My birth and first few days of life

On June 1, 2009 my mom woke up early to see my dad off to work for the day. She went back to sleep but woke up a couple of hours later in lots of pain - she was going into labor! After awhile she called her doctor who told her to go into Labor & Delivery to be monitored. She called Daddy, who rushed home from work and drove her to the hospital. When they got checked in, the doctor came to see them and said that Mommy was 4 to 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced - I was definitely on my way!

The doctor wanted to break Mommy's water, so they called the anesthesiologist to give her an epidural. After she got the medication and her water was broken, I gave everyone a big scare - my heart rate went way down. The doctor and nurses rushed into the room and made Mommy lay on her side and gave her a shot to make my heart rate go back up. My mom and dad were really scared, but everything seemed okay for the moment. The doctor said that Mommy had been having very strong contractions really close together, and that they could have caused me some stress. At this point, Mommy was 6-7 cm dilated, so things were progressing quickly!

A couple of hours later my heart rate went down again, and this time the doctor said that because they weren't sure what was going on and because I wasn't tolerating labor very well, they would have to do a c-section to get me out as soon as possible. They rushed Mommy back to the operating room and daddy got dressed in some scrubs. They prepped Mommy for surgery, giving her more medication to make sure she couldn't feel the incisions - but the medicine wasn't working! The anesthesiologist gave her several doses before deciding to give her a spinal block since the epidural wasn't doing the job. Once the spinal block was placed, they let Daddy in the room and started the surgery. After just a few minutes, I was born at 8:29pm! My umbilical cord had been wrapped around my whole body, which was probably why my heart rate had gone down during labor. I came out screaming - it was really cold and bright in the operating room, which I wasn't used to after being inside my mom's tummy for so long. The nurses weighed and measured me; I was 7 pounds 6 ounces and 20 inches long. They took me to the nursery to give me a bath and do some tests; Daddy got to come with me but Mommy had to stay in the operating room and get cleaned up.

After awhile in the nursery, I got to go meet my parents for the first time. We spent about an hour together getting to know each other, and then my great-grandparents (Mommy's grandparents) came in to see me. Everyone kept telling me how beautiful I was and how much they loved me. After awhile my great-grandparents went home and it was time for bed - Mommy and Daddy were tired after such a long day! I didn't like being alone in my bassinet, so my parents took turns holding me all night. They didn't seem to mind - I think they kind of like me!

The next day in the hospital we spent recovering; I was adjusting to the world and Mom and Dad were adjusting to their new life with me. Mommy still couldn't get out of bed because of her incision from the c-section, so Daddy stepped up and changed all my diapers and handed me to Mom when it was time for her to feed me. Later, the nurse came in to help Mommy get up and walk around, and she even got to take a shower, which made her feel much better! I slept almost all day, so by bedtime I was wide awake - and I wanted the whole hospital to know it! Mom and Dad tried everything but couldn't get me to stop crying; finally one of the nurses came into the room and offered to take me to the nursery for a few hours so they could get some sleep. I think they felt a little guilty, but were grateful for the rest!

The next day the doctor said we could go home a day early if we wanted to, since Mommy and I were doing so well. Before we left, though, I had to go for my circumcision. They gave me some medicine to make it feel better, but it was not fun! Mom and Dad promised that it will feel better soon, and I hope they're right. The nurses came into our room to tell Mom and Dad a few important things about taking care of me, and then it was time to pack up all our stuff and head home! We got to the car and they strapped me in - I loved the car ride home! The sound and vibration of the car was very soothing, and there were lots of interesting things to look at.

Finally we were home! I got to meet my brother and sister (our dogs, Spanky and Darla), who were really curious about me but got used to me being around pretty quickly. We spent the rest of the day getting used to being at home. I'm excited to finally be here and to see and experience all the things in the world!