The Jones Family: Jared's Arrival

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to childbirth I am not a very patient person. In the weeks leading up to Jared's arrival I had tried (almost) everything I could to convince him to come. Two weeks before he was born my doctor stripped my membranes, which had worked with the other three boys, but not that time. So by the time I had my next doctors appointment he was two weeks late by my reckoning. When I did go in that day (April 29th), Dr. Ponder stripped my membranes again and said she would see me that following Tuesday (if not before) for an induction. I was totally planning on it. Luckily, Jared had his own plan.

That night we went out to a Thai restaurant for dinner. The dishes we ordered were a little spicy, but nothing extreme. We were going to go for a walk after, but it was snowing so we cancelled that plan. I hadn't been feeling good all day and after my appointment I had a contraction here and there, but nothing painful. They weren't any different than what I had been experiencing for the past few months. We went to bed that night and throughout the night every time I turned over I had a contraction. I wanted Jared to come so I kept turning over again and again! The contractions were painful, but not enough for me to get out of bed, or so I couldn't get back to sleep. Until about 5 am that is. I had woken up with a contraction & laid in bed waiting for Gary to wake up, which he did around 7am. Since the contractions weren't regular, I told him what was going on and took a shower. Once I got up & started moving, things started to progress. I called my Mom about 8am and told her she might want to head out our way, and started getting things ready to go, all the while have more frequent & painful contractions. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart and I was ready to leave when she got to our house. Gary and I hopped in the Jeep and headed for the hospital, making a couple of stops in between at the post office & library.
We arrived at the Intermountain Medical Center at about 9:45am and got checked in. We were taken right to a delivery room - we didn't even have to go walking the halls! I got changed & hooked up to the monitors. When the nurse first checked me at 10am I was already dilated to 5.5 cm and 100% effaced. With the other boys I was only at a 1 or 2 by the time we got to the hospital, so it was a pleasant surprise. I got an epidural soon after & was quite happy. At 11am the doctor came in & broke my water (which looked pretty bloody to me!). They gave me a Pitocin drip a bit later to speed things up & by 1pm I was feeling pressure and asked the nurse to check me. She did, and found that it was time to have that baby! I started pushing at 1:06pm and Jared was born at 1:09pm. It was my easiest & most enjoyable delivery out of the four boys.
Jared was 7 pounds even (our second biggest) and was 20 inches long. He has blondish hair and we think he looks like Jack. By the time we took him home on Monday he had dropped a few ounces, weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces that Tuesday at his check up with his pediatrician. He is such a good eater that I am sure he has gained that back and more by now.
We're so happy he's here and are enjoying every minute with him, as are his brothers who adore him!
Now, for the photo onslaught!