Meet Maxwell

Maxwell John Aggen

Wednesday October 7, 2015 at 7:10 am 

7 lbs 10 oz & 20.5" long

He's here! We're so happy to have little Max join our family. It's been fun for me to look back on my post about Addie's labor and birth and reminisce, and so I thought that I would write down Maxwell's too so I can remember the details later.

On Monday, October 5 I had a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning, and at this point I was 39 weeks. At the appointment my doctor asked if I wanted to have my membranes swept. I figured why not since my Mom was flying in from Canada later that day and I had had a couple of pre-labor symptoms a few days before, but honestly I wasn't too hopeful that it would actually do anything. I was also about 2cm dilated and 75% effaced at the appointment, and his head was reallllly low. After my appointment I headed over to the hospital for my weekly Non-Stress Test which I had been doing after our overnight stay at the hospital at 36 weeks, and his heart rate was still looking good which was a relief to me. I then went home and Alex went to campus, and later that day we picked up my Mom from the airport and had fun the rest of the day getting settled in and spending time with her. I also had a little cramping later that night but nothing of much significance.

Early Tuesday morning I woke up to go to the bathroom around 3:30am and as I was trying to fall back asleep I got a contraction that actually felt like a real contraction! I stayed awake a little longer and another one came about 10 minutes later, and this pattern of a contraction every ten minutes continued until about 6am. I was finally able to fall back asleep at that time and when I woke up an hour later the contractions had stopped altogether. I was so discouraged! My Mom and I decided that we'd better go grocery shopping in case the contractions earlier were actually doing something, and throughout the morning I would have contractions on and off but nothing that was consistent. We then came home and Addie and I both napped. That afternoon we all went for a walk to a park nearby that has a mile walking loop around it. I did a couple of laps while my Mom and Addie played at the playground, and when Alex joined us shortly later after coming home from his classes he did a couple laps with me too. We then went home for dinner (we had spaghetti!) and at dinner I started getting more contractions that were pretty strong and coming about every 7-10 minutes or so. I kept getting contractions as we put Addie to bed, and as we were putting her to sleep that night I got a little teary thinking that this could potentially be the last time we'd be together as a family of three. The contractions continued and kept getting stronger and more consistent in timing as the evening went on and so we called the Labor and Delivery triage number at the hospital around 10pm. They told me to drink lots of water and take some Tylenol and if the contractions were still the same intensity and consistency an hour later to call back and then we could come in. At this point I knew for sure that this was the real deal, but still did that anyways and an hour later the contractions were very intense and I had a hard time talking through them. So we called triage back and left for the hospital.

To set the stage for this next part I have to tell you that the roads are TERRIBLE here in Ann Arbor. There are potholes everywhere and overall the surfaces of the roads are pretty crummy - and I fully got to experience this as we drove to the hospital. Alex was such a good sport and tried his best to avoid all the bumps, but he still experienced a bunch of crabbiness/swearing (oops!)/finger-nail digging hand holding from me anytime I got a contraction on our car ride. Let's just say I'll never look at the stretch of Platt Road by County Farm Park the same again... But we managed to hit a lot of green lights, so I didn't have to do too much laboring in the car (thankfully for both me and Alex!). 

