9 lbs.+ Frequently Asked Questions

Having a 9 lbs. 6 oz. baby sparks a couple questions- so I’ve made a special FAQ post J

How big was your other child?

Traejan was 8lbs. 11 oz. and he was born 6 days early! At that weight, he was technically LGA (large for gestational age) too but I don’t remember them having to check his blood sugars in the hospital like they did Alana’s.

How big were you and your husband?

I was 9lbs even when I was born and we think Tyson was about the same or maybe a little less so it must be in the genes!

Was she overdue?

Only by a day.

Any complications delivering?

I had a small 2^nd degree tear but other than that I would say it was a textbook delivery.

Did you have gestational diabetes or any other complications while you were pregnant?

No, my blood sugar was great when they tested me at 20 weeks and so was Alana’s every time they checked her in the hospital. My blood pressures were fabulous usually 115/60 give or take, my feet and ankles never got swollen and I don’t even have stretch marks to report. My iron was a little low but that would most likely have the opposite effect on her birth weight. And other than some insomnia and the expected discomfort that comes with pregnancy, I felt great the whole time.  I walked a lot and tried to eat healthy (I think there is always room for improvement for me on the eating healthy part-serious sugar and sushi addiction!) I had a very healthy pregnancy overall.

**Sidenote** Because she is was so big I do have an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes when I’m older  but according to my doctor that is not an “absolute”. Plus type 2 diabetes is the preventable type of diabetes so as long as I exercise and eat healthy it won’t be an issue.

Even though we joke about Alana being able to live off of the fat stores in her cheeks we think she is pretty amazing and perfect.  We love her and we are so grateful she has come to join our family. She makes our hearts full and brings our family so much happiness. 

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Alana's Birth Story

To induce or not to induce? I think every pregnant woman gets super anxious for their baby to arrive and I had a lot of reasons that made sense for me to get an early induction with this pregnancy. My OB who knew me and my case would be available (he was going out of town the next week), Tyson's family was visiting that week (they would be able to help watch Traejan and they really wanted to meet the new baby before they went back to AZ), and week and a half before my due date, I got an ultrasound and this baby was measuring about 8 lbs. 11 oz. and I don't know about you, but at that size, I would say that this bun was pretty much done cooking!  So I scheduled an induction on March 25th (4 days before her due date). However, the night before I was to go in the hospital, Tyson was not feeling good about me going through with the induction.  We talked and I decided to wait. It was a tough decision but waiting for her to come naturally actually worked out the best for all of us!

A little before 8 AM Sunday morning, Traejan came in to wake me up like he usually does.  He put his face right next to mine, told me very loudly that it’s day time, and then pulled on my arm till I reluctantly got out of bed.  He told me that he has to go potty and so I followed him into the bathroom. He struggled to get his jammies off and ultimately got a little bit of potty on his underwear. He was upset and while I tried to console him, I realized that I suddenly and urgently had to go potty too! Me, being 10 months pregnant and having the bladder the size of a peanut had just wet my pants too! So I tell my son, “It’s ok, see mommy just wet her pants too!” But then it just keeps coming out… I know I’ve lost some control (have to cross my knees when I sneeze type thing) but I kept thinking, this isn’t normal…then it dawned, “Hey I think my water just broke! I must be in labor! Halleluja, it’s time!”

So many good thoughts running through my mind: I didn’t have to wait any longer for this baby to come! I didn’t have to sleep pregnant again! And I didn’t have to go to church where people would make comments about me still being pregnant. i.e.  “When’s your due date again?” “Why are you here, shouldn’t you be in the hospital?” “When are you due? Yesterday!?” HAhahahahahaha NOT! It didn’t matter how well-meaning some of them were, I found them all annoying at that point.

We woke up Tyson and told him that I was in labor. He was excited. He actually jumped out of bed (I don’t think I had ever seen him that eager to get out of bed in the morning in all our 5 years of marriage.)  We both showered, I packed up a few last minute things, I called my good friend and neighbor, Amber, to come get Traejan and then we headed off to the hospital. 

We arrived at the hospital between 9:30 and ten and they got me all checked in. They weren’t too busy which was nice. My nurse was great, nice bedside manner, and did a fantastic job on the I.V. (I’m much more particular about that now.) They gave me my first round of penicillin because I was GBS positive this time (I wasn’t with Traejan) and then we just hung out.  Tyson watched a movie and I emailed my brother, Devin.  Not many contractions at that point.

Around noon, because I still wasn’t having many contractions (about 1 every hour! Kinda nice J), they decided to get the ball rolling and give me some Pitocin. That was not so much fun.  Contractions every two minutes and very painful! I toughened it out for about an hour then went with an epidural. The anesthesiologist was great, very good bedside manner too and he came right away. Around two, I got my second round of antibiotics, then they checked me and she was ready to rock and roll.  They contacted my doctor (who was luckily on call that day-it was the day before he was to go on vacation) and the NICU staff in case the baby had swallowed some of the amniotic fluid. (When my water broke it was a light yellow color, meaning the baby probably pooped a little while she was in there.  The NICU team was there to suction her out to help prevent any risk of infection from the meconium or I guess perform life-saving measures if need be.) They arrived and told me to push.  I pushed about 6 times and 2 ½ contractions and then out she came! It was pretty amazing and it didn’t quite seem real.  They suctioned her and took her vitals, then placed her in my arms. She was beautiful and healthy. All my fears of the million things that could’ve gone wrong disappeared when I looked at her perfect little face.

Just before Alana was born.

Pleased to meet you!

Seeing Tyson with our new little baby makes me love him so much more! I love this softer side of him.

Daddy with his little girl.

My brother Jeffrey and his wife, Kelsey were able to make it for the birth too. It was a very sweet experience and I'm glad they could be there to share it with us.

Tyson's cousin, Heather, also came to birth. She is so sweet and took all of these hospital pictures.  I'm so grateful she could be there.

A little comparison between my two babies' births:

I had a hard time believing that I actually gave birth, it went so fast and was too easy (especially when I compare it to Traejan’s birth.) I only had a 2^nd degree tear with Alana.  With Traejan I had little worse perineal tear but I also tore my cervix during his delivery.  I had to go into the operating room where they put 14 stitches in my cervix! I bled A LOT. And it took me forever to heal- 2 months to stop bleeding.   I had a good night’s sleep the night before I delivered Alana and I felt great afterwards, wasn’t even tired.  With Traejan I labored all night long and I don’t think I got more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep for the next 3 days. There was quite a difference between having a baby at 3 am VS. 3 pm. Alana’s whole delivery was like clockwork, Traejan's had a little more complications but I've heard that's pretty normal with your first and second.