Saturday, April 20th - I awoke on the couch, which I'd been sleeping on more and more as my discomfort at night grew and got up to go to the bathroom for the millionth time that night, only this time I felt a gush of liquid and thought- "Seriously?" Yes. Seriously. LB had decided to defy us and be born on April 20th. At about 4 AM the Hollywood version of water breakage occurred and things got real. I started noticing repetitive back pains that came and went in intensity and that's when we knew things were underway. I labored at home for less than an hour before the contractions were coming so close together I felt like it was time to get to the hospital.
We waited in triage for about 45 minutes for a doctor to come check on us. Apparently we showed up right as several babies were being delivered so they had a hard time finding someone to check me. Since I'd only just started contractions, no one was really in much of a hurry to check me out but by the time they did I had rejected the bed and monitors and, when finally checked, fully dilated and ready to go.
Since I dilated so quickly, the doctor and nurse both thought our little baby was gonna pop right out but, our trickster fooled everyone by keeping his hands firmly by the side of his head the whole time and thereby impeding his exit. Two hours of pushing later, our baby was born and we found out the mystery we'd all been waiting for - it's a boy!
I've been advised by my sibling not to share our baby's name on this public blog, so on here we will just call him Z. He was 21 1/2 inches long, 8 lbs 12 oz and beautiful with his full head of hair. The moment I saw him I knew he was the little Joe baby I thought he was; he looked just like his papa's birth announcement picture. Unfortunately, Z had some trouble "transitioning" and after being monitored in my delivery room for awhile and having his stomach and lungs repeatedly suctioned out, he had to spend a couple hours up in the NICU. We're not sure but think that this contributed to his difficulties eating, which made for a tricky first week of life with lots of pumping, bottles, lactation specialists, formula, and finally some improvement. Not the ideal, but, our baby boy is healthy, perfect and adored. Thank you to everyone who has poured love over him and us these first weeks! It has meant so much to us.
People have asked, so I will share, but I want it to be clear that I do not advocate any delivery over another. Women should do what they feel is right for them and their body and should always be open to whatever changes may need to happen to deliver your baby safely. I ended up doing a drug free birth, partially by choice, partially because by the time I thought about asking them to add some painkillers to that *#^$ing IV drip I was so far removed into myself that I couldn't get coherent enough to discuss it. I did go in to my labor with the goal of going drug free for a variety of reasons that I'd be happy to discuss elsewhere as, like I said, I don't want to make any other mom's feel I'm judging or denouncing their labors.
We waited in triage for about 45 minutes for a doctor to come check on us. Apparently we showed up right as several babies were being delivered so they had a hard time finding someone to check me. Since I'd only just started contractions, no one was really in much of a hurry to check me out but by the time they did I had rejected the bed and monitors and, when finally checked, fully dilated and ready to go.
Since I dilated so quickly, the doctor and nurse both thought our little baby was gonna pop right out but, our trickster fooled everyone by keeping his hands firmly by the side of his head the whole time and thereby impeding his exit. Two hours of pushing later, our baby was born and we found out the mystery we'd all been waiting for - it's a boy!
I've been advised by my sibling not to share our baby's name on this public blog, so on here we will just call him Z. He was 21 1/2 inches long, 8 lbs 12 oz and beautiful with his full head of hair. The moment I saw him I knew he was the little Joe baby I thought he was; he looked just like his papa's birth announcement picture. Unfortunately, Z had some trouble "transitioning" and after being monitored in my delivery room for awhile and having his stomach and lungs repeatedly suctioned out, he had to spend a couple hours up in the NICU. We're not sure but think that this contributed to his difficulties eating, which made for a tricky first week of life with lots of pumping, bottles, lactation specialists, formula, and finally some improvement. Not the ideal, but, our baby boy is healthy, perfect and adored. Thank you to everyone who has poured love over him and us these first weeks! It has meant so much to us.
People have asked, so I will share, but I want it to be clear that I do not advocate any delivery over another. Women should do what they feel is right for them and their body and should always be open to whatever changes may need to happen to deliver your baby safely. I ended up doing a drug free birth, partially by choice, partially because by the time I thought about asking them to add some painkillers to that *#^$ing IV drip I was so far removed into myself that I couldn't get coherent enough to discuss it. I did go in to my labor with the goal of going drug free for a variety of reasons that I'd be happy to discuss elsewhere as, like I said, I don't want to make any other mom's feel I'm judging or denouncing their labors.
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