A Baby Story: Finn Rowan Graves

October 14th, 2011. The day we had marked on our calendars for months and months. Of course, part of me had wondered what it would be like to go into labor on my own but it just wasn't in the cards for me. Since my labor with Lucas was so fast, especially for an induction, my doctor said from day one that he would take Finn on the 14th so that date was something etched in my brain for a long time!

We pulled into the Baptist parking garage, level 3 where you park when it is time to have a baby. It was dark when we arrived at 5 A.M. and I just couldn't believe that when I exited those doors, we would be a family of 4!

Home sweet home. Well, maybe not entirely sweet. But the end result sure was! 

The last belly shot!

The baby portion of the delivery room. . .can't wait to see who gets to lay in that crib!

Oh, don't we look happy here? It is because it is post-epidural. The epidural that took 35 minutes and two attempts to get in. The epidural that came too late and I was having contractions every 2 minutes while they were putting it in. The epidural that had me sniffing alcohol wipes so that I didn't pass out or throw up. So, all was good after that medicine kicked in!

My labor with Lucas was easy, the pushing was hard. The labor with Finn was terrible but the pushing was a piece of cake (3 pushes in 7 minutes). However, there was a lot that was so similar. They kept having to turn my pitocin off because Finn's heart rate wasn't cooperating. Same thing happened with Lucas--the reason was, Finn had the cord around his neck just like his big brother did. My labor with both boys was 6.5 hours total. And when Finn was born---it was Lucas all over again, they could have been twins!

Introducing Finn Rowan Graves. Born at 1:36 P.M. at 8 lbs. 2 oz., 20.75 inches long. 

I remember thinking that since Finn was born so early in the day that we would have a long day of cuddling and resting. Not to be, but it was still a great day! Because Finn came so quickly, he didn't have a chance to get rid of all the liquid in his respiratory system and belly so he was a little choked up, not super perky, and continually grunting. The nurses thought he was just fine but needed to take some precautions with him so off he went to be seen by a few different people. The NICU at this hospital is named after our wonderful friends, so it was fitting in a way that Lucas' first trip away from us was to be in the Beaman NICU for observation in their transitional unit. They sucked his stomach out and watched his breathing, all his vitals were great and ultimately he was fine--just needs to keep spitting it all out.

So, 7 PM came and we were still not in our recovery room because of all that! We had Lucas come visit us, and he was just so excited to see Finn. The video we took was beyond precious as he jumped right up to hug and kiss him, pat his back and hold his hand. 

The view from our room was awesome! It was so fun to look out and see the busy city bustling around.

Lucas and Finn both bought gifts for each other, Finn gave Lucas a Lightning McQueen suitcase which now goes everywhere with us and he knows it is for his trip to "Cul-oh-rado" this winter. Lucas bought Finn a sweet little star and pre-recorded his voice singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him.

It's time to go home! I sure didn't want to leave that place. Baptist was the best experience! I did miss Lucas though, so that is what got me to walk out. 

Check out the twins. . . 

Thank you to all of you for your words, prayers, food, snacks, gifts, and love. It means the world.