Daylen Sonne Niko

Meet the latest addition to the Niko Family:

Daylen was a full two pounds lighter than Kason at 7 lbs 11 oz BUT was an inch taller at 22".

The Story:
I had been having contractions off and on for a few days and finally called my doctor on Friday, October 7 around 5 pm. I told her I wanted to go to the hospital but didn't want to be sent home, so she said "Go! Since you're already dilated to a 3 this will just be an augmentation of labor, not an induction." So I went! I took my time, showered, arranged for Unka Bo, Bop, and Onwy (Uncle Mo, Deb and Henry) to come watch Kason for the night and headed off to the hospital. We arrived around 8:30 and I had contractions 4-6 minutes apart until about 10 when they STOPPED. Boo. So they gave me pitocin around 10:45 to get me going again. By this time I was still only dilated to a 3-4. My contractions were not painful but I started to notice them around midnight, so I asked for the epidural since I didn't want to wait too long. At 12:40 I was HATING my nurse and couldn't talk/breathe through my contractions, they were so intense! The anesthesiologist finally came and started my epidural around 1am.... but it only worked for my right half! After I got my epidural I was STILL only dilated to a 5, talk about disappointment!!!
The nurse and doc had me lay on my left side in hopes of spreading the anesthetic. At 1:10 am I made a joke about feeling like something was coming out of me.... Thank goodness I had my wonderful friend Lyndsay M there with me, she is also an L&D nurse! She told me to call my nurse so I could be checked. Sure enough, when the nurse checked me I was already a 10! I went from a 5 to 10 in only ten minutes!!! I had to labor down until my doc arrived, which was about 1:30, then I had to wait for her to get scrubbed, etc. The nurse wanted me to give a practice push while my doc was scrubbing in (even after I warned her that I was a great pusher!) and yelled at me to stop before I even got started. When my doc was finally ready I had him out in 2.5 pushes! The .5 was because I stopped halfway through my second push to try to see what they were all gasping at- apparently the head came out and the gasp was a normal reaction! So other than waiting a little too long for my epidural Daylen's birth experience was way easier than Kason's!!! A full two pounds easier!
Daylen is already a super sweet baby. He definitely knows his mama and cries when anyone (including Daddy) holds him. I have been struggling with breastfeeding, I just don't produce enough milk for my hungry, growing boys. I have had to supplement with formula but am still trying to build my supply so I can breastfeed exclusively. It's not going so well, especially with a 19 month old running around!


Other than taking full advantage of being naughty when I'm feeding Daylen, Kason has been adjusting very well! He LOVES Daylen and always wants to hold him. When he wakes up he wants to say Hi to Day-Day and give him a kiss- it is super sweet.

I love our two boys!!!