Introducing... Maxwell Anthony Thompson

Maxwell was born on February 12th at 1:32am, weighing 6 lbs 7 oz and  measuring 20.5 inches long.  I was  in labor for around 12 hours, and it was not what I was expecting!  After having no epidural with Noah and then having one with Amelia, I was definitely planning on having one this time around.  However, I couldn't get one because the anesthesiologist came in and explained that I had very low platelet levels which increases the risk of hemorrhage and makes the risk of an epidural too great.  Needless to say, this was quite devastating.  Noah's labor and deliver was a bad experience, so I was really upset upon hearing this news.  That wasn't the end, as once the contractions starting getting more intense and closer together the baby's heart rate started to drop dramatically.  Mike and I knew something was wrong from the way the nurse was reacting.  She immediately called my OB (who is AMAZING) and she came in and explained the umbilical cord is in a bad place, likely close to his head.  They decided to do all they could to continue on a natural birth path and avoid a emergency C-section.  This was the hardest part for Mike and I because we were so worried about the baby and a C-section was definitely not in my plan!  Thanks to the amazing work of my OB and nurse, who never left my bedside, I was able to deliver him naturally.  When he finally was coming 10 hours later, all of a sudden I knew I had to push at that moment. Early in the process, I had warned the nurses that I don't push for long so they should be ready.  I told the nurse, "I need to push NOW!" and she checked me and then immediately called in the deliver team. Two minutes and four pushes later, Maxwell was born.  The doctor immediately said he had a double nuchal, which means the cord was wrapped around his neck twice.  This happened with Noah as well, so I was really upset because Noah had to be taken by the NICU team and didn't cry for the first few minutes.  However, Max fared much better and started crying within 30 seconds. I was so happy when everything was over because I got to hold my beautiful, healthy baby boy! Despite the anxious labor, he is a very mellow baby and has only cried once when we gave him a bath!

We stayed in the hospital one day and were anxious to get home.  They did serve us a"Celebration Lunch" that included prime rib and salmon.  The whole hospital staff and stay was wonderful. 

I feel so lucky to have our awesome friends, Melinda and Dean, and our neighbors, the Nigros, who watched the kids while we were in the hospital.  Mike's Mom and sister flew out the day after we got home from the hospital and have been here to help with Amelia.  Noah has been so amazing, he cleaned the whole house before I got home from the hospital and made his brother a very adorable card!