23 May 2009

The winner

Finally, Finally, James and Owen would like to announce the arrival of their baby brother:


Henry William Fuller

Born May 21, 2009; 10:11 a.m.

8 lbs. 2 oz.; 20 inches long


And the lucky winner of the contest is Tara! Her exact quote: "I'm guessing May 21st at 3:47 p.m. Weight 7 lbs 11 oz. Good luck Kristine! I am jealous you are so close!!" She's jealous because she has 3 more weeks to go until her own little sweetie boy is born. Hang in there, girl. (Brittany and Emily, you were both so close. It came down to hours--Tara's guess was a few hours less off the actual time. But how fun that Henry will share a birthday with both of you)

It was so fun to read all the guesses. Trust me, I was wishing that some of you who guessed Saturday and Sunday were right, but I guess this little guy wanted to take his time and then make a seriously quick, intense trip out when he was good and ready.

I'll try spare the nitty gritty, sometimes gory, and TMI details that make up mother-to-mother birth stories, and just sum it up like this: Monday afternoon we went to the doctor for the final checkup, and found that I was about as far along as you can be without actually being in active labor. I had some pretty regular contractions that night, but nothing that could actually be called painful, and eventually those sort of fizzled out. Doctor agreed that if baby wasn't here by Wednesday, he would break my water on Thursday morning at the hospital. So on Thursday morning, it went like this:

7:00 am: got to the hospital
7:40: broken water
8:00 ish: regular, painful contractions set in
9:15: really hard, intense contractions set in
9:20ish: asked for some kind of drug to take the edge off, found out it was too late, baby was about to make his entrance
9:40ish: had some serious doubts about being able to do this drug-free
10:11: Henry is in my arms.

It was a crazy, awesome and truly amazing experience. Jeff was such a helpful, positive coach through it all, and the two nurses and my Doctor were also so incredibly helpful and encouraging that I can honestly say it was one of the most spiritual and even pleasant experiences I've ever had.

Now that I can sit back and compare a non-epidural experience with an epidural experience (which I had with both of my other boys), I don't anymore think that people who do it drug-free are crazy. I went into the birth without a specific decision on whether I would use pain medication or not, but knowing my low pain tolerance, was leaning more toward medicating. Because I wasn't decided either way, I just wanted to let my body and my mind make that decision for me during the actual delivery so that I wouldn't be disappointed no matter what happened.

I just realized that up in that paragraph I called the experience pleasant. It seems like a ridiculous word to use to describe such an intense, painful thing. But honestly, with supportive people who encouraged me all the way through, (trust me, I had some serious, serious moments of doubt and terror) I guess the word pleasant could describe the environment around me, and not the actual pain and intensity. Henry was lucky enough to be born into a room full of peaceful, helpful, loving people on a sunny, blue-skied morning.

That said, it was extremely fast, and had it been longer, it most likely would have been a completely different experience. I wouldn't say it would have been a worse experience, just different.

As I sit here typing with Henry in the sling (I think he likes it!), it is overwhelming and amazing that someone such as myself is allowed to fall completely in love for the third time with a precious little person. I am so incredibly thankful that he is here and healthy and for all the love and support that brought him and us to this point.


***(Tara, leave me your address in the comments, and I promise your prize will be there sometime in the next few weeks.)

24 comments:

Trisha said...

Congratulations!!!

elowe said...

Great pictures! James & Owen look so happy. What a story! I can't believe how fast it was. You look great and the family picture is adorable. Glad you made it home. I'd love to stop by sometime next week to meet your new little guy and to bring you food!!

Lizzy said...

I'm so happy things went pleasantly. I hope your recovery and family adjustments go just as well! He really is a cute little guy. I love the name, too. I'm thinking I want William somewhere in #2's name (it's the hubs middle name).

Congratulations!

Jen I said...

Ha ha. Yeah, pleasant isn't usually one of those words that pops into my head about delivering a baby (especially unmedicated?!?!), but I'm glad it was a nice experience. Maybe they get better the more times you go through this because I've yet to feel it being a very spiritual thing but I keep hoping! Congratulations!

