The Birth Story

So, technically I should be researching articles for the next issue of Ingredients, but I want to get this all written down before the details start slipping away from me :)

Thursday, July 7.

The doc had me scheduled to go in for induction on Thursday, so I called at 7 pm as they instructed and was told to plan on being there at 8. So, we packed on up and headed in. After getting checked in and led back to the birthing suite, they strapped me to the external fetal and contraction monitors and gave me the first dose of the oral med that got things going. C and I popped in Zoolander and the nurse gave me an ambien. I was supposed to be able to sleep after that, but that bed was by far the worst bed ever invented! Plus, every time I changed position, looking to get comfy, the baby would shift and the monitor would stop picking up his heart beat. Then, of course, the nurse would come in and have to spend 10 minutes trying to find it again. Needless to say, there was no sleeping going on for me, despite the ambien, but C and the baby slept pretty soundly.

Friday, July 8.

The second dose of oral med came at midnight, and contractions were irregular and still pretty mild. The third dose started at 3 am, but very shortly afterwards the baby's heart rate started dipping more than they liked, so they had me spit that pill out. I maybe slept for about an hour, uncomfortably, before they came in again around 6 to let me out of the monitors so that I could get up and get some movement. I immediately got in the bath and stayed there for an hour. It was glorious. Contractions were still manageable at that point, and the bath helped even further.

And still, the contractions were not registering enough for the doctor's taste, so the decision was made to break my water, insert the internal monitors and start the pitocin drip, so by 8 am the contractions had steadied out. Though I was not confined to the bed, I was still strapped to an IV and the monitors, so moving too far past the bed was out, and getting back in the bath was not even an option. When they checked me at 11:30 ish, I was dilated to 4 cm, and the contractions were coming one after another. By noon I had had enough. It's no joke that pitocin makes everything that much worse, so I finally put my foot down and asked for the epidural. There was no relaxing out of that pain, particularly when the contractions were one on top of the other.

So the anesthesiologist showed up around 1, and by 1:30 I was in heaven. I could still feel the pressure, but all the pain was gone, and I could finally relax. That did the trick, because when they checked me again I was dilated to an 8, and by the time the doc showed up at around 2, I was fully dilated and the pushing could commence. The doc said that she could see the little baby's head, and that it was covered in dark hair! I may or may not have fist pumped right there and then. No big, bald babies for me!

I pushed for about an hour before Colt was officially born at 3:03 p.m. His heartbeats had been a little bit lower than the doctor liked, and it took him a minute to start wailing, so the newborn emergency peeps took him from me to make sure he was alright while the placenta was taken care of and the doc stitched me up (only two minor lacerations, no episiotomy or rectal tearing for me!). He weighed in at 7 lb, 7 oz and 20 inches long, and as an added bonus his head of dark hair was all curly! I am so happy about that, I can't even say! After the curls I immediately noticed that he's got my daddy's wonky ears--one of them doesn't curl over at the top hardly at all, and the other one is folded over more than usual. How crazy is that? He is adorable though, with the cutest cheeks and little chin ever!

So here he is, baby Colt, happy and healthy and the awesomest little newborn ever!

Aside from some jaundice that required we keep him on the baby tanning bed for two nights, he has been the most chill little thing, and super, super cuddly. I seriously can't get enough of him! I must say, the 9+ months of pregnancy pains were definitely worth it to have this little boy in the world. Don't worry, there are plenty more pics to come!