(cross-posted in the Pregnant/New Parent thread)
Our precious baby boy made his way into this world on Saturday, April 29 at 10:01 AM. He weighed in at 7lb 12oz and was 20.5 inches long. We were able to bring him home today, which just happens to be my birthday!
Quick version of events: I thought I was having contractions all morning Friday, and I was pretty sure they were getting stronger all afternoon. However, I was frantically trying to get things done for my last day at work, and couldn’t really pay attention to them. We went to Hubby’s parents’ house for dinner on that evening, as usual. By the time we got there, I was pretty sure that I was in early labor. We timed my contractions all evening, and left their place around 10:30 PM so I could try to get some rest.
I had some things to get taken care of here at home before going to bed, and by the time I tried to go to sleep, the contractions were too strong to sleep through. I waited until they were about 5 minutes apart and called the doctor’s office. They told me to head on in to the hospital - at least for an evaluation. I woke Hubby up right at 3:00, and we slowly got our things together and got out the door at about 3:45.
When they checked me at the hospital, I was already at 6cm, so I was definitely staying! Hubby took the cell phone and started calling family to let them know that the time had come. I don’t remember much in the way of specifics after that until I was fully dilated, which was around 8:00 AM. I didn’t start pushing right away, because I didn’t feel like I had to. But around 8:30, things had changed!
It took me a little while to get accustomed to what I should be doing, but after I got the hang of it, he came pretty quickly. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck once, so after his head was delivered, there was no pause in the action - the doctor wanted him out NOW! After he was born, they put him right up on my chest (like I wanted to) and let Dad take the peek to discover that we had a boy (like we wanted to). Dad cut the cord and they whisked him right over to the incubator, which was in the room.
The baby was in some distress for the first few minutes. His color was poor, he wasn’t breathing well, he didn’t have good muscle tone, and he wasn’t very responsive to stimulation. Not a great start! But, he perked up fairly quickly, and they gave him right to me when he was OK. Then we had to decide what to name him! He just looked like a Spencer to the both of us.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but everyone was quite impressed with my performance. I had wanted as natural of a delivery as possible, and got just what I wanted. They used the external fetal monitor only when necessary. I wasn’t hooked up to an IV line, although I did have a heparin lock at my OB’s request. I had no medication whatsoever, unless you count the tiny bit of local anaesthetic I got when she gave me my one stitch. Plus, I was quiet the whole time - unless I was actually talking to someone. After he crowned, I did say, “OK - that one hurt,” but got right back into my breathing. It was our nurse’s first natural delivery, and she was just amazed at how well I did.
I could go on for hours and hours, but it’s bedtime for us!
Here are a few pictures. I’ll have many more to post later, when it’s daylight and he’s napping.
