I would have to say that second pregnancies are much different from the first. Not that it wasn't as exciting, but it was different... I had fun comparing this pregnancy with my first and how I met the milestones at different times in different ways. One thing that was common in both pregnancies was that I was not so pleased with was that I was overdue. Even though I was due on May 2nd Lyndon decided to come on May 8th. I really wanted to wait this pregnancy out and not get induced, but that wasn't the case. Lyndon was overdue and so on May 7th Jesse and I went in to get an ultrasound and stress test to make sure he was doing okay. The ultrasound was great! He had his hands by his face so we weren't able to see his face sadly, but everything  looked great. The stress test went fine too. It helped that Jesse went down to the coffee stand and brought a smoothie back with him. Lyndon was very active when I had a couple of sips of the smoothie. After that we met with the doctor who checked to see if I was any further dilated or effaced and it turned out I was 4-5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was glad to hear it! She said it would be a good idea to induce and told me the reasons and so Jesse and I decided to get induced the next morning at 6 am. Jesse's mom and dad came into Dubuque that night to stay over night just in case something happened that night. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep but 6 am came pretty quickly and before I knew it we were up and getting ready to head to the hospital. I went into Norah's room to kiss her good bye. Jesse's mom and dad were planning to stay with her for the three days we would be in the hospital. It was a bitter sweet moment. Jess and I said our goodbye's to our sleeping beauty and headed out to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and completely bypassed the admitting desk and went straight to the delivery floor. We walked passed the nurses desk and saw all of the nurses in a group having their morning meeting. We thought we had to go to a different desk but as we were looking for "the other desk" to check into a nurse found us and said "I'll be your nurse!" and explained to us that we were supposed to check in at the admitting desk before coming up. haha! We were just too excited. She saw us to our room and gave me the ever so attractive gown to put on.

We had to run through all of the paperwork and I didn't start my induction until 7. Our nurse got everything going and it was great. My contractions were pretty mild for a while and at 9 the doctor broke my water and my contractions were starting to get painful, but not bad. As time progressed the contractions started to feel worse so at 11 I got an epidural and it went perfect! The pain quickly subsided and I was able to rest and spend quality time with Jesse. Just an hour later my doctor came in to check me and she said I was dilated to a 9! She decided to let baby labor down on it's own and about a half hour later I felt a lot of pressure down there and so I told the nurse that I thought I was ready to push. She told me to do a practice push and with the practice push alone Lyndon was crowning! She rushed to get my doctor and told me not to push anymore. My doctor quickly came in and got everything set up. The next 10 minutes are kind of a blur because I blacked out twice but as much as I can remember and from what Jesse tells me, I gave 3 big pushes and little Lyndon James was born. Apparently Lyndon was born with his face up so it was difficult to get him out but I only pushed for about 10 minutes and he was born!

I held my baby boy in my arms for the first time and instantly fell in love all over again. He was 8 pounds 6 ounces of absolute perfection.

I am beyond thankful that my pregnancy labor and delivery have all been safe and pretty easy for the most part. I am also super thankful that my epidural worked this time because it made for such an enjoyable process with my husband and new little boy.