Once we got checked into triage at the hospital I was dilated to 4cm and my contractions were strong and coming about every 5 minutes so we were admitted right away. A funny moment at this time was when they asked if I had a birth plan or any special requests - man, things sure change with a second child because the only thing I asked was when I could get an epidural and sleep! Our nurse Ellen then came to bring us to our room. I got to say she was THE BEST nurse I could have asked for. She was funny and sweet and encouraging and made my labor and delivery experience absolutely wonderful! Another fun thing was that there had been a medical student shadowing my OB during my appointments the last few weeks of my pregnancy, and she was there at the hospital that night and was assigned to me. It was really nice to have a familiar face there. Once we got through all the admitting questions, inserting the IV so they could start antibiotics since I was group-b strep positive (and unfortunately the first time my vein blew out so I had a big bruise for a good week afterwards, but they got the IV on the second time!), they came to do my epidural. They do it differently than I had it done in Utah, and instead of lying on my side on the bed they raised the bed up really high and had me sit on the edge and hunch my shoulders, put my chin down to my chest, and curve out my back while Alex sat in front of me and helped hold up my legs towards my chest. Oh, and while in this uncomfortable position I'm still contracting and trying to sit as still as possible. It was the only time in labor that I felt like I wanted to cry. And poor Alex about five minutes into them setting up said he didn't feel too great and he looked like he was going to pass out. So the nurses ordered him to sit on the couch in my room so he wouldn't, and my nurse stepped in to help keep my legs up. Unfortunately the first time they did my epidural they were hitting some sort of nerve ending because anytime they tried to thread the catheter I kept feeling this zinging sensation in my back. So they re-did it and luckily they got it right, although it didn't fully take on my right side. But once the epidural kicked in I sure was grateful to have that even if I could still feel pressure. Everyone then cleared out of the room and we were able to rest for a little bit. A little less than 2 hours later around 5:30am a doctor came in to check me and I was 9cm and they talked about breaking my water, but held off as they needed to wait another hour or so for the antibiotics to kick in so we just kept resting. My epidural was starting to wear off at this time too so we got another bolus and waited around. The doctor and my med student then came back in and when she checked me again I was at 10cm and fully effaced and during the check my water broke so we were given the all clear to push.

The pushing experience was so much different than with Addie. I had told everyone in the room that I was not going to push for 2 hours like last time and wanted to be a much better pusher this time around. Well, that definitely happened! Alex, the doctor, my nurse, and the medical student were so encouraging and the best cheerleaders and I only pushed for 15 minutes! Not going to lie, I was pretty proud of myself. When Max came out they put him directly on my chest and I just loved that! Alex and I were able to look at him right away and take him in, I remember thinking how 'little' his cry sounded. Despite the fast pushing I only tore a tiny bit and it required 3 stitches, which has been a much better recovery than my episiotomy with Addie was. Max then got checked and weighed and we still can't get over how he weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was born October 7 at 7:10am. Apparently those are his lucky numbers!

Overall the recovery has been pretty good. I've been feeling a lot better physically and emotionally this time around. The only crummy part of my recovery was that I got double mastitis as my milk was coming in a few days after we had been home and that was pretty scary. I've never had chills like that and having a high fever is never fun. But luckily when we went back to the hospital they were able to quickly diagnose it and after a ten day course of antibiotics I am doing just fine. I was really grateful my Mom was around to help with Addie and take care of us and our home. Addie absolutely loves her little brother, and always wants to hold his hands and give him kisses and 'ugga-muggas'. She did have a hard time with some negative behavior regressions towards Alex and I for about 2 weeks after he was born, but is doing much better now.

And as for Max? Well first things first, his name. The name Maxwell was one we both really liked when we were looking at baby names while expecting Addie, and having the nickname Max is what won out over the other names we were considering. His middle name is both Alex's and his Dad's middle name, but in the end what made us choose it is that John means "God is gracious" and we really liked that as Addie's middle name is Grace and so we thought that would be fitting. Max has been a great eater for me and so far seems to be a pretty decent sleeper. He is such a calm baby and the only time he gets upset is when he wakes up and wants to eat right away. He is gaining weight like a champ and is super tall - at our last appointment he was in the 95th percentile for height! Overall, we're slowly adjusting to being a family of four and love getting to know our baby Max more everyday. 

Last picture as a family of 3

Last bump picture!

Daddy, Addie, and Max

My three loves

The 4 of us

Mommy and Maxwell

Going home from the hospital

Our dapper dude

Max with Mommy and Daddy

In his car seat

Snuggling with baby brother

Cuddling with my kiddos

We sure do love our sweet boy!

Our new bedtime routine