Well, as many of you know, Mason made his arrival into our arms on November 10th, 2010. I don't even know where to begin explaining things! I guess I'll just start with the beginning of the day.
Jason and I arrived at the hospital at 7:30a.m. Wednesday morning to start the induction process. It was a very nice day. The weather outside was amazing for being November. It was almost 60 degrees and Jason and I walked into the hospital without our coats on. We stopped at registration to get registered and then headed up to the Birth Center. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be, which was good. Usually my nerves don't agree with me!
When we arrived to the birth center, we were greeted by the great OB staff and Dr. O'Connor. We headed down the hallway to our room #404, but had to stop at the scale first! That was not very pretty, but it could have been worse. Once we got into the room I got changed into my gown and got into the bed. Dr. O'Connor came in and checked me to see if I had made any progress since the prior week. There had been no progress. They started the induction by breaking my water and administered Pitocin through my IV.
I knew it was going to be a long day. Inductions usually take at least 12 hours to take effect unless you are progressed quite a bit. So for the rest of the day it was just waiting. For the first hour or so I had to lay in bed and be monitored to make sure everything was going okay with the Pitocin. After awhile, I got up and went roaming the hallways to try and speed things up. Jason and I watched a few movies while we waited. I don't remember much of the movies, because we were getting interrupted by nurses and the doctor to be checked. The movies did help pass time though.
About noon, Dr. O'Connor came back to check me. I had made quite a bit of progress and they were thinking I would deliver soon. The contractions started getting stronger and more intense. I tried to hold out as long as possible to get my epidural, because I know that epidurals can slow labor down. Jason said I looked like I was in a lot of pain and kept asking me if I was SURE I didn't want the epidural yet. I tried to explain to him that the epidural would probably slow things down, but I think he was still concerned that I was in a lot of pain. I held out for a few hours before getting the epidural. At 2:00p.m., I asked for the epidural. To my luck, the anesthesiologist got called away to the ER right before I asked for the epidural. I had to wait about a half hour before she showed up. It was totally worth the wait though! I felt much better afterwards and was able to get some rest.
Dr. O'Connor came back to check on me around 4:30 and I still hadn't made much progress. I was starting to get worried that this was going to take a long time and I was hoping little Mason wouldn't go into distress. Jason and I did some more waiting. Watched some more movies and took a nap. At 6:00p.m., Dr. O'Connor came back to check me. The next thing I hear was "you're complete, let's have a baby"! Jason and I were both in shock because we were not expecting it.
Jason seemed quite nervous, but I'm not sure if he was. He pushed his sleeves up and got ready to help assist with delivery. The epidural was still quite strong and I was not able to feel much of my contractions, but could feel them enough to let the doctor know when I was having one. We started pushing with each contraction. Dr. O'Connor said it was going to be a quick delivery. After three contractions, little Mason made his appearance at 6:17p.m.!! He was pretty quiet when he came out, which kind of worried me. Then, finally he gave out a little cry. He wasn't too noisy. I was a little surprised that I actually cried. It seemed so unreal that he was here. We had waited so long to have a little one in our arms and now he was finally here. I can't even begin to explain how I felt knowing he was okay.
The doctor handed him off to the nurses to get him checked over and cleaned up. Everything checked out good, except his body temperature. It was low for some reason, so they kept him under the lamp and wrapped him up in a few blankets. We weren't able to hold him until his temperature was back up to normal. He was soo perfect! Right after delivery they asked how much I thought he weighed- I said 8lbs 4 oz... and then they told me he weighed 8lbs 3.75oz!! He was a good sized baby, but just perfect.
My labor and delivery went very smooth and I couldn't have asked for anything better. I am thankful that everyone respected our wishes of no visitors before Mason's arrival. It made the labor process so much easier. I was able to relax and get through it all. After Mason was born, we had a few visitors. Jason's mom and my parents came up to meet Mason. It was about 8:00p.m. when we could have visitors, so they didn't stay long. Jason and I needed to prepare for the night ahead of us!
Mason was such a good baby. He rarely cried. He was so content with everything. The first night he was up every so often to feed, but wasn't getting the hang of nursing. A nurse came in to help assist. It was quite frustrating, but I was prepared for this to happen. We made it through the night with no problems. The second day we had some more visitors. Jason's dad from St. Louis surprised us by coming up to meet Mason. We just relaxed most of the day. The second night was AMAZING. Mason only woke up once during the night! I called the nurse in after awhile, just to make sure I shouldn't be waking him up to feed him.
Friday morning we got ready to head home. The doctor came in to check me and make sure things were going well. He told us we were able to leave whenever we wanted. Jason was ready to go ASAP. I showered and started getting things packed up. The nurse came in and did some explaining to us and then we were free to go. It was freezing outside when we left the hospital. Definitely was not as nice as when we arrived.
After arriving at home I realized that we didn't get any pictures of the three of us at the hosptial. This kind of upsets me that we don't have those memories in a picture. I think it was because I was still in shock/denial that he was actually here. I have been pregnant for almost 2 years straight and hadn't had a baby yet, so when it actually happened I still didn't believe it. I don't have any pictures of Mason and myself together. We will probably go get his newborn pictures taken sometime soon.
Everything still seems so unreal. It has taken me awhile to realize that yes, there is another human being in our house. Things won't be the same again. No more "quick trips" to the store. It is so amazing. I could go on and on about Mason. He is such a good baby. Sleeps and eats pretty much like clockwork.
Well, I have much more to say- but I better break up some of this blog otherwise it might turn into a book. I'll keep updating about Mason. Tomorrow we go to the doctor for his one week check-up! Time is going to go by soo fast!!!
