Ethan - 1 day old
I love my Ethan!! I can hardly believe he's 6!! He is our middle child and it seems like only yesterday when we found out I was pregnant with him! It was Dec 3, 2002. Gabe (#2) was 7 months when we found out! We of course were thrilled and I was terribly sick so I was convinced he was a girl. We already had two boys so this had to be a girl right??!! Well at our twenty week ultrasound we had mixed feelings about finding out the sex. Ben wanted to know and I didn't. So our brilliant idea was to have them put the ultrasound photos in an envelope and then Ben could look if he wanted but I wouldn't have to!! Well that lasted about an hour!!! Ben looked first then about an hour later I couldn't take it anymore I peeked and saw that our third baby was going to be a boy! I was trying not to be disappointed as I was hoping for a girl but how could I be, God was giving us the gift of a growing healthy boy, and I cannot imagine not having him here now!!
Look at those lashes and the clown lips from a fudge pop!
If you read Gabe's birthday post in May you would know that I had wanted to deliver him with no medication. Well it didn't take long for me to ask for pain relief! I had thought about it a little during this pregnancy but it wasn't until "labor" day was getting closer that I really thought about it! Somewhere around 31 weeks I had made the 'decision' to go natural. I called a new friend who I'd talked to a bit before about it and she gave me some information. So I had two months to figure out how to do this. I read info on Lamaze and also the Bradley method. The more I read the more determined I got to do this! Yikes! I decided to go with the methods described in the Bradley method, they seemed the most natural. For the last couple of months I was having MANY contractions, even very consistent contractions for 2 or 3 days straight at times. I thought for sure I was going to have him early. At my 37wk appt I was only dilated 1cm, which is good at this stage of the game! At each subsequent weekly appt I was another cm dilated so by the time I hit 40wks (Fri Aug 8th) I was dilated to a 4! I was SURE now that I would have him in a matter of hours. I mean how long can a pregnant woman go being so far along? Appearantly a little while longer :-( Since I had past my due date my Dr wanted me to come in twice a week for a stress test on the baby. So on Tues the next week (no baby yet) I went in for my first stress test. A bit nervous I lay on the chair they put the straps around my HUGE belly and listen for his heartbeat.
That's a chicken nugget under his head!
His heartbeat was steady, he must have been sleeping because he wasn't moving at the moment and you could tell when he was awake! Well they put this little buzzer thing on the bottom of my belly gave it a little buzz and he jumped inside me! They then were monitoring his hb and they said his heartbeat was a little abnormal! Well Yeah, you just buzzed the poor little guy out of a nice peaceful nap! They had me go to the hospital to be monitored for a bit longer but by the time we got there he was relaxed, heartbeat was normal, and I didn't have to be induced! (My ultimate fear was to be induced and then not be able to go natural, I wasn't sure if I could even do it on my own w/o induction). So of course the next couple of days I was dreading going back to get another test done on Friday(41wk appt). I went in for my appt, she checked me and I was a 5!! I couldn't believe it, 5! Why was my body not going into labor yet? I think because of the fact I was dilated so much they decided not to do another stress test! YEAH!! We were all convinced I'd be in labor in a couple of hours! NOPE! I was contracting but no different than the previous few months!
Then while climbing into bed at 11:30pm on Sun Aug 17th my water broke!! Excited and a little frightened we called my step-mom to come stay with Braden and Gabe and headed to the hospital. We arrived there around 1am and things went pretty quickly after that. A friend of mine met us at the hospital when we arrived. I remember getting on the birth ball and NOT wanting to get off! I had to have pressure on my lower back the whole time! (thanks Christie) And my poor husband was holding my legs up a couple inches while I was on the ball and each time he moved it killed so he had to hold me really still which I know wasn't easy!! I could feel immense pressure and did not want to get off the ball, I knew it was close. Well I got up and on the bed between contractions and that was it! Only one or two more contractions and I was pushing. A couple contractions of pushing and here he was Ethan Kyle Russell 8lb15oz and I felt every ounce!! WOW what a relief!! By God's grace I did it with out them even having to stick a needle in me!! We were so filled with joy and ready to get on with life we left the hospital the next day!! That was 2192 days ago and we are still filled with joy over the gift of Ethan! He always makes us smile with his great facial expressions and witty remarks! It's never a dull moment with him around! We are praying for many more days with him!! We Love You Ethan!!!
Our new life with 3 boys!!
Kindergarten graduation!!
Silly boy!!
Put-Put with daddy!
That's a chicken nugget under his head!
His heartbeat was steady, he must have been sleeping because he wasn't moving at the moment and you could tell when he was awake! Well they put this little buzzer thing on the bottom of my belly gave it a little buzz and he jumped inside me! They then were monitoring his hb and they said his heartbeat was a little abnormal! Well Yeah, you just buzzed the poor little guy out of a nice peaceful nap! They had me go to the hospital to be monitored for a bit longer but by the time we got there he was relaxed, heartbeat was normal, and I didn't have to be induced! (My ultimate fear was to be induced and then not be able to go natural, I wasn't sure if I could even do it on my own w/o induction). So of course the next couple of days I was dreading going back to get another test done on Friday(41wk appt). I went in for my appt, she checked me and I was a 5!! I couldn't believe it, 5! Why was my body not going into labor yet? I think because of the fact I was dilated so much they decided not to do another stress test! YEAH!! We were all convinced I'd be in labor in a couple of hours! NOPE! I was contracting but no different than the previous few months!
Then while climbing into bed at 11:30pm on Sun Aug 17th my water broke!! Excited and a little frightened we called my step-mom to come stay with Braden and Gabe and headed to the hospital. We arrived there around 1am and things went pretty quickly after that. A friend of mine met us at the hospital when we arrived. I remember getting on the birth ball and NOT wanting to get off! I had to have pressure on my lower back the whole time! (thanks Christie) And my poor husband was holding my legs up a couple inches while I was on the ball and each time he moved it killed so he had to hold me really still which I know wasn't easy!! I could feel immense pressure and did not want to get off the ball, I knew it was close. Well I got up and on the bed between contractions and that was it! Only one or two more contractions and I was pushing. A couple contractions of pushing and here he was Ethan Kyle Russell 8lb15oz and I felt every ounce!! WOW what a relief!! By God's grace I did it with out them even having to stick a needle in me!! We were so filled with joy and ready to get on with life we left the hospital the next day!! That was 2192 days ago and we are still filled with joy over the gift of Ethan! He always makes us smile with his great facial expressions and witty remarks! It's never a dull moment with him around! We are praying for many more days with him!! We Love You Ethan!!!
Our new life with 3 boys!!
Kindergarten graduation!!
Silly boy!!
Put-Put with daddy!
