Worth the wait...

Our gorgeous son was FINALLY born Thursday night. His story is long (and I mean LOOOONG) and a little boring but here it is...

Wednesday morning I woke up with a little bit of a tummy ache. I attributed it to the 3 brownies I ate for breakfast. I decided to head to Target to look for a computer desk- Jody "gave me"/set up his old computer since we're both on so much. I had some starbucks, shopped at Target, stopped at Walmart and came home- still a little crampy. While Jody put together the computer desk around I made him a big breakfast. I was putting the dishes away and I felt a warm squirt of water. I though- no way... so I went in and peed and went back to the dishes. 10 minutes later another squirt. I thought that maybe at 41 weeks I was becoming one of those preggos who pees themselves. Well, this went on for like 45 minutes. Around 1:30 I went to the bathroom to check on it and whoosh- water came spilling down my legs. We both were SUPER excited. I called the Dr who said get right to the Hospital. We both showered, packed and were on our way.

We checked in and I was given a test (like litmus paper) to see if it was indeed my water. Of course, it was and the monitors showed I was having contractions 7 minutes apart. Since I was only 1.5 cms we decided to go on with the induction procedure as scheduled. The fact that my water had "ruptured" was going to help speed things up. I had cervidil inserted at 6pm and my contractions moved to 4 mins apart. Well all it took was another good woosh of water and the cervidil actually fell out after only 2 hours (instead of 12). My Dr said it was fine since my contractions were already getting stronger on their own. Justin was posterior aka facing the wrong way- so I was having all back labor. L&D was dead that night. We were moved to a jacuzzi suite and I got to lay in the tub for awhile. I found out that pitocin would start at 6am. I slept for 20 minutes that night. I was so anxious and excited, plus I was strapped to like 3 monitors- not exactly comfort.

In the morning. I had my "last meal" of cereal. I was given an IV of fluids, an IV of antibiotics (since my water broke the afternoon before we wanted to avoid infection) and pitocin later at 7am. The pitocin dose starts at 0 and can increase to 30. They turn it up by "2" every 15 minutes...boy does it get intense fast. I was fine until the dose got to about 12/14. My contractions were all in my back/hip bones and they were every 2-3 minutes. I tried the ball, I tried standing/swaying, massage, watching TV...everything. When you're on pitocin you have to be constantly monitored so you can't walk very far. I'm not going to sugar coat it- I felt like my hips were going to explode like dynamite. I could tell Jody felt terrible. I was sweating a ridiculous amount and on the verge of tears. The pain only got worse from there. The nurse checked me and said I was about 3 cms. I was begging for the epi. I think of myself as tough.. I'll tell you right now. On 20 minutes of sleep after 20 hours of contractions, if there was no epi I would have said right there that Justin would be an only child forever. I got my epi at 11:00- it didn't hurt too bad, just a little sting. It was almost impossible to sit still through the contractions though.

Life after the epi was amazing. I had visitors and I took 2 naps.The Dr said to expect 1 cm of progress an hour. So we figured around 6'ish I would be ready to push. Well, with the pitocin at 26 now I was fully dilated by 3:30. My dr wanted to let him "naturally descend" as much as possible so we waited until 4 to start pushing. Pushing is THE hardest, physical and mental thing I have ever done. We had expected about an hour, maybe 2 of pushing. They turn off the epi so that you can "feel" when to push. Well- 3 and a half loooong hours later, there he was. I wanted to give up so many times. I was so tired, nauseous, I had blurred vision and could barely lift my head. I kept snapping- I can't do this anymore, I can't. THANK GOD for Jody. I always pictured him just kind of hanging out near my head waiting for the baby. No way... he was holding my legs, lifting my head, counting contractions, getting ice- getting towels. Honestly, they should have paid him. He was AMAZING. He stood right with me forehead to my sweaty forehead encouraging me. I just am in total awe. He is the best most amazing man alive.

To wrap this up our peanut came out at 9lbs 11oz. Pushing out his shoulders was the worse 20 seconds of my life, lol. I went hysterical when I saw him. I couldn't believe that we finally did it. I never saw a baby that looks so much like his dad. I ended up needing about 15 stitches which were not pleasant- but eh. Due to his size he had to be tested for low blood sugar and he spent his first night under the warmer getting formula supplements.

Recovery is not horrible, honestly. Breastfeeding is challenging but we'll get it. I'll be on iron supplements for awhile due to blood loss during the long labor.

He is the most gorgeous, most special, incredible baby alive. Jody has adapted SO well into being a doting father. I'm beyond impressed. Just the thought of how much I love our little family brings me to tears. I'll keep posting updates and pics =)