Isaac William McAdams

As I finally write this post, our little guy is already 3 1/2 weeks old. He arrived August 3, a mere 9 days late! His cousin (Austin William Judd), although due two weeks later than Isaac, was born one day before him. James is absolutely smitten and can't get enough of his littlest brother. He loves to get right up close in his face to talk to him and constantly lets us all know when Isaac learns something new (e.g. can lift his arm, hold something, move his leg, yawn). Robert likes to talk to Isaac and, occasionally, hold him. Kate also likes her little brother, but, I suspect, is awaiting the time when he can run around and play with her.
I succeeded in my goal for a natural birth. Managing the contractions from 1am to 6am wasn't so bad. I slept for a few hours, took a bath, and tried to sleep some more. I woke up Ben around 6:00. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasted for a minute, give or take. Ben helped me be less uncomfortable by applying counter pressure as we had learned/read about. We waited for Natalie to come at 9:00 before heading to the hospital. I checked in about 9:30am, dilated only to a 5.
The doula I hired, Angie Rosier, arrived about 9:45. After the nurse took care of some mandatory monitoring, Angie filled the bathtub and I spent some time there to be more comfortable while things progressed. The nurse had told us to come and get her if my water broke, I felt rectal pressure, or the need to push. I was starting to feel some rectal pressure, but knew I'd have to get out the bathtub once the nurse returned and the warm water was a nice place to labor. I waited through a few more contractions. When the pressure increased, we called for the nurse. I got out of the tub, into a dry gown and back to the bed. The nurse checked and I was dilated to a 9 and fully effaced. She said she was going to call for my doctor and also for the resident. She said she'd delivered a baby before, but didn't want to if she didn't have to.

As it happened, there was plenty of time. My doctor arrived and everyone prepared for a quick pushing phase to welcome in the new baby. To everyone's surprise, and my great disappointment, I found pushing extremely difficult. Similar to my previous deliveries, I couldn't easily find the muscles to push. I thought the difficulty in my two other deliveries had been a result of the the epidural, but it wasn't any different for me without the drugs. However, with the drugs, I wasn't also dealing with the pain associated with each contraction and the anticipation of pain between. I had a conversation with myself, reminding myself that there was only one way out of the situation. Thanks to lots of support and encouragement - Ben, my mom (who arrive just before pushing time), Angie, my doctor, and a couple of nurses - I was able to focus on the task and Isaac was born at 12:24 pm, just shy of three hours after arriving at the hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Isaac arrived with the cord wrapped twice around his neck, but the doctor didn't seem concerned as he cut the cord prior to delivering the shoulders and body. Isaac was immediately brought to my chest and all of the post birth baby care was done right there. I'd expected a crying baby, but Isaac was quiet. His eyes were open and be began nursing almost immediately. He nursed for quite some time, leading me to believe that we'd have an easy go of breastfeeding this go around. Not so, but more on that later.
The time in the hospital was quiet and special. We enjoyed several visitors, mostly family, and rested as much as possible. Ben stayed the nights with us. Kate, James and Robert spend the nights with Grandma Judd.

Dad sporting two very lovely tattoos, compliments of Isaac.