Four very long and very short weeks ago we finally welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world.
Leo Alexander was born at 12:43pm on 12-20-2012 (or 20-12-2012 for our English mates) at 6 lbs 10 oz and 20.5 inches.
So, here's how it happened. I won't go into all the gory details but I will warn you that there may be mention of epidurals and placentas so if you were like me pre-baby- very grossed out by the whole thing- you may want to skip to the end.
My birth story:
Our day started out with a last minute appointment with the doctor for one last ultra sound because the midwife was a little worried that the baby was measuring a bit small. As we were already downtown we stopped into Taco Mac for a big lunch- I was almost 40 weeks pregnant and I was grasping onto that excuse to eat whatever I wanted (and daring anyone to say anything about it, I was eating for TWO, ok?!) The lunch resulted in a bit of a tummy ache by the time we got home so I tried to take a nap, unsuccessfully, thanks to my persistent stomach cramps.
When we finally noticed that the cramps were coming on pretty consistently, and stopped staring at each other wide eyed and opened mouthed and more than a little terrified, Mark started timing them in the way only my uber organized husband can - he even offered to put them into an excel spreadsheet so we could chart them on a graph. After a few hours we decided it wasn't a dodgy buffalo chicken sandwich and we were actually doing this-having a baby.
I called my parents who jumped into the car for the 4 hour drive (they managed to drive it in a way shorter time that I won't reveal for legal purposes) and I did what anyone in labor would do-I painted my nails. I also did my hair, plucked my eye brows and did anything else I could think of to distract me from the ever increasing pain and the imminent painful end to 9 months of baby baking.
My parents arrived and about an hour later and after a particularly hard contraction we decided it was time to go. We grabbed the hospital bags and loaded up the car and left the house for the very last time as a family of two. Speed limits were broken and turns were made on two wheels and we made it in record time.
I was rolled upstairs in a wheel chair while my mom filled in some paperwork and I handed over my credit card, signing the receipt between contractions- perks of self pay. The nurse checked me out and found me to be 4 cm dialated so my midwife came in and broke my water.
*side note- when people tell you there is no modesty in childbirth, they ain't lying. I had more people staring deep into my lady bits than I care to think about and I couldn't Have cared less that night.
I decided about a month before that I was going to give it my best shot without any pain medication despite what I had thought when I first became pregnant (which was epidural, no if and's or any of that hippy sh*t, give me the drugs) I changed my mind because I wanted to experience as much of the natural process as I could and if there are women having babies in rice paddies somewhere and just getting back to work then surely I could do it in a comfortable hospital, right? Wrong. After 14 hours of contractions and no sign of the light at the end of my tunnel (literally) (sorry..), I opted for the drugs. To be honest, best decision I ever made. I was exhausted and the shot helped me sleep, which turned out to be pretty handy since I haven't done it again since that night.
So my mom curled up on the recliner, Mark layed out on the floor and my dad gave it his very best effort to get comfortable on the only chair left and we all tried to rest up. The midwife and nurse came in periodically for the next few hours but no real changes were happening so they decided to start me on Pitocin to speed things up- the epidural had slowed down progress.
Sorry for the pic quality- I was snapping from my iPhone..
After that we waited a few more hours as we all watched my contractions on the little screen next to my bed. They all grabbed some breakfast just in time for the nurse to tell me I couldn't eat anymore so I snacked on ice chips.
Things got a little scary when the nurse put me on oxygen because the babies heart rate was slowing down. Apparently it wasn't a big deal but it scared the life out of me and I had a little breakdown. Luckily everything got back on track.
At about 12: 15 the nurse came in for another check, she called in the midwife who checked as well and they decided it was time to push, the baby had worked his way down and was knocking on the door.
I originally planned to only have Mark and my mom in the room but we decided that my dad could stay too- as long as he stayed behind my head at all times no matter what, which he happily agreed to. He actually filmed the whole thing from a respectable angle (my only request was that there be no pictures/videos of my lady bits). Ten minutes into pushing, we had a little boy. I wanted skin on skin so he was placed right on my chest and I have never been so in love in my entire life.
Mark cut the cord and stood by while Leo got his first bath and all the other pokes and prods that newborns need and then we finally got some time to experience life as a family of three.
It was a terrifying, exhausting, and absolutely amazing experience. They say you forget about the hours of labor you've gone through as soon as they put the baby in your arms and they were absolutely right.
Now, he is sleeping so I'm going to take a much needed nap.
H x
A few more pics :)
Car ride home from the hospital
First time meeting Aunt Amber
Tummy Time
