my (month-late) birth story :)

I have not been on here in ages, having a first child is definitely more work than I ever tried to prepare myself for! But I love him so much and can't imagine life without him.

So if anyone's interested in reading another birth story here is mine, I will try to keep it short and to-the-point.

Due date was 2/16, had an ultrasound that morning, they guessed that Aiden was weighing 8lbs14oz.  He had not dropped into my birth canal and my OB thought that maybe it was because he was too big.  I really wanted to wait until 41 weeks and try to go into natural labor, so we left the office with that plan.

After getting home, my DH and I talked to friends and family and came to the realization that if we waited another week he would be over 9lbs and that it might be way more difficult for me to have him vaginally.  I decided to call my doctor to discuss inducing the 17th or 18th.  The response I got was "they are ready for you today, be there in an hour!" I was in shock, this was not at all what I was expecting, but I figured we better go for it.

Arrived at the hospital at 4:30pm, pitocin was started, very little progression overnight, got an epidural at 1am and that was a life-saver.  My water was broken the next morning at 8am.  I was maybe 2cm by then.  By noon, my OB came back and I was 4cm and stalling.  She said that she would be back in an hour and wanted to see more progress or we would have to talk about doing a c-section.  I was really upset, my DH and I decided to ask her to give us until 4pm (24 hours in hospital) to try avoid a c-section.  I had a really great L&D nurse who kept encouraging me and convinced me to ask for more time, she was a godsend.  My OB came back at 1pm and said that she would give me until 3:30pm to progress.  By 3pm I was starting to have a lot of pressure, I was checked and was 7-8cm, I was so happy! By 4pm, I was complete and ready to push, my OB walked in at 4:30pm and was completely shocked that I was pushing.

I pushed for 1 hour and at 5:03pm Aiden Ryan was born weighing 6lbs 12oz and 20.5" long! The first thing my OB said when she pulled him out was "this is not an 8lb baby"!!! I couldn't believe that we had gotten so worried about him being so big.  He didn't really cry when he came out so I was worried, but he turned pink and they said he looked great!

Breastfeeding has definitely been a challenge, he had some jaundice when we got home from the hospital so we had to supplement formula, but all-in-all he is a happy and healthy little man!

I don't know how to post pics on here, once I figure it out, I will add some to my siggy.

Congrats to all my fellow February moms, I'm so happy to be back on TB!!