Delivery Day!

I probably need to go ahead and get this together before I forget all that happened on Delivery Day!



Eddie and I went to the hospital on Monday night a little after 8 pm. We got checked in, got to a room, I got in my gown and the nurses prepped me. I had to begin taking Cervidil at 10 pm. Unfortunately, with Cervidil, you have to lay flat for two hours for it to be effective. I lay down but was extremely uncomfortable, couldn't sleep, and could only think about needing to get up and go to the bathroom. At 12 am the nurse came in and allowed me to get up and move around. I walked the halls for a few minutes and then got back in the bed and tried to go back to sleep. I slept off and on until 5 am. At 5 the nurse came back in to check on me and see how I'd done on the Cervidil. I was no more dilated, but I was at least a little more effaced and thinned out than I had been. I began having some contractions during the night and was having them regularly 3-4 minutes apart on my own before starting anything else. I think I got started on the Pitocin around 6 am.



At 7 am we had a nurse shift change and my new nurse, Krystal, came in to start another IV drip. I think I'd had two prior to this one. My contractions were getting a lot harder at this point and were only coming in my back. Mom arrived at the hospital sometime around 8:30 and Eddie left to go get breakfast.



Also around 8 or 8:30 Krystal came in to ask if I wanted to put in an order for an epidural. My doctor had said she'd thought it would be 5:30 before the baby was born and I hated to start an epidural that early. Krystal insisted that it would NOT be 5:30 and that the epidural was a continuous drip so if I needed it to last longer she could always just add more. I am SO glad that she suggested the epidural. I waited a little over an hour for one and by the time Mary came to put one in I was nauseated from the pain. The contractions were occurring mostly in my back, but also in my upper and lower abdomen and my upper thighs. Painful! I admire all you women who are able to make it!



The Pitocin was on, the epidural kicked in and I just relaxed and visited with all of our family that stopped by. I began to get frustrated that things hadn't really progressed anymore after lunch. I was dilated about 4-5 cm and felt like I was making slowwww progress.



Around 2 pm I texted MD and asked who I needed to talk to about a quick-ish delivery like she had. She called me back and we talked until about 2:15. I told Eddie when I hung up the phone that I didn't think that my epidural was working anymore because I was feeling every contraction. I could tell the people in the room when a contraction was beginning, peaking, and ending without looking at the screen. Eddie got Krystal and she said she thought I was probably fully dilated. She cleared out the room, checked me, and I was fully dilated. Holy moly! We'd been waiting on Anna and John to arrive and they had literally just walked in the doors when she said it was time to go.



After she set up for delivery, I began pushing and probably pushed from about 2:30 or 2:40. He was born at 3 pm on the dot. Such a surreal time!



James Elliott was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches. He began screaming as soon as he arrived and only calmed down when we started to nurse. One of the nurses in the delivery room had a fit when she realized I had a Canon Rebel so I have those fantastic delivery room pictures!

A little while after James was born, Eddie went out and got the families to bring them back in to meet him. We had a little meet-and-greet party before they took him to the nursery to bathe him and check him out.

I was finally taken to the post-partum wing of the hospital around 8 or 9. I hadn't seen James since about 5 o'clock. I was starting to feel like a mama dog after somebody's taken her puppy away! We had a little more meet-and-greet before they kicked everyone out when visiting hours ended.

Eddie and I were able to spend some time with The Boy before deciding to put him in the nursery for the night. I'd intended to keep him with me, but their policy is that someone has to stay awake with the newborns at all times unless they're put in the nursery. We both knew that neither of us could stay awake. The nurses brought him to me every 3 hours so that I could feed and change him, but we were able to get some sleep!

More later...We're doing great! While we're absolutely worn out and sleep deprivation has kicked in, we're enjoying getting to know him!