At five days overdue we were waiting waiting waiting for something to happen (after trying every trick in the book!) and went to the OB for a scheduled appointment to talk induction. My mom had said that morning "wouldn't it be something if they sent you straight to L&D" and that's exactly what happened. Even though I was only 1/2cm dilated, kiddo had a slight heart deceleration on the doppler monitor that gave the OB cause for concern. She told us to go straight to L&D for induction and told Kev that he could go home later for the hospital bag (note to future parents - apparently it's always good to have the bag with you this late in pregnancy).
My induction began around 2pm (in the midst of a Law & Order: SVU marathon, of which I watched like 6 episodes) and at 2am they started pitocin. I lasted until about 7am before I asked for the epidural. Fast forward to around 11ish and the doctor on call comes in to chide me about getting the epidural too early into my labor (hey, it was painful!). He chides me before checking me out... and after a quick check he looked at the nurse and asked "why didn't you tell me we were ready?" We had no idea that I was as ready as I was as the nurse had refused to update me on my dilation status over the last few hours. We had been expecting a long labor and a nighttime birth, so my parents were at home not expecting to get a call at 11:32am telling them that they wouldn't make it to the hospital in time! The epidural had worn off of from my knees down, but I truly did not feel a thing while pushing, so much so that the fact the entire delivery was happening had me laughing and in disbelief the entire way through. The nurse said it was the only delivery she had had in 40+ years where the mom laughed the whole time. I do remember trying to push and on the second to last push something very audible changed in Kevin's breathing and I could tell something big was happening! Eight minutes of pushing and Adam entered the world!
We spent two days in the hospital and were really wow'd by all of the hospital staff and the experience of coming back to the US for the birth. Within a few days of coming "home" we were blessed to have tons of family and friends visit to shower Adam with hugs and kisses. It's really been overwhelming to have had family travel from so far away to share in this experience with us. We are also tremendously fortunate to be staying with my folks who have been helping with everything from meals to dishes to laundry, making it much easier for us to just focus on adjusting to parenthood. They are also great with 7am baby rocking, which allows us a few extra hours of sleep!
The first two weeks have not been easy by any means... we are still adjusting to having a little sleeping angel during the day and a night owl that just wants to be held and comforted all night long. Kev flies home ~2 weeks before me and I am relishing his night help as much as I can, still not exactly sure how I will do nights on my own without him! We are also convinced that the first few weeks are like Fight Club - no one talks about the early weeks, otherwise no one would ever have kids! :)
Earlier this week Adam had newborn portraits done at Shannon Leigh Studios and we look forward to seeing all the photos in a few weeks! Photos we have taken are also now on Facebook.
A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They were three in the family,
And that's a magic number.
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