Team Green turned Team Blue! PIP

sundaesprinkles · May 2013

Short version: After a quicker labor than expected, we went from Team Green to Team Blue! Logan John arrived on May 8, 2013 at 12:47pm weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and measuring 19 ? inches long. I am so grateful that the birth was so easy, that my son is in perfect health, and that we have mastered breastfeeding without any major issues.

On Monday, May 6^th around 3pm I started having contractions. I decided to download an app for my phone to time them, but they were irregular. I lost my mucus plug around 9pm. I was able to sleep that night but of course it wasn?t a great night?s rest. I wasn?t too concerned about the contractions because I had been having cervical checks since 36 weeks and I never was dilated at all. I was just hopeful that maybe this was a sign I might go on my own before my scheduled induction on the 14^th.

On Tuesday, May 7th my husband went to work and I stayed home trying to do last minute things like putting away and organizing some of the baby?s things. I was having irregular contractions all the while. That afternoon the intensity seemed to pick up a bit so I had to lie down. My husband got home from work around that time and I told him I didn?t think I?d make it to the weekend. (He had planned for Friday to be his last day at work.) We went to bed that night around 10:30pm but this time I couldn?t sleep at all. The contractions seemed to be coming closer together so I starting timing them and they were coming between 5 and 6 ? minutes apart, lasting for a minute to a minute and a half. At 2:00am I decided I better go to the hospital. At 3:00am we left for the hospital (which is 45 minutes away) and dropped off my two dogs at my parents? house first. Then we got to the hospital around 4:30am.

They checked me and I was dilated to 3 cm. They waited an hour to check me again and I was between 3 and 3 ? cm, so I hadn?t made much progress. The nurse asked me if I wanted to walk the halls for an hour but I told her I didn?t think I could because every 5 minutes when I would have a contraction I couldn?t stand through the pain. She called the on-call doctor and they decided to admit me, much to my relief. When it was time for shift change around 7:30am I met my new nurse and discovered it was a family acquaintance of ours. I was lucky she was working that day because she was so sweet to me. I think around 8 or 8:30am I got my epidural and I was started on Pitocin. My anesthesiologist was really nice and took his time making sure it was working perfectly for me. After I got the epidural I wasn?t in pain anymore but I started to feel really itchy all over, which they said was a side effect. They gave me another drug to counteract the itchiness which made me really sleepy. (Of course I was sleepy anyway from not sleeping the night before.) Our parents left to let us get some rest and so they could get lunch.

Meanwhile they had been checking me and I had progressed to a 4, and then a 5. Originally the nurse said I probably wouldn?t have the baby until that night, but after she checked me and I was at a 5, she said she thought it would be here by 3pm. I tried to sleep but I started to feel a very slight pain on my lower left abdomen. I mentioned it to the nurse and the anesthesiologist came to adjust the epidural. It worked and just when I was getting really sleepy and thinking I could finally get a nap, the nurse came in and checked me. She said no wonder I was feeling that pain before, because I was dilated to 10 cm! She told me and I literally said, ?Oh crap!? and the nurses laughed. I went into a state of shock and started crying. I just wasn?t prepared for the baby to be coming that quickly. I was so tired and I thought I still had a few hours to process what was happening and now all of a sudden it was time to push.

My husband frantically called our parents to tell them to come back to the hospital. They called my doctor and had me start to push. I told them rather stupidly, ?I really don?t know what I?m doing but I?ll try.? I started pushing and the nurses all commented on how good a pusher I was and that it was like I?ve done this before. Pretty soon they were telling me to stop pushing so we could wait for the doctor. Luckily he was almost there by then. Once he got there I started pushing again and they asked me if I?d like to use the mirror to see. I eagerly said yes. As soon as they put the mirror in place, I could see my baby?s head just starting to be visible. Without even thinking about it I tuned out everything else and just focused on that beautiful head. Before I knew it the baby was here. We were Team Green and my husband announced it was a boy and I totally lost it and just wept.

Logan John arrived at 12:47pm on May 8, 2013, two days before his due date. He was 6 lbs 15 oz and 19 ? inches long. He looks just like his daddy; the first thing I noticed is that he has his daddy?s long, dark eyelashes. I am so lucky because he is absolutely perfect and the labor and birth were so easy for me. It was quick and painless and I only needed one stitch for a mild abrasion. Logan is almost three weeks old now and he is doing fabulously. He is breastfeeding like a champ! He was discharged from the hospital on the 10^th weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and on the 20^th at his first doctor?s appointment he weighed 8 lbs 3 oz. I feel so incredibly blessed!

And now for the fun stuff - pics!