Here I am as we are about to head to the hospital on Friday morning. I can't believe how huge I was!!!! No wonder my back (and everything else) hurt so much.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am. They took me straight to a delivery room, had me change and then we waited. And waited and waited. At about 9:30 they finally got me hooked up to the IV and started the Pitocin. I soon started to have some very very mild cramps. Every 45 minutes the nurse came and turned the Pitocin up a little. This went on for a few hours, while I did everything I could to stay distracted and to try to get things going. We walked up and down the halls, read the newspaper, and tried to think up things to talk about.
After a few hours the midwife came in to say that if things don't progress it's okay, we could shut off the medicine and send me home. We could try again Monday. :( We decided to give a while longer and see what happened.
Because I was being induced I had to be hooked up to the monitors the whole time, fortunately they had wireless ones so I could walk around. Not long after we talked about sending me home, the monitors showed a drop in the baby's heart rate. I had to get into bed and lay on my side while they messed with the monitors. His heart rate went back and they figured out that for part of that time the monitors picked up my heart instead of his, but his had dropped a little so they shut the Pitocin off. I had started having slightly stronger contractions before/during this time and even when they shut the Pitocin off the contractions kept going which meant my body had started doing it on its own. Yeah, but getting painful! At this time the midwife checked me and I had dilated to 4cm (I was at 2 when I went in) so we now knew I was having a baby that day and not going home!
So the contractions kept getting stronger and stronger. I was determined to stay upright as long as possible to let gravity do its thing and help me out. I did my best but pretty suddenly the contractions got very INTENSE, and I decided I wanted an epidural. I sent Dave out to tell the nurse and the midwife. The midwife came in and said she needed to check me before I could get the epidural but she asked if I wanted something to take the edge off while I was waiting for the anesthesiologist. I said "yes!" :) So the nurse gave me a little bit of Nubain while the midwife checked me. That is when it got really exciting. She said (to paraphrase because I don't remember exactly, I was distracted) "um, no epidural, the baby is right there, it is time to push." I also remember hearing her tell the nurses to get a doctor and the pediatrician (when Lucy was born her shoulders got stuck and they had to use the vacuum to get her out so the midwife wanted people there in case that happened again), and to give her the thing to break my water. Then they were telling me to push and he was here!!!!!
Frederick James arrived on Friday, February 27th at 3:16pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 12oz, and was 21 inches long.
I went from almost being sent home to having a baby within about 5 hours. At some point shortly before things picked up steam, I had been checked and they said I was at 6cm. I kind of lost track of time by this point but Dave said that less than an hour after they said I was at 6, the baby was born. A very different experience than the one I had with Lucy!!
Time to leave the labor room and go to our family room. I was feeling pretty good, hurting but feeling good.
Baby Brother was born early enough that my parents, Dave's parents and most importantly Lucy got to come in that evening to see him.
Lucy absolutely loves him!!!! She is fascinated with him. She wants to hold him, see him, and touch him all the time. Even now after 5 days
she still likes him.
She is incredibly cute with him. I have videos but they will have to wait. I am up way past my new bedtime to get this done. Whenever the baby isn't eating I have tried to give my attention to Lucy. Fortunately, at least so far, Freddy is a really good sleeper. He has been falling asleep around 7-7:30pm and then being mostly out for the rest of the night. He wakes up enough to eat every few hours but he doesn't get wide awake or start screaming like Lucy did. Two nights ago I realized i was sleeping better now than I had in the last month.
Freddy is such a different baby than Lucy was! He is a very good eater, within an hour of being born he was rooting and latched right on, first try. He is very laid back, he only cries if I don't feed him quick enough or if you take too long changing him. He has a few very alert times during the day and then he sleeps well during the night. I am holding my breath, crossing my fingers and knocking on wood while I write this. I am waiting for it all to change. :)
Before I go to bed I just want to write about his name. He is named after his uncles (who are named after their grandfathers). Frederick is my brother's, my uncle's, my grandfather's and my great-grandfather's names (on my Dad's side). James is Dave's brother's, father's and grandfather's name (and he there are about twenty other James on that side too). As to what we are calling him, I am calling him Freddy, Lucy however has been correcting people and telling them that his name is Frederick. So call him either, we are still calling him Baby Brother, Brother or just The Baby.
It is way past my bedtime. I will write more and post videos when I can.
2 comments:
Kyra and I thank you!!!!! We have been so anxious to see Freddie. We have been checking several times a day. You both look beautifull.
Anna-we are very happy for you! The baby is so handsome and we wish you all the best-so glad he arrived healthy and that the delivery went well. Take care all!
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