Steven's Little Life: Steven's Birthday

Post date November 14, 2008

Steven made is arrival on Monday, November 10, 2008 at 3:44 in the afternoon. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and he was 20.5 inches long. He's absolutely perfect and we are so in love!

Here's how it all went down: We arrived at the hospital for my induction at 6:oo am Monday morning. I got registered and got into the room I would deliver in. They had me change into my hospital gown and hooked me up to the contraction and fetal monitors. You could see the contractions I had been having all weekend and the nurse said they were "moderate" in intensity. She checked me and I was at 3 cm and 80% effaced, up from the 2cm and 70% I was at my appointment the Wednesday before. They started an IV and shortly after they started me on pitocin to get the contractions going- and did they ever! Within just a few minutes I could tell it was working. These contractions were MUCH more painful than the ones I was having and within a few minutes they were 4 minutes apart. My doctor came in around 7:15am. He checked me and broke my water. At once he could see lots of thick meconium in the amniotic fluid, which means Steven already had a bowel movement. It's not a serious complication, but if the baby were to aspirate it into his lungs he could get a bad infection and get really sick. It can also mean he wouldn't tolerate the labor well and has an increased chance of a c-section, so they watched us both a little closer than they normally would. It also meant that he would not be placed on my chest immediately because a special pediatrician would have to suction his lungs and stomach really well right away. This made me sad, but I knew it would be the best thing for Steven. I was nervous about the meconium, but kept thinking positively.

Breaking my water made the contractions come on even more strongly and soon they were about 2 minutes apart with sometimes only a short break in between. It was around 8am when I asked for the epidural. I was never so happy to see an anesthesiologist!! I actually told Matt right before the epidural kicked in that I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this again. :) The epidural worked great and within a few minutes I was very comfortable. I could still feel the contractions but they didn't hurt. I could move my legs but they felt like they weighed about 1000 pounds each! So I was able to rest and I think around 10am the nurse checked me again and I was 4cm. The epidural made me really relaxed. My mom and Matt were both in the room with me and mom and I rested and Matt played on his computer and read about the new camera.

At 11:30am Dr. S came in and checked on me. I was 6cm and 90% effaced and the baby was doing really well. He was very happy with my progress and told me just relax and he would be back later. Shortly after that Matt's parents got to the hospital. I rested, but they all sat and visited with each other. After lunch Matt and his parents walked down to find the gift shop. While they were gone around 2:30pm the nurse checked me and I was 10 cm, completely dilated, and the baby was at a +1 station! She looked at me and said "Wow, you're complete and +1, we're going to start pushing so call your husband and get him back up here!". So I called Matt and he came right back up. She called my doctor and told him we were going to start pushing soon. My mom and Matt's parents wished us good luck and went to the waiting room down the hall. I got so nervous when I saw the nurse turn on the baby warmer! I think that's when it really hit me that there was going to be a newborn baby in the room shortly!

At 3pm the nurse had me start pushing. The doctor and other nurses don't come in until the baby is about to crown, so it was just the 3 of us for a little while. I pushed for about 30 minutes and I was really close! The nurse called Dr. S back and all the other medical staff, plus the special pediatricians and nurses because of the meconium and pretty soon I had a room full of people! Things were happening a lot faster than I thought! Everyone got set up and within just a few minutes I was pushing again. It didn't take long and before I knew it they told me his head was out and one more push and he was here! I could feel him come out and it was such an amazing feeling. I didn't get a chance to even see him they took him over to the warmer so fast. The pediatrician got working on him so quick and they had to stick a skinny tube all the way down into his stomach to get all the meconium out. Despite the thickness of it the pediatrician said there wasn't very much in his stomach at all.

I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to hear him cry. I so badly wanted to see him, but there was too much equipment and people in the way. Things looked wonderful and he scored 9 and 9 on his APGAR scores. Matt wasn't sure what to do, but they all yelled for him to come over and start snapping photos. Since I couldn't see the baby I watched Matt's face and he was all smiles, so it made me feel better. After a few minutes of making sure all the meconium was out they weighed him. This was the first glance I got of him from across the room. 7 pounds, 11 oz! I finally got to hold him and it was amazing! What a beautiful baby we had, I just couldn't believe it. I really could not believe they were handing me MY baby. OUR baby. It was incredible. We had a little bonding time before our parents came back in. We shot lots of pictures and oooed and aaahhed over him. He was just perfect and so awake and alert! After some quality grandparent time they left to go make calls and I nursed him for the first time. He latched on well and was really hungry! All that pooping I guess. :)

Matt then went with Steven to the nursery to get bathed and they took me to my postpartum room. Matt came back with the baby and he was all clean and we could see how light his hair was and there was SO much of it! It was really strawberry blonde!

The first few nights were interesting to say the least. I don't think either Matt or I got really any sleep, but things have calmed down now. Steven is such a cutie and a great baby so far.

Here are some pictures from our journey into parenthood the past 9 months!