The boy's birth continued

If you missed the beginning of this story, you can read it in my previous post.

So about 10:45 a.m. we arrive at the hospital. They insisted in the birthing class that the dads bring the moms to the drive up entrance of the hospital, get a wheelchair, wheel mom in and then park the car. I told J to just park - there's shade in the far corner of the parking lot and I would be just fine to walk in. Walk in I did. We stopped walking once while I had a contraction, but I walked into the hospital and to the elevator to the third floor where labor and delivery were located. We were calm and so excited at the same time!

The nurses got me settled and got an IV started. In hindsight, that was THE worst part of the whole experience. It took them five tries to get the bugger in and I bruised and looked like a drug addict. The doctor came to see me about lunchtime and Dr. C broke my water. I was 4-5 centimeters (why is dilation the only thing in Western civilization that's measured using the metric system?) and could have my epidural any time I liked. I was feeling a little uncomfortable, but okay overall. I decided about 30 minutes later that while I felt okay, I should go ahead and get the medication. I did NOT want to be in a position where I was nine centimeters and really wanted medication and couldn't get it.

They came to give me my epidural and the 15-minute procedure took about 40 minutes to complete. That was the worst part for poor J. It hurt him to see it done but I really appreciated his support. I just kept thinking that no matter how uncomfortable getting the epidural in was, it was going to be MUCH more uncomfortable to have a baby without any pain relief. I felt fantastic after the medication and was then able to see my parents who had arrived just after they started the procedure.

Much of the rest of the afternoon was a blur. J and my parents played Uno in the waiting room while I tried to nap, got more pain medication and wondered what my baby would look like. Then things are kind of hard to remember until about 5:40. A nurse came in and checked me and I told her I was uncomfortable and would like more pain medication. Nope, it's time to push. My parents were in the waiting room and I wanted to send them home - I could be pushing for hours and I didn't think they would want to be there for that. The nurse said she didn't think that was a good idea; I should just wait.

Pushing actually relieved the pain rather than make it worse. Between contractions J, Dr. C and the nurse and I all joked, took bets about the gender and weight and we were shocked to hear the baby had hair. We thought we were going to have a cue ball for sure! At 6:11 p.m. our sweet baby BOY (I was convinced we were having a girl) was born. J was the very first person to say his name and we both cried and laughed and oohed and ahhed over this miracle that was created from our love.

He was so alert for a while. He looked at us, nursed for the first time, looked at my parents - it was so neat. J called a bunch of people to tell them our happy news and we just studied his sweet little face and tiny body. When the finally moved us down to my room - private it the only way to go it you can - and J went to get some dinner. The poor guy was starving! They made me drop the boy in the nursery for a while and I was able to get a little rest. J stayed in the hospital with me that night and the boy slept in our room as well. I will never forget him squawking in the middle of the night unexpectedly. I thought "Oh, no. I don't know what to do!" but J just sat up and touched and shushed him and he went back to sleep. It was an amazing moment.

Not once in the past year have I regretted our decision to have a baby. What joy he has brought to our lives over the past year!