Eli Grayson Van Dyke
Born November 17th at 3:44pm
Weight: 8 and a half pounds
Length: 21 and a half inch
Eli on Thanksgiving.
James and Sarah brought over this adoreable bib!!
Snuggling with Mommy
Lost in deep, deep thought!
Daddy and Eli
Sweet sleeping baby boy.
All ready to brace the chilly, rainy weather!
Eli sporting the adorable hat Aunt Rachel made him!
He didn't care for the half naked shots we were trying to get though.
My favorite photo of Allana and Eli!
Eli's foot and Daddy's hand.
Precious, sleepy little baby.
The first time Sarina meet Eli!!
Mommy and Allana kisses!
Hungrey little man!
Pure sweetness.
Eli, right after his first bath!
Eli gave us quite a run for our money! On Monday the 16th we had another ultrasound done because the doctors said he was measuring pretty big and they wanted to check his size. During the ultrasound we found out that Eli was sitting breech! Everyone was pretty amazed that a baby that size had changed positions so late in the game.
Because Eli was breech the first doctor suggested trying to turn him head down and made an appointment for the next day with a surgeon who was going to attempt this and could also schedule a C-section if moving him was unsuccessful.
We showed up on Tuesday the 17th to see if the doctor would try and turn him, the doctor felt my belly, looked at me and said there was no way he was going to attempt to turn such a large baby (the ultrasound was measuring Eli at 9 pounds at the point). But he did have some good news, he said Eli felt as if he was facing down and wanted to do a quick ultrasound to see if this was true (I was pretty sure it was, because that night I had felt A LOT of painful moving in there!!). Sue enough the ultrasound confirmed that he was face down. So the doctor asked us if we were ready to have a baby today! I was already having contractions, so they were going to try and induce me to see if we could go ahead and do a natural birth before Eli decided to flip around again.
I was excited and scared at the same time, we weren't planning on having a baby that day, he was two and a half weeks early after all!! So Janzen made some phone calls and asked the wonderful people watching the girls if they could hold on to them for the rest of the day, thankfully they said yes and then we headed upstairs to get this little guy on out!
Up stairs things went pretty quick, they inserted a balloon type thing (I can't remember the name of it) that blew up once inserted and put pressure on my cervix to get things moving along. I asked them how long it could take for this to work and they said on average 6 to 8 hours, but because I was contracting already maybe less. Well..... after an hour, I was already dilated to a 4! I was felling a little better about things and getting excited because it seemed like my labor was really going to move along fast... when... I felt a whole bunch of kicking, turning and just very painful moving in my belly. I looked up at the doctor and told him I thought the little turkey flipped again. They were hesitant to listen to me as it's so unusual for babies to do that when they are so far along... but the ultrasound proved I was right. He was not head down, he was now laying transverse. A baby that is laying transverse is even more dangerous then a breech baby, because they are sideways, if my water were to break he would land on his cord and suffocate within minuets. So my natural delivery turned into an emergency C-section.
I was pretty nervous on the way to the operating room, I had never really thought I would have a C-section since my previous two births went soooo well. I didn't know what to expect, I hadn't read up on C-sections and I was nervous because I knew if my water broke things were going to get scary!
So yep, they take you into this HUGE operating room, strap you down and pull a baby out! LOL
I had a spinal block which worked very well and allowed me to be awake through the entire procedure (although it took 6 pokes to get it in right and those things hurt!!). I don't know how to describe the feeling when the pulled Eli out, it was... well... just VERY FREAKY. It felt like all my guts were being taken out. No pain, just weirdness.
But I can describe the first moment I saw Eli, when the whisked him to his little table. I couldn't believe the wave of love that swept over me. I had a baby boy now! I felt this unconditional love for him, this pull, this feeling that let me know we were bonded forever. I couldn't stop crying, I was so happy and so in love at fist site.
All in all this pregnancy has been the hardest for me, the delivery was a surprise and this has been the hardest recovery. But I can tell you, it all was so worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat (and those of you close to me know that I didn't feel this way a few weeks ago!!).
Thank you to everyone who has visited, brought dinners, gifts and for all the messages and calls. You have made us feel very loved and have helped out so much! Special thanks to the Lovell's and Choate's for watching Sarina and Allana on such short notice! You guys are awesome!
***Offical announcements will be sent out very soon!!***
Sarina had a fake spider touch her and it freaked her out! Poor thing!!
Sarah and I at the Wagners Halloween party with our big bellies!
Sarina, not wanting her photo taken! I sure hope this is a faze! It drives me crazy!
