Sutton Grace

She is here! Well, of course she is, since it has been almost 2 months since her due date. It has been crazy and I have been tired, so I let the blog slip. I didn't have internet access in the hospital or it would have been posted then.
Wanna know how it all went? Of course you do!
I made it all the way to my due date. I have yet to do that, so I was a little surprised by it. I had been having contractions for about 2 weeks at that point. They would start and last for several hours and then stop. It was very frustrating. Even more so knowing that I was 3 centimeters and the baby was in -1 position. At the appointment, I met with the mid-wife. She took us to labor and delivery to see if they would break my water. She said that is all it would take. Well, they decided to send me home, but I was going to come back the next day and they would do it then. I was a little unsure of it all. I wanted to go into labor naturally, but I also didn't want to have the baby at home or at the store. With Olivia, my water broke and an hour later she was born.
We woke up the next morning headed to the hospital. I was so excited that the head "doc" that day was a mid-wife. The reason I was so excited is that was the route I wanted to go in the first place. I was so upset with different things that happened with my previous 2 births, I wanted someone who would listen to me. My mid-wife and the nurse were wonderful. They knew how fast Olivia came, so they got everything ready right when I got there. They were prepared.
We talked all my options through and decided to start with a small amount of pitocin. Level 4 to be exact. My contractions started right up. Unfortunately, Sutton Grace didn't like it and her heart rate dropped. So, they broke my water to put an internal monitor on her and took me off pitocin.
My active labor was 2 hours...painful hours!! I didn't want an epidural. Everytime I had a contraction, I was tempted to ask for one. Instead, I would ask to be checked. As long as I was progressing, I knew I could do it. My midwife came to check on me and I was 7 centimeters. She stayed with me, because she said it should only be a couple contractions and I would be ready tp push. She was right. The next contraction, I told her the baby was coming out. She yelled for her nurses and they came in. She made me wait one more contraction before she let me push. Two pushes and out came the baby. I got to pull her out! It was amazing!
How we came about naming her Sutton Grace was a 9 month process. It was really hard to come up with something. Everyone expected us to go with something that ended with an "a" sound. That would be nice, but it is not what I wanted. I wanted something that was different, but also along the same lines as Ella and Olivia. When we moved to Alaska, JT wanted an Alaskan name. We both had different ideas on that. I started looking at the state map and found a town named Sutton. I brought it up to him and he said no. I kept it on my list. After awhile all the names we thought of sounded alike. He then started liking the name Peyton. I thought it was cute, but not sold. About a 2 weeks before the baby was born. I asked JT since he was into the gender neutral names like Peyton, what about Sutton. He liked it. I was surprised. We then talked about middle names and I thought she needed something girly. The reason I liked Grace is because my mom's middle name is Ann and my mother-in-law's name is Louann. Ann means grace. So there you have it. That is how we came up with Sutton Grace. It took me a long time to be able to call her by her name, but it fits her perfectly.
Having Sutton Grace in our lives is wonderful. I have had an easy time with her. With all the crying and getting up at night, I haven't minded it at all. I just can't get enough of her. Yes, at times I am stressed. Who wouldn't be with 3 kids and a husband who has a crazy schedule? But in the end, I think to myself that one day, I will wish for these days back and I soak it all in.