Merrick's Birth

My Mom took the girls to the movies this afternoon and Merrick is sleeping so I thought I better journal about his birth before I forget any details...so just a warning that it may be a long post!Jared had the day off of work for Veteran's Day so we decided to meet up with his family and some friends to watch the Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Mesa. After the parade I decided to run some errands and go grocery shopping. About 4:00pm I was in Fry's when I suddenly felt really wet. I thought there is no way my water just broke because two nights earlier I went in thinking the same thing and was sent home. I hurried and finished checking out with my cart full of groceries trying to conceal my wet pants the best I could. When I got home I changed clothes and immediately soaked through another pad, two more times. I called the Dr's office and they told me to head straight to the hospital. Jared's brother watched the girls until his Mom could come and we headed down the street to Banner Gateway about 5:30pm, only to find a line of pregnant ladies waiting to get into triage! I was worried I was going to leave a puddle on the floor so they took me straight up to labor and delivery and confirmed my water definitely had a leak but there was still another bag. Since I was GBS+ this time, Dr. Bullaro wanted to get two doses of antibiotics through an IV in my system before I delivered. I received the first dose at 6:00pm. At that time I still dilated to a four. We had to wait about 4 hours to get the second dose of antibiotics in but around 9:30pm I started feeling strong contractions. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a six and Dr. Bullaro couldn't feel my second water bag anymore. The contractions came really intense and strong so they gave me my epidural. After that I was in heaven! Around 11:30pm I started feeling lots of pressure and when the nurse checked me I was fully dilated and she could see the baby's head. Dr. Bullaro rushed in and everyone was so excited to get this baby out before midnight so he could have his birthday off of school every year! Once they were set up she had me push a few times on my first contraction and he was out at 11:55pm!
They handed him to me and I immediatley thought he looked like McKenzie with that dark curly hair and his little round nose. They weighed him and measured him at exactly 7 lbs and 19.5 inches long. I couldn't believe how tiny he was! Dr. Bullaro is such an amazing doctor. You can tell she is great when all the nurses at the hospital go to her too! She is so sweet and loves those babies and always gives me lots of hugs!Jared and his baby boy. Now he's not quite so outnumbered in the family!We had the best labor and delivery nurse, Jen Biggs, who was LDS and grew up in Mesa, so she knew a lot of Jared's family and friends. It was fun to talk to her and it made the time fly by! She gave Merrick his bath and got him all cleaned up and under the heat lamp before we moved down to our recovery room. We got settled in and by about 3 am we finally got some sleep! I tried to wake him up a few times to nurse but all he wanted to do was sleep!
We had to stay an night at the hospital so they could watch Merrick because of the GBS concerns.The second day was pretty long. I caught up on some sleep and enjoyed the quiet and a few visits from family.Jared's Mom, Alicia, Mishaun, Tyler and Stephanie, all came to visit and hold Merrick. Jared's Mom was so nice to watch the girls, especially since it was her birthday that day. His parents brought the girls by later that night to see their new baby brother. I was a little worried since they both had really runny noses, but they were so excited to meet him!Cassidy walked through the door and immediately jumped up on the bed with a huge grin on her face.The girls couldn't get enough of holding him.Once Cassidy realized she wasn't going to be able to stay, she started crying and by then I was already late for my discharge class.Luckily they both fell asleep in the car on the way back to Papa and Abu's house. I really felt great after my epidural wore off. I don't know if it is because I excercised up to the day of delivery or because his delivery was so quick and easy. Some of the after contractions were pretty intense but I was up on my feet ready to get out of the hospital. The next morning the Pediatrician came in and took Merrick for his circumcision. He did great and an hour later we finally decided on his name (Jared really wanted to name him Jett since he was born on Veteran's Day.....I said no way!) Merrick Campbell Phelps. Campbell is my Grandma Vandertoolen's maiden name. It fit perfectly when he came out with a dimple on his chin, a real Campbell trait.We changed him into his first outfit which just hung on him and then strapped him in the huge carseat and we headed off for home. Not to mention he only cost us $385.00 since we had met our deductible and out of pocket maximum for the year. Not only was he the easier labor/delivery yet, he was also the cheapest!