Leo Sturm Von Ruden was born December 11, 2009 at 3:14pm weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and measuring 20 inches. He was slightly lighter and longer than Odessa. Leo came on his due date in memorable fashion.

I started having strong contractions just before 8am. They progressed during the day and became quite frequent by mid-morning, depending on my activity level. If standing or walking in the house, I was getting strong, painful contractions about every 3 minutes. When I sat or laid down, they slowed to every 5-6 minutes. We notified our friend Hillary that we would likely need her to come over to watch Odessa later today as we thought we’d be going to the hospital. Neither Scott nor I were anxious to get to the hospital too quickly and wanted to progress through much of the 1st stage of labor at home. I tried to rest in between contractions, even lying down with Odessa to read her some stories, although Pinocchio became fragmented with breaks occurring every 6 minutes as I contracted. I sat on a borrowed birthing ball and Scott talked me through some relaxation exercises we had practiced as I encountered each contraction. Even Odessa got into things by coming up to me during contractions and softly whispering, “relax, Mama” while gently rubbing my arm. She gave me hugs in between.

By around 1pm, Hillary arrived and we left for the hospital. We planned to stop and get some food on the way, as we knew once I was admitted I’d be unable to eat or drink anything more than clear liquids. We ate in the parking lot of Culver’s while I contracted rhythmically and loudly every 4 minutes. Upon arriving at the hospital, I had a large contraction in getting out of the car, and then proceeded to have at least 10 more on the walk to the Birthing Unit, every 60-90 seconds, and refusing Scott’s repeated offer of a wheelchair. We arrived at the Birthing Unit around 2:20pm and were escorted back into the OB Triage room by 2:25pm.

My contractions were intense and frequent and after the nurse attached me to the monitor, she left to find the family practice resident. The resident arrived close to 2:50 and found me to be fully dilated. The nurse confirmed that the only thing holding Leo in was my unbroken bag of water. They wheeled my gurney into the birthing room right around 3:00pm, where upon my water immeadiately broke and I started pushing. Leo was born just a few minutes later, which was quite a difference from the almost 4 hours I spent in pushing with Odessa.

After recovering and bonding in the birthing room with our new son, we called Hillary to bring Odessa to the hospital and notified friends and family members that Leo had made his arrival. When Odessa arrived, she was a little nervous and tentative at first, but quickly warmed up and climbed into bed with Leo and me. His temperature was a little low and I was doing skin-to-skin contact to warm him up before his first bath. Odessa carefully took his hat off and commented on his ears and fuzzy little head. She gave him kisses and hugs.

My parents arrived around 8:30pm. My dad had to wear a mask as he had recently come down with a cold. Odessa was a bit distressed by this and kept telling him to take it off. Leo was sleepy and very mellow. My parents left with Odessa and were able to spend part of the next day with her. Scott’s parents arrived the next morning and spent the rest of the day and following night with Odessa. I am glad she was able to get this special time with both sets of grandparents while Scott and I bonded with Leo and tried to figure out how to take care of an infant again.

We discharged home the next afternoon, preferring to only spend one sleepless night in the uncomfortable hospital bed and pull-out sofa. Since coming home, we have been adjusting to Leo. We think he looks a lot like Odessa did as a baby. His favorite activities include sleeping, eating, and crying about wanting to eat. However, with regards to sleeping, he prefers daytime hours over sleeping much during the night. He cries during diaper changes, but does not seem to get distressed by having wet or messy diapers.

Odessa dotes on her baby brother, often coming over to give him kisses and hugs spontaneously. I have been spending much of my days sitting on the couch, nursing and holding a sleeping baby Leo. He likes to eat slowly and frequently, and often wakes up the minute I set him down.

We are tired, sore, exhausted, overwhelmed, and ecstatic with our new son and family of four.