Jessica, Trent, Aiden, Janie, & Beckett: Introducing...

Dawson James Knuckles

arrived Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 12:39 p.m.

weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.

Dawson came at 38 weeks 5 days, just like Janie!

We had the hardest time deciding on a name for Dawson! We had a crazy long list of names we liked for the longest time, but nothing was really standing out. About a week before he was born I decided we needed to get serious!! By the time we made it to the hospital we had narrowed the names down to Dawson and Carter, but we kept falling back on Dawson, and so it was :)

Normally we choose a family name for the middle name, but we were stumped on even a first name so this didn't technically happen this time. Trent decided he liked James as a solid middle name for any of the first names on our list so we went with that. I was glad that we had something decided! Once he threw that out there I pulled up my genealogy and it turns out there are a whole bunch of James's through my Grandma Whitmore's line and a few in my Grandpa's line as well (I imagine there are some in my Christensen line too!), so that's neat and makes me feel like we didn't totally drop the tradition. I'll have to learn more about them though!

Now for the labor story!

This was my hardest pregnancy so far (they seem to get a little harder each time) so I was so ready to be done. I had lots of fainting spells toward the end of my pregnancy that would come on out of the blue and put me out for a few hours (I'd just have to lay down/sit down and wait it out). I also had terrible heartburn/acid reflux. I felt like I couldn't eat anything without it coming shooting up my throat (sorry to be graphic). Eating was just not satisfying :/ Lots of Tums and Zantac! But Beckett only came 2 days early so I wasn't getting my hopes up that Dawson would come too early. I was feeling a little nervous though because at my last ultrasound (at 37 weeks) they were saying that Dawson was already weighing 6.15 and Beckett was 6.14 at birth!! So I was absolutely convinced that Dawson would be at least 8 pounds when he was born, and I was honestly kind of bummed about it..haha. I love having small babies! I know that's so silly, but I kept telling my mom and Trent that I would be so happy if he was under 8, even if he was like 7.15..ha. Turns out I had nothing to be worried about ;)

Monday, the 28th, I went in for a pedicure (it's always fun for me to do this before baby comes) and I had the massage chair going the whole time. Normally I don't care for it too much, but this time it felt so good! Later that evening though I was so sore and kind of regretting it. Looking back, I honestly wonder if that massage chair may have put me into labor..haha.

I went to bed that evening about midnight, but I struggled to fall asleep. I woke up around 3:30 and wasn't sure if I had dreamed I had a contraction or if I actually had..haha. I tried to go back to sleep, but by 4:30 I just knew the baby was coming that day. I hadn't packed my bag yet so I started to do that. Luckily I had written down a list of everything I wanted to bring, so that was super easy. I kept going back and forth on whether to get in the shower, but my contractions were still a good 10 minutes apart so I went for it, and I'm so glad I did! My contractions were super sporadic so I had plenty of time. Beckett must have heard me blow drying my hair and/or sensed something was going on b/c he woke up around 5:30 :/ Trent called his mom around 6 to let her know what was going on, but we had her hold off on coming over. Janie and Aiden got up around 7, like usual, and Trent helped Aiden get ready for school, as usual..ha. We decided to go ahead and have Tanis come over to get him to school since my contractions were picking up, and she got here about 7:20. I continued to tidy and breathe through contractions, but they were still averaging about 5 minutes apart. Tanis thought we should head to the hospital. She and the kids dropped Aiden off at school and we pulled out at 8:06 as they were pulling back in.

We made it to the hospital 10 minutes later (8:16) and got all checked in and headed to Triage. This is where things got rough (compared to my other births). They started monitoring me as usual and decided I was dilated to a 5 or 6. Everything was going as normal and I told them I'd definitely like an epidural. I have never had any desire to give birth naturally and the epidural has always been great for me. Some people say it slows their delivery down, but I have never had that problem. Anyway, since I had decided on an epidural they went ahead and prepared to get an IV going. This has honestly always been like the worst part of labor/delivery for me and this time was seriously cringe worthy. Every nurse that has ever had to take my blood/insert an IV has always told me how good my veins are, and this nurse told me just that. Well she went to put the IV in and what usually takes maybe 5 minutes took 15-20. It was horrible. I don't know what was going on, but I guess she decided to insert the IV and while she was at it just take my blood, but I guess my blood started to clot and she couldn't get all that she needed so she kept pushing on my puffy vein and digging around...it was SO. BAD. I had my eyes closed the whole time and I was so, so irritated. She was clearly embarrassed and kept apologizing. Who knew this was kind of foretelling the next few hours.

Basically we sat in Triage for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!! It was awful. We have never been in there for that long, even with Aiden. They had us stay in there with Aiden for an hour, since he was our first. The one nurse just kept telling us that our delivery nurse was stuck in a c-section. We don't know if they were just short staffed that day or what, but the nurse also kept telling me I was first up and that all of their Triage rooms were full and there were even 2 women laboring in the lobby. So I wasn't the only one feeling beyond frustrated..haha. With Janie and Beckett they've been able to get us to our labor and delivery room and an epidural within like 30-45 minutes so this 2.5 hours was brutal. Longest 2.5 hours of my life! I have to say though, I was pretty proud of myself for staying calm and collected. I tried to remember and use all of the breathing techniques from a class we took when I was pregnant with Aiden.

