Current mood:

jubilant

Happy Birthday, James!
OK here is the gory stuff. Well, not all of it is gory.

On Thursday, at school, I started having other symptoms of pre-labor. (Don't click if you don't want to know.) I didn't say anything to anyone because I've been going on and on about how this baby was going to be born early, and I was starting to sound crazy.

Well, I woke up very early on Friday morning, maybe just after 5 AM, with a contraction. This was nothing special to note since I have had SO MANY Braxton-Hicks with this pregnancy that it was just kind of part of the day. My alarm clock went off just before 6, but I decided to hit snooze a few times. I had a contraction just about every time I was hitting snooze... so I knew I had to decide by 6:30 if I was going to school or not. I figured that if I was starting out the morning this uncomfortable, it would be worth a sick day even if I wasn't really in labor.

I called in for a sub and then jumped in the shower. Well, while I was in the shower, my contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes. Hard. Owie. Dale took his shower next, and I started to get kind of shrill about getting into the car to go to the hospital. My mom arrived to get Shirou.

We pulled in to the ER at 7:30 AM, and I told Dale I could walk in since I'd just had a contraction. Well, I had another one in the entrance way. Luckily I was incredibly fat ... I mean pregnant-looking ... so they whisked me away to Labor and Delivery immediately. Dale had to make his own way up to the triage area because they took me so quickly.

I had my initial exam and the nurse said I was 3 centimeters. Early labor. I was doing a great job on my breathing, if I do say so myself. Just relax, doctor is in surgery but will be up to see me when she gets out. No rush. One of the nurses told me that I couldn't get up out of bed because I was on the monitor. This displeased me greatly and was taken care of by the next nurse.

They decided to admit me and brought me to my labor room. Dr. Pierre examined me and broke my water, but I was still 3-4cm at 9:30. The contractions suddenly became much stronger, so I asked to have a pain relief option. No epidural, just something to help manage the contractions (other than the golf ball Dale used to apply counter-pressure to my back.) The Stadol went to work almost instantly when they gave it to me at 10... I don't mean it made my contractions better, but I was so high or whatever that I partly fell asleep between contractions and had some BIZARRE dreams. When I'd wake up with the next contraction, I'd realize that only a minute or so had passed. I had to ask everyone to repeat everything because I was so zonked.

I started to feel like I should be pushing just after 11. The nurse said no because I was 7 cm.

Due to the medication I did not want to get up, so Dale helped me do bicycle kicks with my legs and rotate my shoulders while breathing to loosen up. Since I felt more prepared, I also didn't yell at all...

... until ... I had a contraction with an almost overwhelming urge to push. I got up and yelled, and it must have been loud because I suddenly had 4 nurses running into the room telling me not to push. I wasn't, but I also knew I was NOT 7 cm. Sure enough, 9 cm plus! Two centimeters in 20 minutes!

The room was full of activity getting ready for the delivery. They pulled the bottom of the bed out so that it was more like a delivery chair. I got to start pushing, which got "messy." All of the nurses and the doctor were like football coaches or something telling me how to push and to keep going and etc etc etc. James was descending slowly.

At one point, I do remember hearing something about forceps, but I was concentrating on pushing. I think perhaps subconsciously I was thinking "oh hell no" because I told Dr. Pierre I was going to push again, and that time Baby James came out! It was 11:45, and I think I only pushed for about 5 minutes all together!

Procedures avoided: catheter, forceps, and episiotomy! I did have a small tear, which I didn't notice.

Dale got to cut the cord. He said it felt like a thick rubber hose. He also remembered to look somewhere else for the placenta delivery!

James and I got cleaned up and assessed. I still felt pretty stoned, and James had some effects from the Stadol, too. They had to slap/rub his feet to get him to really cry. This freaked me out slightly and made me feel incredibly guilty/selfish, especially since it didn't actually reduce any pain, but no one else was worried about it. His assessments were all fine and he got his shots/vitamins/eye crap.

As it turns out, James is a very quiet baby. So far, anyway. Shirou cried and screamed for everything, but James has maybe cried 5 times in his first 2 days of life, not counting diaper changes. He is more of a whimperer.

James is also a MUCH better nurser than Shirou. I was really scared that I was going to have a repeat disaster starting out with the breast-feeding, but James is not nearly as aggressive as his brother was. He latches on perfectly, too. I think this may also be partly to do with the fact that I know what it's supposed to be like now.

OK I'm tired. That's all. We are very pleased that James is here and we are all enjoying getting to know him.