The Lewis Family: September 2010

My pregnancy with Daniel was much like my pregnancy with Robbie. My heart issues came back, but this time it was much less scary. It was a little more challenging having a toddler to take care of this time around - no naps or early bedtimes! The last month I was ready to meet Danny and get my "body" back - you know, like the ability to see my toes and put my shoes on. Or the ability to roll over at night without the motions tossing Kevin out of bed! The last month I had contractions almost every day and night. Each time we thought "this could be it", but they would eventually go away. The good part about this is that it gets you ready for birth and you usually have a quicker birth, the bad part is that you get so used to this happening that when you do go into labor you don't really think it is happening. That is exactly what happened both times for me. This time it went like this . . .

I went to work that day (Tuesday July 13th) and picked Robbie up as usual. Kevin was going to be home late again (he had patient visits at the clinic). I brought Robbie home and cooked dinner, bathed him and put him to bed as usual - all the while I was experiencing contractions about every ten minutes. Kevin got home after 8pm. I told him that I had just started to time the contractions because they had not stopped yet. They were about five minutes apart. He got nervous and said that I should have let him know - he needed to shower and pack his bag! Well, by the time he was ready to go, I was laying on my side on the floor and calling my mom to breath with me. She was telling me that I was going too fast and needed to slow down - she was afraid that we had waited to long to leave. I think she was right, because I was half tempted to tell Kevin to just stay home with me and have the baby at home - for some reason I just didn't want to get in the car, I felt like I needed to be laying down.

We woke Robbie up and drove him to my in-laws. We then got on the interstate for the 30 minute drive to the hospital. Of course there had to be construction and traffic! Kevin was calling the hospital to let them know that I was only two minutes apart and to prepare for our arrival. They refused to call our midwife and said that the doctor on call would be the person to deliver. That TOTALLY freaked me out because I had spent a lot of time searching for the right person to deliver Danny and it was the midwife! Kevin remained perfectly calm and promised me that he would make things alright - just like he always does!

When we arrived at the hospital my contractions were right on top of one another. The doula met us at the door and wheeled me upstairs while Kevin parked the car. The nurse that checked in the laboring women told the doula there were no more rooms and to take me to the waiting room - she quickly changed her mind when she heard me moaning with my next contraction! The skipped the "in check" process and put me straight in a delivery room. I was eight centimeters dialated and moving fast! Within half an hour I was pushing.

This is where I would like to stop and let you all know that Kevin and I decided that a "natural/drug free" childbirth was the way to go. So, crazy as it may sound I never even asked for an epidural, I just went through it. I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect the pain to be as awful as it was. I had gone to seven centimeters dialation with Robbie and I didn't think the last three could be that bad - boy was I wrong!!! I am not going to lie, it was the worst pain that I could have imagined, but it was also the most unbelievable experience. It definitely is much different than an epidural birth. If you asked me today if I would do it again . . . well, I just don't know what my answer would be! Ok, so back to the story . . .

It took about an hour and a half of hard pushing to delivery Danny. It was the hardest I have ever worked - and I have gone through two boot camps and been in the military for thirteen years! I cried, cussed and asked the midwife numerous times to tell me how much longer. Kevin never left my side and gave me so much support - both physically and mentally. I have never prayed so hard in my life and just begged God to let the next push be the last, he eventually answered my prayers. When "they" say that childbirth is a way to cleanse a woman of her sins, well I must be a horrible sinner because I had a lot of repentence to do!

Daniel Patrick Lewis was born at 1:00 am (exactly, isn't that amazing?!?!) weighing 8 lbs 4 oz and measuring 20 3/4 inches. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He cried more than his brother did, but he seemed to know which person in the room was his Mommy! He calmed when I held him and Kevin spoke to him.

Kevin and I were so thrilled to welcome our second son!

I hate that Danny's eye is closed, but this is the only decent one from that night.

All 8 lbs and 4 oz of our beautiful boy!

In between pushing I would rest as best as I could. The world's best couch would't leave my side.

Sorry for the leg shot, but I love to look at this and remember how hard we worked to bring Danny into this world. We brought him in as a team, and we will raise him as a team too!

The unbelivable team that helped us. I could not have done it without them! Our Doula is taking the photo, but she was a part of this dream team too! The nurse on the left had never seen a drug free delivery before. After Danny was born she cried! It made me feel so good to know that the people there cared so much!!!