Raising a Rucker: Welcome Sydney June!!

Sweet Sydney June was born Monday, May 23rd at 11:15am. She weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She is just the sweetest thing and we are all in love!

For you to get a full idea of his birth story I will back up to the weekend before. Friday night, we celebrated Justin's birthday as a family of 4. His birthday was on Sunday, but I woke up that morning thinking we should celebrate it on Friday just in case I go into labor. I'm so glad we did! Charlie helped me bake his favorite chocolate sheet cake and the boys loved celebrating Daddy. It was a sweet night with our little family!

The next day (Saturday) Charlie had his first TBall game and his last soccer game...

.....after the soccer game Nana took the boys home with her and we had a glorious 24 hours just the two of us. Looking back I'm so glad we had that time together before we became a family of 5. We went on one last date night, took a final belly shot, and got lots of rest. It was much needed! Thank you Nana and Papa!

Sunday was Justin's birthday and we met my parents at church to get the boys. Something felt off though. I couldn't eat breakfast (unlike me!) and was really nauseous. I had to step out a few times during church because I was so hot and felt like I was going to throw up (also not like me!) About this time was when my contractions started too. At this point we thought sweet Sydney might be on a path to be birthday buddies with Daddy! After church we met Justin's fam at his favorite BBQ restaurant to celebrate his birthday. I still felt off. I couldn't eat, and the contractions started getting stronger and hurt! Oh boy!

After lunch, we went home to rest, and I kept thinking these contractions have got to stop. But, they didn't! Each one was getting closer together and stronger. I called the doctor on call and explained what was happening and he said I need to head to the hospital. Luke's labor was really quick and they were afraid this one could be even quicker, so they didn't want to take any chances. We called up Adam and he came and watched the boys.

We checked into L&D around 3:30ish on Sunday, May 22nd. My contractions had slowed down a bit, but were still in a labor pattern. They monitored me until about 9pm and at that time I was admitted and given a epidural. I was about a 4 at this point. They all knew how fast Luke came, so they didn't want to take any chances this go 'round. And I was hesitant going home, because I knew I would be right back up to the hospital if it was anything like the boys' deliveries.

Once I was admitted and my epidural was complete, the contractions REALLY slowed down. I tried to rest but it was so hard at this point! No progression overnight after that, but still contracting every 2-3 mins, so it was a long night waiting. The next morning at 5:00, the nurse started to walk through a plan. Doc would be in around 8am to break water and begin. Surely this will speed things up! I stayed at a 4 until about 11:00am. All of a sudden, in about a 10 minute span, my pain level shot up and I went from a 4 to a 10. The nurse told me Sydney was coming at any minute. I pushed a few times and at 11:15am sweet Sydney June made her arrival!