He Finally Came; I Wasn't Pretending After All!

Since I have a couple of weeks of restricted activity, I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to share with all of you our weekend.

As some already know, we were blessed with a handsome baby boy on August 22, 2008. We did choose a name even though some of you thought Horatio would become permanent. Drum roll please, his name is:

Shane Mitchell Smith

The name Shane has no particular significance to Adam and I except that it was one of very few names that was at the top of both of our lists. Mitchel (we just added an L to the spelling) is my dad's name. We thought giving our son the name Mitchell was a great way to honor what a great father I have.

Shane Mitchell Smith was born at 2:55pm on Friday, August 22 weighing 7lbs 12oz and being 20.5 inches long (the pediatrician's office only measured 20in). His initial APGAR score was 8 and later it was 9, so our son is wonderfully healthy. He did have a couple of hours where his body wasn't able to warm to the right temperature, but he quickly overcame that.

Pictures have been in such a high demand from family members (apparently, the cell phone pictures we sent to them didn't cut it), that I have decided to show the pictures first and then those that really care can read the story at the end.

This picture makes his head look big, but it really isn't. He did inherit mine and Adam's chubby baby cheeks though. To Smith Family: Does this not remind you of Adam's baby pictures? We've decided he looks more like Adam than like me. The first thing I noticed was that he has Adam's eyes (large and more almond shaped), which made me so happy. That was the feature of Adam I wanted him to have the most.

Being held by Daddy shortly after he was born.

Is anyone else weirded (not in a bad way, just an unrealistic way) out by the idea of Adam being a Dad? Wait, I'm a mom now! Yikes!

This wasn't my first time holding him. I chose not to include those pictures because they were a bit revealing for the internet. This was after they were finished stitching me up and Adam and I were left alone with him for awhile to "bond." I don't feel too horrible about the way I look because I have never seen a flattering picture of a woman who has just given birth. So, I am just joining the club.

We are headed up to our recovery room after the birth. Normally they take the mother up in a wheel chair, but my nurse was really nice and got me a bed to be wheeled up. She thought it would be a lot more comfortable considering the intense stitching I just had done.

These next few pictures Adam took shortly after Shane's first bath.

I know I am his mom, so I am probably a bit biased, but this is the most beautiful newborn I have ever seen!

This picture is of Adam giving Shane his first Zerbert.

Adam is really good at swaddling Shane. He calls him his "little burrito." This is when we were about to be discharged and go home.

Going home. It is interesting how it seems like people make a big deal about what the baby will wear home and what blanket he will be wrapped in. I discovered that it really doesn't matter. It is just a car ride.

This picture isn't very realistic because his face isn't that square, but look at how red his hair looks. We didn't notice how red his hair was until we were outside in the sunlight getting ready to go home. It will be interesting to see what color it turns out to be.

His first nap at home after having lunch. Meals just knock him out.

Now for the story:

I went into recognizable (at least for a first time mom) labor at about 3am. We couldn't figure out if my contractions were regular enough and timed right to go to the hospital, so we called the OB's office. The on-call doctor was rather rude and sounded skeptical that I was ready for the hospital but told us I should go get checked. So, we go to the hospital and I get hooked up to the monitors and sure enough I was 4-5 cm dilated and my contractions were coming very obviously 2-3 minutes apart. Fortunately for me, another doctor was set to go on call at noon and offered to take over for the doctor I talked to since I wouldn't be delivering until later. She was a lot nicer and much more friendly.

Up in the labor and delivery room, I had to be put on the fetal monitors for 20mins every hour, but other than that I was allowed to do what I wanted and walk the halls with my IV rolling beside me. Adam and I went on a couple of walks, but it became rather uncomfortable to walk during contractions. (I felt like everyone was starring at me when we were walking the halls as if no one does that anymore.) For some reason it was hard to get in and out of bed too, so most of the time I preferred to stay sitting up in bed. I was a little disappointed by this because walking helps to make the contractions more efficient, but they were starting to be painful enough that getting out of bed to sway or walk was just too much work. Eventually, I asked for a pelvic exam to see how I had progressed. I think I had been there for at least 4 hours already maybe 5. I was only 5 cm dilated and I was getting exhausted from the intensity of the contractions. I knew that going through transition would be the hardest part and if I was already as tired as I was, pushing was going to be mighty difficult after experiencing transition naturally. So, I abandoned my plans for a natural birth (which was quite hard and emotional for me for some reason; it made it easier that I forgot all the reasons I wanted to go natural) and got a walking epidural. The nurse said those aren't normally given this far into labor, but she asked the anesthesiologist and she said I could have whatever I wanted. Let me tell you, that was one of the best decisions I could have made. The epidural wore off right before I was finished dilating, so I experienced the delivery very naturally. Now that I know what delivery and pushing is like, I think having the epidural saved my life! That was by far the most painful thing I have ever endured! I would have never made it through delivery without forceps or vacuum extraction or something if it weren't for the rest I got after the epidural kicked in. Next time I might consider getting a boost of the walking epidural shortly before pushing begins. I felt like a wuss not going natural, but now I feel like a champ for getting through it with just one dose of a walking epidural. It makes me so happy I live in an age where it is available.

So when I started pushing the baby still wasn't engaged. Because of this, the nurse thought I would be pushing for about 3 hours. That scared me really bad! She called the doctor and gave me two options 1.push for 3 hours 2.get more epidural and give the contractions more time to work the baby down before starting to push. I was about to choose door number 2, but then she said to try pushing just bit and we would see how it goes and then I could make a decision. I thought that was great. She told me to give it all I've got, so I did, which probably wasn't the best (You'll find out why). The baby rotated and flew down the birth canal. I only ended up pushing for 40 minutes, so the doctor missed the delivery. Instead a resident came in. When all was said and done, the baby came so fast (the speed being facilitated by my champion pushing) that I tore through the vaginal wall in 3 places. Ouch! No wonder it hurt so bad. The doctor finally made it. She spent almost an hour stitching me up after a short skin-to-skin bonding session with my new little boy.

I have to say that the moment that boy came out, was a great physical relief, but even that relief was nothing compared to the intense emotions I felt when he was placed on my chest to snuggle up with me right after he was born. I am not even sure what I felt, but inexpressible joy was definitely part of it. He was slimy and messy, but I most definitely did not care at that point. I was honestly prepared to fight to hold him if someone held him back to clean him. I wouldn't trade that 15 minutes he was laying with me for anything! I can't find the words to explain how the experience felt, but I imagine every mother reading this knows what I am talking about.

After my bonding moment, Shane got passed to the nurse who did a little cleaning and testing to check his health. Then Adam got to hold him while I was being stitched up. Once the doctor was finished everyone left the room and the bright birthing lights were turned off so Adam and I could have some time alone with our son. We were able to spend at least an hour alone together before being moved up to the recovery room where Shane would get further tests and his first bath.

Everything is still very surreal to me. For some reason I feel like it was all a dream and any minute I am going to wake up and be back to being pregnant. I keep on wanting to call my son Jeremiah, which is my sister's son's name. I guess I keep thinking in the back of my head that there is no way he is mine, so I must be taking care of my sister's son. I am gradually getting over that the more I say his real name. The fact that I actually have a son now is still not quite real to me.