We finally made it to our Labor and Delivery room (room #1 btw..ha) around 10:45 and then we STILL had to wait a good 40 minutes for the epidural. Ugh. The anesthesiologist made it in around 11:25 and normally I'm so, so nervous, and I definitely was, but mostly I was thinking, "Give me the dang epidural!!" They got that placed with no trouble and after some time the nurse finally headed out for a bit while the epidural did its thing. Trent and I were finally alone (and I was so happy to have some relief from contractions) and I finally just let it out. I burst into ugly tears with Trent and I remember distinctly saying, "That was AWFUL!!" I was SO discouraged. I still tear up just thinking about it. Now I realize for some this was nothing, but for me, comparing to my 3 other labor experiences, this was my worst experience by far. In my mind, we would get to the hospital, get the epidural maybe an hour later (NOT THREE) and I'd happily watch The Bachelor on Hulu while I waited an hour or 2 to push (like my other babies). Obviously I realize it could've been so much worse, but this was based on MY 3 previous experiences.

Anyway, I was able to pull myself together (so grateful for the epidural!) and I texted my family at 11:50 to let them know the epidural was in. They were all pretty shocked because I hadn't said anything to them yet..haha. I feel like I did the same thing with Beckett, but I got through Triage a WHOLE lot faster with him. I guess I should have at least told my mom, but it turns out she was at the Phoenix Art Museum doing a tour for 5th graders (she's a docent), so she's actually happy I didn't b/c she would have been feeling anxious the whole time..ha. About 10 minutes later the nurse called my OB, Dr. Huish, to have him come break my water, so I told my mom to head over as well. She's been able to witness all of my deliveries :) Dr. Huish arrived at 12:15 to break my water and by 12:30ish I was pushing! I was telling my sister that if I'd known I'd only have the epidural for 45 minutes maybe I could've gone natural after all..ha. Like I said, I really have no desire to do that, but I've always kind of feared that we wouldn't make it in time for the epidural or that it wouldn't work right and now I know, I think I could go all natural if I really had to/wanted to ;)

I pushed through 3-4 contractions (so like 8-9 minutes) and Dawson's head was like halfway out, and then Dr. Huish actually told me to relax and he worked Dawson the rest of the way out. I know that sounds so strange..haha. I think maybe he did it b/c he was worried about me tearing, which I've never done before. I give Dr. Huish all credit for that. Love him. And Dawson officially made his debut at 12:39! He was really quiet, just like Aiden and Janie were, and it had the nurses a little concerned. They had me do a little skin to skin (not much) and then they took his measurements and decided to send him down to the nursery to monitor his oxygen levels (about 1:10). We were a little surprised b/c with my other babies they let me do skin to skin for longer and they've been just fine. I guess Dawson's oxygen was at like 85 and they like for it to be over 90. I really wasn't worried at all, but we let the nurses take him away and Trent went along while my mom and I got some lunch ordered and I rested some.

Around 2:45 the nurse came in to get us ready to move us to our recovery room. Dawson and Trent made it back just in time to move down with us. I guess they laid him on his stomach and his oxygen went up to 95, and then 98 by the time they left, yay!

Daddy and Dawson :)

My sweet little burrito.

We got to our room about 3:10 and then just waited for the kids to come meet their new little brother. Tanis got Aiden picked up from school, but they weren't super anxious to head right to the hospital. Aiden likes to have some down time after school. Plus I think the kids always feel a little nervous coming to the hospital, it tends to have a negative connotation :/ My dad came for a little bit around 4:45 and then Tanis, Kent, and the kids came around 5:15. It was so fun to see the kids and their reactions!

First look :)

Janie wasn't too happy that Aiden got to hold him first..haha.

Janie's turn!

It was tricky to get a picture with all of us!

Janie was really enamored :)

Grandma Knuckles finally got a turn ;)

The boys only really cared about finding the hospital playground (haha), but Janie decided to stay behind. She couldn't get enough of Baby Dawson!

A few more photos before the kids headed home.

Yawn progression :)

Our 4th baby!!

This was the first time that Trent actually headed home for the night and I stayed on my own. With 3 older kids now he just thought it would be helpful to take care of getting them to school in the morning, and that maybe it would help with the transition more.

That little face!

Dawson had a poop explosion that evening! That was when I was kind of wishing Trent were there to help ;)

Wednesday morning Trent made it over around 11:15 and they took Dawson off to do his heel prick/newborn screening. When he came back he was holding tight to his pacifier clip :)

And we were discharged around 1:30! So they got us out of there in almost 24 hours, which was awesome!

I had to put Dawson in the same dinosaur jammies that Beckett and Aiden went home in..ha. Comparison pictures at the end ;)

On our way home!

Janie couldn't wait to hold him again :)

And she and my mom picked out these gorgeous roses for us :)

Dawson is such a sweet baby and mostly easygoing and we are so grateful. Beckett has struggled a little bit, but with each passing day he seems to do a little better. He mostly ignores Dawson though, or tries to take his paci..ha. We took it away from him mid December so we figured he'd be pretty excited to see it again when Dawson came..ha. Luckily he's fine giving it back when we ask for it ;)

Dawson is up pretty much every 3 hours at night, but he's starting to give me 3.5 sometimes. I am really looking forward to have him start stretching that for me ;)

Trent had his longest paternity leave yet and got 2 weeks off! We were so grateful for that! 4 kids is pretty crazy! He went back to work Wednesday the 13th and then Amber and Lincoln actually flew in on the 14th (Valentine's Day). Then last week he had off for President's Day. So this is actually my first full week on my own and I'm feeling a little nervous..ha. I feel like Dawson is in and out of the car seat all day long except for Thursday, poor guy :/ That's life as the 4th baby I guess.

Oh and here's the comparison pics of the boys ;)

Dawson...