Aimee & Brennen Fuller said...

He is so stinkin' cute! We can't wait to meet him. It has been much too long since we have seen you guys. Hopefully we all can make the trip this July for the blessing.

Em said...

yay. another sling baby. love it. if you're like me, you'll still be using it almost 16 months later and still loving it. can't wait to meet the pnit!

Jaclyn said...

Congratulations and I am VERY impressed to say the least with your drug free experience. I'll have to give you a call soon so I can get some of the messy TMI details that I love to hear about (it is so different to read them after you have experienced them yourself). He is a beautiful baby and has a beautiful name. He is blessed to be born into such a wonderful family.

Tara said...

Holy crap I can't believe I won! YAY!

But more importantly - CONGRATULATIONS!! He looks so adorable Kristine! And it sounds like it was such a neat experience. Way to hang in there without the drugs. You are one tough cookie. I absolutely love the name too.

Great work!

I'll email you my address. Thanks!

Emily said...

Seriously? I was so close. I'm so happy to share my birthday with such a cutie!! I liked hearing about your natural experience vs. the epidural, because I totally think people who go natural are crazy...but maybe I shouldn't, it sounds like it was ok!

He is beautiful, congrats to you guys!! I hope you have a speedy recovery and I can't wait to see more pictures!

David and Jana said...

Congratulations to your family! I am so glad that it went well and that you had a "pleasant" experience!

stacie said...

Good to hear your non-medicated experience went well! I was not so happy with mine! :) Good job and great picture! :)

jefferies said...

Congratulations again!! Yes, pleasant is a word I would use to describe unmedicated birth, in a way. But it is difficult to understand until you've done it. Nice Work! Beautiful baby!

WASHINGTON SOUTHWORTHS said...

Congratulations! You have 3 absolutely adorable little boys. And I am seriously impressed by the epidural-free labor & delivery... way to go! :)

The Fullmer Times & Seasons said...

Congratulations, Kristine! I'm glad it sounds like everything went well (I'm sure painful). Garrett's delivery was the most pleasant and spiritual experience of the three.
Enjoy your three little sweet boys. They're all so cute. James is practically grown up.:)
I wish you lots of sleep. (Is your mom still there?)
-Melanie

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS!!!!!
call me when you get a chance!
HOPe all is well and he is so beautiful! I love the name, esp the William part :)

Lambert's said...

Congratulations! I am glad my date guess was wrong. What handsome boys! Hope you are feeling good.

Jen said...

What a beautiful family! You look so great! Congratulations. I can't wait to meet Henry.

Lis said...

I love how Owie is such a cheese in all the pics. One day he'll stop doing that and be all stoic like James and we will be sad.

Lis said...

Also, don't you mean baby bwudah?

Ilene said...

Congrats! I'm glad he is here happy and healthy!

Obviously you must be high on some post-birth euphoria or meds to write that giving birth without meds was fine.

I am kidding. I think I could handle it drug free now that I have popped out a few kiddos all ready. The way out is a lot bigger now that the other siblings have paved the way...

Chelsea said...

Congrats! So excited he's here. Miss you and Eugene though. Sad I can't see him in person.

The Stefanek Quints said...

yeah! congrats you guys! he is beautiful and i am so happy it turned out to be such a wonderful experience. you are so lucky how fast it went! i want to try to see you sometime soon, but not too soon. i know how things are at first. hope all is going well and he is a really good baby!

Unknown said...

Congratulations!! I am so thrilled for you!! Three little boys adding so much to your life. And keeping you almost too busy to sew. Hope to see you all when you come in August. I still feel like I have a vested interest in the Fuller Family!

Seymour Chase said...

Congratulations!!! I just found your blog from Ali's site. Henry is super cute (as are James and Owen)! Is the name an homage to Grandpa Fuller?
Hope all the Fullers convene again sometime soon - it'd be great to see you guys!
-Annie (Fuller) Chase