I've been meaning to write out the birth story of my little DC man, and (finally) finishing up his newborn pictures (only 4 months after the fact) seemed like the perfect time. (If you don't want to read these sort of details, just skip the story and look at the pictures. He was a cute little grandpa looking newborn).
I had been in and out of the hospital, thinking I was in labor, nine different times. It was so frustrating. The doctors and nurses were so great about it. There was one time I even thought my water had broken and the nurses were sure of it too till they checked the fluid. There had been a lot of irritation in my belly that was making me think I was having contractions (I was diagnosed with gallstones at 32 weeks when I went to the emergency room).
Because of all this I decided to be induced as soon as the doctors would let me. I felt like I was being a bad mom before the day came, but Monday morning of week 39 came and I was so excited. My husband and I dropped off our daughter and checked into the hospital at around 6:00 or 7:00 am. I don't really remember the times things happened because I didn't really pay attention. I was a little preoccupied.
As soon as I got settled in my delivery room they started me on pitocin. I wish I'd known that I could have had my epidural any time because I was waiting for my contractions to get bad like they did when I had my daughter. Instead I ended up sitting on the toilet feeling unable to move because of contractions. Labor is truly a glamorous experience.
I don't remember when they broke my water, but I remember that it was crazy uncomfortable and a little painful. It also scratched up my little boy's head and he a had scab right on top of his little noggin for weeks.
I was so grateful for my epidural. I learned that the epidural I got with my daughter didn't really work. It only worked on about half of me. I had previously thought that it was normal to feel everything on half of your body. I had also thought that a 24 hour labor was normal and so did my husband.
We were guessing that labor would be at least 8 hours or more for our little guy considering how long everything took with our daughter. Boy were we wrong.
Thanks to our assumption my husband decided to go to the gym for a quick workout while I hunkered down in my bed with Instagram and Pinterest. After a while I was noticing that I felt some pressure every few contractions. I didn't say anything because when I had felt something similar during labor with my daughter I still had hours and hours to go. I was also afraid of psyching myself out yet again as I had with our many false alarms.
Time went by and I started feeling that pressure every contraction. It was cool to be able to feel all of my contractions and not be in pain, on oxygen, or have a blood pressure cuff that seemed to want to pinch my arm off (all of which happened during labor with my daughter).
Soon it started feeling like pushing more than pressure. After a few contractions like this I decided that it wasn't all in my head, this baby was coming now and my husband was gone, the nurse had just left my room, and the doctor was in the middle of a procedure at the nearby women's clinic. I got excited. Well, excited and a little panicked.
I texted my husband to see where he was. I relaxed a little when he said he had just gotten out of the shower and was about to leave the gym, so I told him the baby was pushing. Then the nurse came back in to see how I was doing. Between her previous visit and her current one I had dilated from a 5/6 to a full 10. She told me to keep my knees together because this little boy was ready to be outside. As she ran to call the doctor my husband ran into the room (whew!).
When she called the doctor he said that he could be up in about 20 minutes. She just laughed and said that we probably wouldn't need him anymore in 20 minutes. He came in about 5.
After the doctor got suited up he actually had to push little man's head in a little to get a catheter in. Then it was time to push.
Everything about DC was (and still is) so different from my daughter, Diana. I was pushing for 2.5 hours with her and they ultimately had to use forceps. I didn't want to know what was going on at all and being someone who had planned on having an epidural from the moment I knew I was pregnant, I was not at all happy that I was in so much pain. I just wanted everything to be over. I certainly didn't think of birth as a beautiful and magical experience. Well, I did, but I didn't really think that in the moment.
DC, on the other hand, was what I can only describe as a beautiful and magical experience. I saw his head after it came out with the first push. He was already trying to look around and he wasn't even completely born yet. After the second push he was all the way out and I couldn't wait to get that beautiful baby boy in my arms.
I had been so exhausted after having Diana that all I wanted to do was rest. It was also 1:50 am when all was said and done with her. But with DC, I was alert and amazed. I was able to hold my baby till I could easily move my legs and I didn't have to let him go for anything (except his initial scrub down).
When we got to the recovery room I was able to pick him up, walk around, sit on the bed cross legged, hold both my children at the same time, and even carry Diana. I'd had a fourth degree tear with her, so this was a real treat. I enjoyed every minute of it, because I knew that I was going into surgery the next day and probably wouldn't feel quite so energetic or mobile.
The next few days were rather awful when one surgery turned to three and we learned that Diana didn't sleep anywhere except her own bed at home. But it was wonderful to have our new little boy.
Because I had so many surgeries I wasn't able to move very much or very quickly. At the hospital the nurses had to take DC to the nursery a lot so I could rest. I had big blow up things on my legs that helped with my blood circulation and made me feel like Baymax from Big Hero 6. I also had to keep my IV in for three days (needless to say I weighed the exact same amount going into the hospital as i did leaving it.) All these things made it hard to hold my little bundle and impossible to get out of bed. But I was able to have a lot of one on one time with my new baby, so I was happy.
The next week or so was kind of a blur with all the surgeries and meds they put me on, but I think I took these pictures when DC was about three days old. He was so sweet. I'm pretty sure people may disagree, but I think he is just the most beautiful little boy on the face of the earth. He may have looked a little like an old man at first, but he's getting more and more adorable everyday.
And now he is four months old (today) and I have finally finished these fun pictures of my wonderful little dude.
