Baby G

WARNING: This is going to be way too much information for some, so if you're not interested, scroll down to the pictures!

Baby G was born on October 10, 2010 at 3:56 am. He weighed 7 lbs, 14.6 oz, and was 19.5 inches long.

Those are his stats. Here's his story. I had been having strong contractions since September 25th. But they wouldn't come regular, they were just haphazard. So, I didn't worry about them, especially once my mom came out to help. Yea Mom! Then, on October 1st, they were really strong and they started coming every 5 minutes. So, off to the hospital. They checked me and I was only dilated to 2 cm so they started to monitor us and of course they stopped. We walked the halls of the hospital for a good hour and a half and the contractions were awful but they wouldn't stabilize again. I finally went home and crawled straight into bed. I slept until 1:00 in the afternoon the next day trying to recover and even after I got up, I was useless and completely demoralized. Mom said it was painful to watch me hobble around that day. Thankfully the strong contractions gave me 2 days off to rest before beating me up again.

Friday night (the 9th), I went to bed at 8:30 because I was tired and beat up. The contractions had been really strong again and Mom and I went for a walk to see if they'd start becoming regular, but they didn't, and I didn't want them to start if they weren't going to be real, so off to bed. At 1:00 I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. Truth be told, I wasn't really sure because with my first two, they had to rupture mine in the hospital. But when I continued to leak (told you, way too much info), I knew it was real. Any normal person at this point would have headed to the hospital. I didn't. I had been to the doctor a few days before and she told me, "Even if your water breaks, wait until the contractions come 3-5 minutes apart for an hour before coming in." I asked, "Even though it's my 4th?" She repeated the instructions. So I waited. They didn't start coming regularly until 1:40. But they were only 6 minutes apart. So I waited. I had already been to the hospital for false labor once and I was not going in until it was time. My mom woke up and was talking to me to keep my mind off the labor while we waited and I timed. My poor mom sat across from me saying, "I think you ought to go in..." But I was following doctor's orders. As soon as they jumped from 6 minutes to 3 minutes apart, I was ready to go. But it takes a minute or two to get out the door and by the time we were in the car on the way to the hospital, there was almost no break between them. Fifteen minutes away from the hospital, I realized what an absolute idiot I am when I felt the need to push. Poor H was trying to hold a conversation with me, and when he realized how far along I was, he informed me that I was not to have the baby in the van. Really? Because that was the plan all along.

I couldn't walk into the hospital because my legs had decided to stop working entirely. H wheeled me up to labor and delivery. They asked for my ID and I gave it and asked for them to just get me to a bed. One look at me and they abandoned all of the paperwork and wheeled me into the room. They ripped my clothes off of me - I was no help whatsoever. H states that I was uncooperative. I state that I was incapable. We'll have to agree to disagree. Somehow I got to the bed and laid down. The nurses are scrambling and the midwife cries - "Oh! He's right there." They didn't have time to break the bed down or anything. I'd like to say that I didn't scream and holler and cry, but it wouldn't be true. I was a veritable mess. I like to think if there wasn't the rush, I would have been better off, but who knows.

Minutes later, our baby boy was out and everything was worth it. I was grateful to get a private room in the Mother Baby Unit. Most of the rooms are shared and they filled up quickly after I came in.

That morning, the nurse in the Mother Baby Unit mentioned that he came really fast. She said it was quite the talk at the staff changing meeting. She asked if I noticed the frantic nurses running around with the wild looks in their eyes. I told her I was too busy at the time and she laughed.

The family came to visit and I was so grateful to share him with the other kids. I was surprised at how much I missed them. L kept calling me to ask me things and say goodnight/good morning. I was so glad to hear her voice and that she missed me too. What's funny is that H and my mom didn't know she was calling!

With no complications, we were able to go home on the 11th.

Now we're home and enjoying each other. I've been able to rest with so many helping hands and recovering with no problems.

The kids have been great - no jealousy. They're still excited every time they see him.