Well, we did it

I'm sure you've guessed by now that my absence last week was due to the arrival - finally - of the baby, and here he is:



(by the way, Photobucket keeps crashing on me whenever I try to resize things, so my apologies for the hugeness. Anyone know of any other photo website like photobucket with less bullshit associated with it??)

On Thursday, 29 May, early-early in the morning, I thought I was in labor, so G and I headed off to the hospital at 2:30 in the morning. We were allowed into a room where a night nurse with the stubbiest fingers EVER checked my cervix (not the most comfortable sensation, let me share that with you) and found me to be 2cm dilated. They told me they would give me a couple more hours, and would check again. We were both able to sleep, and in a couple of hours - telltale sign, here: we were able to sleep - I was checked again and told that there was no change, so I could proceed home. In other words, we were sent home. O, the horror!! How embarassing!

The next day, I went to my OB appointment and was checked again. Cervix still at 2cm, and "soft", but nada. We decided to get me on the schedule for induction on June 11, in case he wasn't born by then - the birthing center has been insanely busy and the options were either June 3 or 11. I wanted to avoid being induced as much as I could, because of the complications that could arise from being induced - long, hard labors that often result in a c-section, from what I've gathered from friends. Also, pitocin? No thanks, if I can avoid it. I went home again, not as pouty but wishing that I had been at least 4 cm and told to report to the hospital immediately if not sooner.

Saturday morning - around 2:30 - I woke up with pains that seemed to be regular and increasing in intensity. However, I wasn't going to go to the hospital again to be told that I needed to turn around because it was false labor again, so I waited and timed and waited and waited and watched the clock. At one point I called the hospital and they told me that because the start-to-start time of the pains was kind of all over the place (3 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, 2 minutes), that I needed to wait until they were mostly consistent, then to come in. Our friend M arrived at 9 to watch P until my parents could come, and off we went to the hospital again, and this time I was sure that this was really labor. I bet G that I was around 5cm dialated, when we got to the hospital. We were escorted into one of the last available rooms - huge! Private bathrooms! Big windows! Labor & delivery is all in the same room! - and when I was checked, this time by a nurse with mercifully long fingers - I was, indeed, 5cm dilated. The heavens opened up and we were admitted.

I asked for the pain meds - there was no way I wasn't going to have hospital-regulated morphine, no way no day!! - and they were administered by 11:35. I was told that they would have maximum effect for 2 hours.... and I did say a little prayer: "please let this baby be born by 1:30!!" so that I wouldn't have to worry about the meds wearing off. At one point, when I was around 8cm, a nurse walked in and couldn't believe that G and I were just in the room, reading our books. I told her that I was saving the drama for another time - I wasn't worried about getting to the pushing point. Just worried about the pushing duration, because with P I pushed for 4 hours. Ouch.

By about quarter to 1, I felt like I was about ready to push. The doctor came in, had a feel around, and declared that I was fully dilated and whenever I wanted to push, I could go for it. They got my legs into position, gave me some little handles to hold onto and bear down on, and the race was on!!! I pushed for 20 minutes, and out the baby came, at 1:15pm. There was minimal tearing, compared to P's birth where I was torn from front to back in a most unpleasant manner, and I only required a couple of stitches. The best part, by far, was holding our new baby. His name is Orson Auldus Tuttle Brown - Orson because G likes the name, Auldus for my dad and grandfather, Tuttle for my mom and her father, and Brown because it's our last name.

I will say that I did have to have my bladder cathatarized which was highly unpleasant and required several nurses and tries to get that done - since I didn't pee on my own after the pain meds, they had to make sure that everything bladder-wise was ok and that required a long scary tube in a painful place. I don't wish to go through that again. Orson is feeding well, though, and thriving in many ways. I realize this is not a glowing write-up, but it's the end of a long day and I have to go upstairs and do the one tennant I have been told NEVER to do: WAKE A SLEEPING BABY but it's time to feed him again.

I will say this: having 2 kids is challenging as all hell, but so worth every moment. They are awesome together, and I feel like our family is complete.