He's here and he's gorgeous!
He arrived at 6:17am, weighting 9lbs. 4oz and 21 1/2" long.
Such a cutie...Love the lips...
He has the longest finger nails I've ever seen on a newborn...
Father-Son bonding...
The Most Amazing Birthing Story Ever
It all started Tuesday (10/26) at night they way all my labors do...cramping, bloody show and the good old mucous plug. Then the contractions set in...somewhat consistant but I was determined to labor at home as much as possible. Our babysitter, Emily, was on call and I told Shane that he might want to get a sub at work because I thought this was it. Wednesday morning rolled around and I was still hanging out at home. The contractions weren't that strong so I decided to stick it out some more. And then...like all my labors...they completely stopped...for pretty much the whole day. Shane took the day off and we were basically just hanging out waiting for things to start up again.
Sure enough...at 7pm the contractions returned. They were fairly consistant and somewhat strong, but I was still able to talk through them. At 9pm, we called Emily, she came over slept on the couch, then took the kids over to her house in the morning. It was great not to have to worry about our kids. I knew they were in good hands.
Side Story: There is a nurse named Karren Turner at The Birthing Place that has attended both of my previous births and I just knew that I had to have her there for the 3rd one as well. She is absolutely A-MAZING! We got extremely lucky the past 2 times that she was actually working when I delivered. I just wasn't so sure I'd get lucky a 3rd time. So, I decided to give her a call on Friday (10/22- my due date) to find out what her schedule was so that I could mentally prepare myself to have the baby when she would be there. She told me she was working the following night and then she would be off until Wednesday night. Then, she gave me her home and cell phone numbers and told me to call her if I went into labor and she would be there. I'm telling you...she's AMAZING. She even called me on Monday night to give me her friend's number because she was going to be there and she didn't have very good cell phone reception at her house. She's awesome!
We left for the hospital. On our way up to Paradise, we called the midwives and the hospital to let them know we were coming. Shane asked to speak to Karren to let her know as well. Karen said that she thought we'd be there and she already had our room ready. We arrived at 10pm and went straight into our room...no check-in necessary. Loved it! Karen checked me...I told her if I was any less than 4cm...I didn't want to hear it! She said I was between 8-9cm. WAHOO!!! I asked her if she was lying...she said, "no". She called in for 'the cart' and prepped the room for a delivery. She told me that my bag of water was bulging and that when it poped, I would have the baby within minutes. SWEET! I was super excited. Up to this point, my labor was super easy. My contractions were seriously NOT bad at all. I was still cohearant, still making jokes, and still carrying on a conversation. It was great! I was so glad. I really needed to catch a break. My last 2 labors were crazy, long, and intense.
The midwife arrived, confirmed what was said, then asked me if I wanted her to break my water to speed things up. I told her that I was fine. I didn't want any intervention done. I wanted this to happen all on it's own. So, we waited, and waited and waited. At 2am, after 3 hours of waiting for my body to do it on it's own, I gave in. The midwife broke my water...and then we waited some more...and waited, and waited. Still nothing! I was at 9cm and pretty much stopped there for a while. I went in the shower for a long time, that didn't work. I laid down on the bed, that didn't work. I was walking the halls, that didn't work. Nothing was working. The midwife mentioned PITOCIN and I cringed. I hate that stuff. I've had it with the last 2 labor and I didn't want it again. Also, I was on my way to getting a water birth with this labor and if I had pitocin, they wouldn't allow my in the tub.
I was frustrated by this point... it was about 4:30am and I just wanted to be holding my baby. I gave in to the pitocin. Prior to ordering it, my midwife wanted to stretch my cervic while I was pushing to see if things would progress. Yeah...that didn't work. Pushing without the urge to push doesn't work! So the pit was ordered and Karren was trying to find a vein to put in my IV. So, because I was a little dehydrated, the veins were not cooperating. She tried and on the 3rd try...she got it. She started giving me fluids, I said a prayer (in hopes that my labor would start on it's own without pitocin) and sure enough...we were on our way to have this baby WITHOUT pitocin! YAY!
I finally got to a point where I could get into the birthing tub. I was a bit nervous that the water would slow down my labor (as it has in the past), so I wasn't super relaxed. The contractions didn't seem too close together, but I was definitely in transition. I pushed a few times, out came his head, then because his shoulder was under my pubic bone, they had me flip over on my hands and knees. I pushed again, and there he was! I flipped back around and held my beautiful baby boy! I just remember thinking...how absolutely cute his cheeks and lips were.
Despite the labor not going as fast as we thought it would go...it was still, hands down, the best labor ever! I was so lucky to have Karren, 'my' nurse, and Shane there for this experience. I love the first hours after my babies are born. They are so sweet and fresh off the boat. There is always such a great spirit about them.
SO...Ann and David came for a visit around 10am to see the baby before going to spend time with Kendall and Kaden. Shane left around noon and came back the next day with the gang. Keaton was a super good baby. He latched on right away and slept a lot. He only lost 3 oz before left the hospital. I loved the time I had to spend and bond with my baby. Can't wait to see him grow!
