and then she came

Everything went wrong when you surprise us that you were coming.

My pregnancy was not at all easy like it was with your brothers. I was sick a lot, food was not something I wanted to eat (unless it was roast beef sandwiches from Arbys.) I broke out in rashes that covered me from head to toe, my liver started shutting down and my doctor was a jerk.

We had a scare that something was wrong with your heart so they had us redo your ultra sound. Which we never did find out for sure that it wasn’t because well, my doctor was a jerk. So we took it just as no news is good news.  You would also kick me all the time and had never ending hiccups.

You tried to come early a few times and I had to go to the hospital and stop you from doing so because you were still so tiny and I don’t dilate.

And then the day arrived that we picked out February 1^st, 2016.

Your birthday.

Your dad and I excitedly packed the last few things in our bags that morning, dropped off your brothers to school and grandmas before we drove up to the hospital.

They took us back to our room where the nurses checked you and tried to give me my IV more than once. Which wasn’t that successful. I had to hold my hand a certain way or it wouldn’t drip the meds I needed and they even had to bring in another nurse to get that in.

But we didn’t think about that, we thought about you.

Your dad and I talked calmly about what it will be like to welcome you into the world. We chatted about how it was when we were here years ago getting ready to welcome your brothers.

We talked about how you were going to be our last little one. The last to do all the firsts and for us that felt like how it was supposed to be.

It turned 1pm, the time we were supposed to be moved into the surgery room but our doctor was late. Then when he did arrived he checked on his other patients before getting to us so we waited again. We finally got back to the room a half an hour later where we were greeted by the anesthesiologist.

He was to input my epidural which wasn’t successful and he tried for a good 20 minutes or so stabbing me in my back trying to get it too work. Finally after the moved me around a few times they got it in but I was left with a really bruised back.

Our doctor finally arrived and started the surgery to get you to us.

He started the cut but ran into some scar tissue from your brothers so he had to make the cut longer. And when they finally got to you, you were so far down that you got stuck. So stuck that I had 2 nurses jumping and pushing on my belly to try to remove you.

I could do nothing but laugh.

They finally got you out and we heard nothing.

No cry, nothing.

Your dad exactly walks over to where the nurses were cleaning you but they sent him away so they could get you to breath.

You were in such shock to be out into this world that it took a good few minutes for you to choose to breath.

But you did.

Then you cried.

Hard and loud which made me cry because I was so happy to have you here.

They were finishing removing my tubes but my IV wasn’t administrating the meds so I wasn’t clotting like I was suppose too. I started to get sick and could hear the doctors rushing to figure out what was happening all the while your dad was taking pictures of you and being with you.

After a few minutes they figured out that it was indeed my IV causing the issues and corrected.

They closed me up.

They moved us into our room and I finally got to hold you.

There you were, so tiny with a lot of dark brown hair and light eyes.

I couldn’t help but beamed with joy to finally officially get to met you. You launched on my breast with no issues and we spent the next hours there together with your dad by our side. It was the most amazing moment of my life. To see you, my daughter a girl I’d dreamt about but never knew I would actually get to met.

Anadalyn Joy Christensen

You were born into our family on February 1^st, 2016 at 2:12pm weighing in at 6 pounds 13 ounces 20 inches long.

All though your arrival was a surprise and full of twist you were the most magnificent little girl we have  ever met.

Welcome to our family.

I just cared that he was born alive and healthy.

One week ago yesterday, little Gunner Jonathan Christensen came into the world on 9/9/13 at 7 pounds 19 inches long at 1:21pm via C-section. It was one of the best moments in our lives and we are truly blessed and I am finally to the point in my healing plus trying to figure this “mom of two boys “out (OMG I am a mom of TWO boys!!) to take a moment and write his birth story.

Cody and I… Well mostly I had plans to try and deliver Gunner as a natural (no epidural) VBAC (vaginal after C-section.) I wanted the experience. That moment that when your baby comes out and all you hear his is cry and you can’t help but cry yourself because you just birthed that thing and man was it tuff but you did it. That empowerment, that moment that no one could take from you because you did it, you survive it, you brought a human into the world naturally like they did in the old days and man was it all worth it.

But I didn't get that. Just like I didn't get it with Wyatt.

And the truth is I knew that I wouldn't, I knew weeks before Gunner arrived. I knew what day he was coming and around what time because we had to have it planned and the day we sat in my doctors office and he told us that we needed to plan for a c-section… I was a little relieved until I left his office. 

My dream of being that woman who triumph and deliver a baby out of my own vagina was gone. Well possibly gone. We had to planned it because my uterus and cervix was not working properly.  Was not doing well, anything. And the more we waited the more of a chance that Gunner would suffer. Every weekly appointment he was moving less and less and growing bigger and bigger and yet my body was doing nothing to help him come. It literally was not doing a damn thing. Every pre labour contraction I had did nothing but make me miserable and Gunner stressed.  My doctor sat in front of Cody and I and explained all this and told us that he would give us until my due date the 7th and if not we had to choose a date and a time that next week to welcome our baby into the world.  So we did and we kept it a secret.

I was determined to get this baby out before or on my due date because I wanted my dream of a VBAC. Then Sunday night (the 8th. A day passed by due date and a night before the schedule c-section) I started to have contractions. Real ones, but I knew that we already had an appointment to be at the hospital at 11am the next day so I tried to sleep through them which was hard and didn't happen but I waited as long as I could.

Cody finished up some ordering he had to do at work that morning while I dropped Wyatt off at my mom’s with his overnight bag and a huge kiss and wish him a “Happy big brother day.” and then we were off… to have a baby.

We get there at the hospital, check in, hooked up and saw the amount of contractions I was having so we tired. We tried to go the way I wanted. We tired to go naturally. So from 11am until 1ish I tired to have my baby the way I wanted.

But that dream again ended because with every contractions Gunner did not have a heart beat and if he did it was barely there. Just like Wyatt. So they told me, we can wait, we can try, we can do it how you want but as you can see and hear it will end up as an emergency C-section instead of a planned out one.

What do you want?

I wanted a healthy ALIVE baby. So at 1pm they suited Cody and I up in the hospital gear and we walked (well I rolled) into the surgery room and they cut me open and I had a baby.

It took them a while to get little Gunner out. They had to suction cup his cute little bottom (which is bruised now.) and cut me open wider (which hurts like hell still) to finally get him to come but when they did and they pulled him out he cried hard and so did I. I had my baby finally. My second son. The little pistol who had been tormenting me for 9 months and at that moment I didn't care that I had him via C-section. I just cared that he was born alive and healthy.

 

**To see more pictures of little Gunner and to see what we have been up to visit our Facebook and instagram pages.**