And... We're back!

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I've got good reasons. On October 16th at 11:25pm, Jackson entered the world. I'd been in pain for about 48 hours, but after going to the hospital on Friday night and being told it was a false alarm I held out when the pain worsened on Saturday. My husband finally had enough and told me to call the doctor. The contractions were about 15 minutes apart at that time. I wanted to wait longer, but my husband had the good sense to insist that I make the call. We left the house shortly thereafter and on the way to the hospital the contractions got MUCH closer together. By the time we arrived at the hospital it seems like they were a lot closer to five minutes apart.

The nurses were all very calm when we arrived. They were prepared for another false alarm. They took me to triage where they started monitoring contractions and they took my measurements. The nurse suddenly became a whole lot less calm when she announced we were 8-9cm. After all those months of waiting, we were kind of surprised to be in the home stretch all of a sudden. I sent my husband to call everyone and then we headed up to labor and delivery. The nurses flooded the room to get everything ready. The person who inserted my IV used the largest needle I have ever seen in my life and could not get it in the original vein she tried. She tried again in another spot and thought she got the needle in. (Unfortunately, she did not, but we didn't find that out until the next day when my hand swelled up and it looked like a golf ball had been inserted underneath my skin.)

The nurses started calmly leaving the room to my confusion. The nurse who seemed to be in charge of my delivery started to walk out and said to call her when it was time to push. I let her know that the time to push was NOW. That sent everyone into a frenzy again and suddenly the doctor was there and saying I should push.

Do you remember that moment in Knocked Up where Alison decides she wants an epidural, but it's too late? I had that moment. It feels like you are on the tip top portion of a roller coaster awaiting the plunge and you suddenly don't want to be on the ride anymore. When we arrived at the hospital it was already too late to give me anything other than an epidural since we were so far along. They had to wait to get my labs back to give me an epidural, but they said they would give me the option at that point. Unfortunately, Jack was not waiting for anyone or anything so he just barreled right along. The cord was around his neck, but the doctor acted like that was normal. He calmly cut the cord, directed me to push again, and after a few pushes he was out.

My husband was like part of the crew with the nurses and doctor. He held my legs back with them and when I wasn't putting my chin to my chest as instructed he moved my head chestward. He was perfect. He watched the entire process and asked me if I wanted to see things as they happened. (The answer is no. I really don't.)

Jack was 8lbs and 11oz. He was 20 and 5/8 inches long. He was born hungry and within a few minutes of being born latched on to me and fed for about 40 minutes. He's got all of his fingers and toes and is everything that we had hoped for.

I feel like I haven't had the time or energy to blog until now, but I feel much better and I am getting used to my sleep pattern being significantly different. In a few weeks, I hope to be able to leave the house on a regular basis, but for now I am alright with being home all the time.