office. So I just told myself this isn't it, but I knew the more contractions I had before real labor would help progress everything more quickly.

  We have a friend who used to be an OB R.N. and I had been texting her all week. She told me of a couple natural things to try to get my contractions to pick up. One thing was taking a few tsps of Castor Oil, and another was taking some natural vitamins that can help with softening the cervix. I decided against the Castor oil due to my stomach issues. I didn't want to trigger anything and have my stomach react in a bad way right before the baby came. I texted her that night when we were leaving Goshen and told her about the contractions and the fact that sitting, walking, and just standing kept them going and they hadn't slowed down. She said that was a really good sign that the real labor was coming. When we got home we put Kooper to bed and I just continued staying on my feet walking throughout the house. Tyler and I talked about the Castor oil and we decided that I could try just a little, the amount I took I didn't think would trigger anything. Well sure enough around 10:00 that evening my contractions started coming on a little more stronger and pretty close together. The oil also emptied my whole system out so I felt pretty bad the next hour or so. The contractions kept coming through out the evening. Just like they had been earlier that evening but even more consistent. 

Saturday July 11th

  Around 1am I noticed the contractions were really picking up and it was just too uncomfortable to stay in bed so I headed downstairs. From 1-5 I walked, bounced on my bouncy ball and then just laid on the couch. Tyler came down at 5 to head to work and asked me why I was on the couch and not in bed. I told him since 1 the contractions had been very consistent and they were getting pretty painful. I don't think he took me too seriously because he finished packing his lunch and started to head out the door. I told him I thought we should call the Dr. and see what she thought, but we were both against going down and then being sent home for the third time. We went back and forth and I really felt like we should go ahead and call our Dr. My contractions were definitely getting stronger and I was having to stop and really start to breath through them. I actually had several like this while Tyler was on the phone with our Dr, which was great because he told her exactly what I was doing. She told him she was actually on her way to the hospital now for another patient and told him it sounded like the real deal so we should go ahead and head down. Even after talking to her we were not 100% sure that we should head down. After going back and forth we finally decided we should probably go down. This was the longest stretch that I had had with the contractions and I was just feeling different in general. Tyler called his mom and told her to head on over (for the third time:) and we called my mom and told her we were gonna head down. My contractions continued all the way down to the hospital, but I still wasn't getting my hopes up. We got there at 6:15 we met Dr. Hatcher in the hall. She came right in and checked me, I was at 4cm and 75% effaced. She gave me a big smile and said were gonna have a baby today. 

  They officially admitted me and around 7am they came in and got my I.V. put in. With the other two kids it took them several different try’s get one in. This time it took them one try and it was in, which made me really happy. The contractions stopped from 8:30-9:30, which really started to bum me out. I asked the nurses if I was 100% staying and having the baby. They laughed and said yes, if I didn't start progressing they would start me on Pottossin or have her break my water. She had to break my water with the other two so I was completely fine with that. They checked me again at 9:30 and said no change except that the baby’s head was right there. The nurse told me that after she left the last night she remembered that my water could not be broken due to me be only 37 weeks and 5 days along. 39 weeks is the soonest they can break your water or start any helper meds unless baby or mom are under stress due to the hospital policy. She left to go see what my Dr. wanted to do. After she left I immediately felt crushed. They had already admitted me, which meant an hour of answering the same questions we had already answered twice before, and they had already put my I.V. in, which always hurts for me. Looking back I think I might have actually started to cry because I was just so emotional down. Tyler and I both knew she was going to come back in and tell us to just go back home. 

   My Dr. came back and checked me at 10:15 and I was shocked to hear that I had went from 4-5cm in 45 minutes and I was 90% effaced. She went ahead and broke my water and I cannot even begin to describe how happy I was. I knew I would definitely be meeting my baby very soon. After they left my mom arrived very shortly after, and so did my contractions. At 11:30 I was 7cm and a plus one. I got up to use the bathroom and the contractions started coming really hard. They checked me again and I was still at 7cm but I was almost 100% effaced. At 12:00 I was having hard enough contractions that they went ahead and gave me something small to relax me. I always hate them because you can still feel every contractions but it makes you so tired. But at that point anything small was great. After going to the bathroom again around 12:30 they checked me and I was 8cm, 100% effaced and was at plus 2. They already had most of the equipment ready to go, the nurses who admitted me said they were nervous about me going too quickly so they wanted to be prepared ahead of time, but started getting the last minute things around. About 5 minutes later I felt the urge to push. She checked me at 12:35 and I was 10cm and ready to go. The next few minutes seemed so slow to me but now looking back on paper they went extremely fast. Pushing is always the scariest thing for me. When I realized it was time to push I started hyperventilating. I couldn't breath and I felt so out of it. Tyler said they were doing everything possible to keep me from passing out. He told me after Tucker was born that he was so scared because I was pretty much unresponsive right before he came out. They got me awake enough to start really pushing. After my first push, they all yelled at me to stop pushing. The cord was wrapped around the baby two times. They got the cord cut and after pushing 2 more times (a grand total of 3 hard pushes) Tucker James Phares entered the world at 12:43pm, weighing in at 7.5lbs and 20 in long.  

    As soon as he came out I knew something wasn't quite right. He wasn't crying at all and Tyler didn't even get the chance to cut his cord right after he was born. They took him right over to the baby warmer and I could hear them trying to get him to cry and I knew they were giving him oxygen. I heard Tyler ask why he was so blue and we found out that he was massively bruised from coming out so quick. And his body was a little blue from lack of oxygen. They finally got him crying and his color in his body was back to normal shortly. His face was still blue and they told us that would go away within 24-48 hours. They did let Tyler cut the small portion of cord left on him and then they handed him over to me for some skin to skin. As soon as they handed him to me I began crying. It felt so great to finally hold him and just soak in everything about him.  He was just so beautiful, even looking like a little blueberry, and I was so happy he was ok!

The look on his face is so priceless! He was so happy to get another boy!

I cannot even describe how extremely happy I was in this picture!

If God would have given me the option to choose gender...I honestly would have said girl prior to having Tucker. But I am SO GLAD HE DIDN'T!!! I am so happy with another little boy. I instantly fell in love with him and I couldn't picture our family any other way. 

The only thing I have ever wanted was to be a mom. It brings tears to my eyes to look at these three kids and realize they are mine! I am so very grateful that God blessed me with them. They are my whole world, and I am so very proud to be their mommy!

He was so blue from being so bruised. 

Our new family of 5...our family is now perfectly complete

 

Tenlee bought this for the baby if it was a boy. She is obsessed with these 2 squarrles at my
parents house named Earl Pearl, and when she saw this she knew the baby would love it. 

 Headed home