Jackson Leonard Rucks

Jackson Leonard Rucks made his grand debut into this world 1 day before his due date on Tuesday July 7, 2015 at 1:49pm. Weighing in at a whopping 8, yes EIGHT, pounds even and was 21 1/2 inches long.

Parker and Brooklynn were both born in the cold winter months, so this summer pregnancy was kicking my trash. The temperature here in Boise was over 100 degrees for almost a week straight (the week before my due date) and to say I was miserable was a complete understatement. My whole body hurt and my feet and ankles were so swollen.  

Tuesday Morning, July 7, Jared woke up extra early (5:30am) to get to work early cause we knew baby was going to be coming soon, so he wanted to get as much work done as he could.... at 5:45am, i rolled over in bed, and thought for a minute that i had peed my pants.... but i couldnt control the liquid! I went into the bathroom and told jared i thought my water had just broke, but i wasnt 100% sure. so we waited a little bit... i wasnt having any contractions, so i just paced the house... around 6:15am my contractions started up. They weren't awful, just uncomfortable. 

The kids woke up around 7am so we got them going for the morning, all the while my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. by 8:30 i was very uncomfortable, my contractions were coming about every 2-3 minutes. I told jared it was time to go. parker and brooklynn were outside jumping on the trampoline with grandma, so we said good bye, as we were walking back through the house my mom asked if we could bring her cell phone outside, and good thing she asked for it, cause jared and i were about a mile away from home when we got a call from her saying we had locked them out of the house! so we had to turn around and drive back home to let them back inside. at this point i was pretty sure i was going to die from the pain. a bit dramatic? possibly.

after arriving at the hospital they took us back to an exam room to see if i was dilated and we learned that my water had indeed broken, and that i was dilated to a 4. I immediately asked for an epidural, we were whisked off to a delivery room and nurses started coming in from all kinds of directions getting me hooked up and set up. the nurse anesthetist showed up about 9:45am and by 10:30am the epidural had kicked in and i was finally numb and comfortable. i still have no idea how woman birth babies without one. it blows my mind. guess my pain tolerance is just not that high! it was by far the best epidural i have had. it numbed me enough to not feel the contractions but i could still move my legs and feel a little pressure for pushing.

after things finally calmed down i was able to take a little nap while we waited. by 1:00pm i was completely dilated. I was nervous for pushing because i've had to push over an hour with my last two pregnancies. plus i had a feeling this baby was going to be much bigger than my other babies. (I kept telling everyone he was going to be an 8 pounder) i started pushing at 1:20pm, and to my great surprise, Jackson made his grand entrance into the world only 30 minutes later! He did need a little help coming out so they used the vacuum on him. he now has a big bump on his head where a little blood has pooled under the skin due to the vacuum. the doctor said it could take a couple of months for the body to break down that blood and for the bump to go away. i wish it was a little bump, but im sure when we go out into public i will get lots of questions on it, especially the older he gets!

i am so happy that he made it here relatively smoothly and safely. and im so, SO happy to not be pregnant anymore. his jaundice levels were fairly high, so we had to stay an extra day in the hospital, but it seems to be clearing up. 

Parker is loving having a little brother. The day we came home he wouldn't leave his side, it was cute. Brooklynn really doesnt seem to have an opinion one way or the other. but eh, thats okay. she has taken a greater interest in her own baby dolls though.