Levi's Arrival

Levi Matthew Dean made his grand appearance into the world last week, Monday, March 14th at 9:12 AM. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. Pretty big compared to his older brother's birth weight of 6 lbs. 2 oz.!

So here's how it all unfolded...

In case you didn't know, my due date was March 7th, which came and went without much fanfare. The plan was that my doctor would let me go a week past my due date and if nothing happened, she would induce me on Tuesday, the 15th. With Evan I had a planned c-section because he was breech, but Levi was not, so I was hoping to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearan). Statistically, these are most successful when labor is not induced. So...come Sunday evening before my doctor's appointment, I was getting desperate for labor to happen naturally. I decided it was time to listen to the old wives' tales. What did I have to lose?

Ryan and I went on an hour long, fairly brisk walk, and then the whole family went out for some Italian because so many folks had said that eggplant parmesean can induce labor. I order the eggplant and ate every last drop! The next step was supposed to be a foot massage by my lovely husband, but by 9:00 Sunday night, I started having labor contractions. Was it the walk? The eggplant? Or just the fact that I was a week past my due date? Who knows, but I was just so thankful that labor had come on it's own.

I labored at home for 6 hours till those contractions got to the "magic number" (5 minutes apart), and then Ryan and I headed to the hospital at about 3 am while my mom stayed home with Evan. Once I was checked by the doctor, I was already 5 cm, and by the time I was admitted to the labor room and checked at 6 am, I was 8 cm! I did have an epidural at that point (my dr's recommendation due to prior c-section), BUT it didn't quite take all the way, which made for an exciting, and quite painful birth (if that's a 3rd of the pain, bless those natural birth mamas!!). Thankfully everything about the labor went as smoothly as I could have wished for and Levi is completely healthy! Praise the Lord! And I must say that recovery from this delivery is much smoother, especially since I have a two year old to chase after, too!