I thought while I have a moment, I should write a blog on his arrival. Let me say before I tell the tale, that I recognize that being pregnant and having my boy is a great blessing. I had a good pregnancy and a pretty easy birth.
Saying that, I do need to tell you how great it feels to not be pregnant. Oh my goodness, it is amazing!
So here's the story of his arrival.
The week before my due date, just after my 39 week Dr. appointment on Monday, I went for one more Costco run. I bought a small cabinet for our living room and toted it home. I don't consider this part of "nesting" b/c this is not abnormal for me to be working on some kind of decorating idea. I think I was just distracting myself from thinking about how close I might be to giving birth. I seem to just not want to think about the pending adventure.
Bear had specifically asked the Peanut to not come until he had completed a task at work. He thought that he would be done with a certification that week and was hoping to get it out of the way before taking time off for family leave.
It was now Wed. and Bear called home to let me know that he had completed certification and it was an all clear to go into labor at anytime. =) This, we thought was just us being silly, but later that evening, God must have given Logan an all clear, b/c that's when the action started.
I woke about midnight with pains that took me several minutes to figure out I was having contractions. The pain did not feel like anything I thought they would. It was very different and low in my back. I noticed that I was walking on my tip toes about every 5 mins. so I woke the Bear. I shook him awake and said "somethings going on" - he replied, " is someone trying to break in?" (Hee hee) I informed him that it was something going on with me & the baby and he said "oh" with a lot of relief.
We thru our stuff in the car and went to the hospital, got checked in and by then it was close to 2am. They observed me and said that I was 2cm and that I was in labor but would be more comfortable at home and could come back when any of the following occurred:
1) My water broke
2) My contractions were 2-3 mins apart for an hour
3) I was 4cm
We returned home and I took some Tylenol PM and slept until late morning. I did ask the Bear to stay home with me and not go to work on Thursday b/c I was in such pain.
Thursday morning I was still contacting and we started documenting the timing b/c it was very hard to remember as the pain hit. I don't remember to much that morning other than I baked some brownies in between the pain.
Thursday was a very long day. After lunch they got worse and I was unable to get off the bed. I took more Tylenol and cried a good bit. Bear stayed with me as I wined and begged him to take me back to the hospital. But each time he reviewed the contraction log, he'd reminded me that he did not want to take me there and them send me home. He knew that I would not be happy if I had to ride back and forth another time. Rush hour came and went and that was the time that I really wanted to get in the car. He said if I could wait just a bit longer that the contractions were getting closer together and we'd make it there in less time than if we had to sit in all the work traffic.
At about 8pm I broke down and told him that I didn't think I could get into the seat of our car and that we'd need to call an ambulance. He reassured me that if I could just get to the car, he'd get me to the hospital. I grabbed my pillows and sat in the front seat with the seat reclined as far as I could and hung on the the handle. I didn't open my eyes until we reached the hospital.
Once there, I sat in this little wood and steel chair that was right at the check-in desk at the maternity entrance. While waiting for a nurse to come and get me I started writhing in pain and calling out to Jesus. That's when the guests in the lobby of the Women's center started moving away from us. The receptionist called the nurse again to urge the nurse to hurry up.
Once in the room, the nurse hooked us up to observe our vitals and asked me to take deeper breaths. I continued writhing and she threaten to put me on oxygen if I did slow down my breathing. Bear jumped in and tried to grab my focus and get me to breath.
The nurse did admit me b/c I was at 4cm and they hooked the IV up and here's the best part of the story...they gave me drugs! Once the relief of what ever the pushed into my IV hit me I opened up my eyes and smiled. I actually saw what my nurse and the room looked like. It was great, I could still feel the contractions but I was in less pain.
A few moments later, they gave me the epidural. This was a bit scary b/c they had some trouble numbing me and I could feel the needle. I yelled very loudly each time they tried. They did get it to work and then I felt no more contractions what so ever.
The next part was easy. They gave me some Pitocin to progress the labor more. Bear and I took like a 3 hour nap. Occasionally the nurse would come in to check my progress but I don't really remember waking up. About 3am the nurse checked on me and said, wake up it's time to push. I was so groggy from sleep I asked her how long did she think I was going to have to push? She replied " Oh honey, not long, I can see your baby's hair color." I yelled for Bear to wake up.
The nurse did some practice pushes with me b/c the epidural had worked really well and I could not feel anything. So she did her best to guide my efforts. Once she felt confident I had it she called the Doctor in. I think I pushed maybe 6 times? That's what I mean as easy. Before we knew it, Bear presented me with a baby boy and we heard his cry. As they laid him on my stomach, I though...whoa a boy, and I felt something wet and warm as he tinkled on me. Then I really thought - what in the world am I going to do with a BOY?!
Bear looked him over and smiled - he's a Logan. =)
