A birth story...finally

Well, I had been having contractions since the Thursday before I delivered. I honestly thought they were Braxton hicks because they were not like the contractions I had with M. By the time Sunday evening came around, I was running 10 minutes apart. I thought that when I was up and moving around they stopped, so I got up and told B to get some rest. I stayed up and cleaned on the house until we started getting ready for our trip to the hospital at 3. (We had to be checked in by 5).

By the time we had started our drive into town, my contractions were running 3 to 5 minutes apart. My OB told me to head in at 5-7. We checked in and began my pre-op preparations. I lay in bed until they came to get me at 6:45—still contracting at 3-5 minutes apart. I actually walked back to the operating room to get ready for my section.

I must admit that I was very anxious as I got up on the operating table and the anesthesiologist started to prep me for my spinal. My spine is curved, and last time, the anesthesiologist tried 8 times to get an epidural in me. Well, the anesthesiologist did get the spinal in this time. He said that it just took a lot of needle to get into my fluid and that it was very deep.

Now, I was under the impression that the spinal is supposed to make you numb? Not so. I felt every tug, pull, etc. B smoothed my hair as we waited to hear those cries. Finally, the doctor pulled out W and announced it was a boy. My boy welcomed everyone by baptizing them. I will also mention that Dr. W had to pull W’s fingers out of his mouth in order to get him out (he was sucking on them—he still tries to suck on them.). W then proceeded to try to suck on Dr. W’s fingers.

So W made his appearance at 7:41 am on October 17th. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20.5 in. long. He has a full head of very light blonde hair.

Oh, I forgot to mention…

The closing was quite interesting. Dr. W and Dr. C asked me if we were going to try for a third child so I could have a little girl. I assured them I was just fine with two boys because I wouldn’t have to pay for expensive cheerleading outfits; I wouldn’t have to pay for a wedding; etc.

We then proceeded to discuss the college football games from that weekend. Most importantly, we discussed how disappointed we were that USC won the USC v. Notre Dame game. We talked football the entire time they were closing me up. Dr. W & C said that I was obviously a good match for a houseful of guys. Let’s hope they are right.

Pics:
http://community.webshots.com/user/osuchris

Oh, I also forgot to mention that they actually think W was overdue. He had cradle cap from being in the birth canal and his hands and feet were very dry. He also had almost no vernix on him at all. So based on that, he should have arrived right around the end of September. The funny thing is Meme kept saying the entire pregnancy that they were wrong on my date.

Good intentions

The old addage goes that the pathway to nowhere is paved with good intentions. It has been my intention to have W's birth story and a few updates posted by now. As you can see, I have good intentions, but it hasn't happened yet.

But here is a quick update. W had his first checkup on Monday. He was up to 8 lb. 4 oz. The doctor was happy with everything, so we have our next checkup in December. He has changed so much in just the two weeks he has been alive. He looks just like his older brother, too.

I promise that I will have something up as soon as I get the chance. The older man is fighting sleep and I need to pump before I go to sleep.

And we are almost there...

Well, as everyone can see, I obviously made it through the weekend, despite everything that has been going on...I'll spare you the gory details. B is lying beside me in bed watching the news and he just said, "It's not over yet." LOL!

So, as it stands, tomorrow morning is the big day. I will not have internet access until I am sprung from the hospital, so don't expect an update until later this week...say Thursday or Friday.

Until then, keep us in your thoughts and prayers and wish us luck!

Here is to W or G making his or her entrance! Cheers!

T minus 15 minutes

I have just over 15 minutes left before I can head home for the day. It's exhilirating! In just 3 days (maybe sooner), I'll be holding my baby in my arms. How cool is that! I'll also have six weeks with no GIT!

Of course, I couldn't go out on leave without another GIT story for you, right?

Well, she wanted to go over last minute instructions today. Fine by me. I laid it out for her. During settlements, you are here...ON TIME. YOU ONLY CALL IN IF YOU ARE DEAD. There are millions of dollars changing hands, and quite frankly, you need to be here period. The analysts know what to do...so just go by the checklists left for you and you'll be fine. I also told her this job is gravy and it shouldn't be so hard.

So, I did say my piece...in a nice, yet not so subtle way. In other words, quit being a slacker and show up for work and do it according to schedule! Shouldn't be that hard, dear.

But alas, it is not my problem anymore.

So, I've set up out of office on my email and I just have my phone left to do; however, I am kind of waiting until she quits banging stuff around over the cubicle wall. Next post should be...on the way to the hospital...

Why am I here?

So, I’ve been at work for a little over an hour, and I am so antsy. I so do not want to be here. GIT has already come over this morning to verify settlement dates through the rest of the year (she’s done this for three months and she can’t figure out when wire transfers are supposed to occur?). She also asked me to double-check her schedule as well. There is a blasted checklist out on the server with all the desk duties for my job with business days and calendar days. It really isn’t that hard…at least it shouldn’t be.

I can’t really do anything of substance because I only have today and tomorrow left. One could argue that I should take the time off, but we need the money, so alas I sit…bored out of my mind…miserable…and so ready to be out of here.

Thank goodness today will be a short day. I have my last checkup late this afternoon, so I will not be returning to work for the day after my appointment (which very well might be a good thing if he decides to do an internal (BLECH!)). After I’m done at the OB, I have to go back to mom’s house and pick up M. I also need to install my camera software on her computer so we can download photos; my desktop finally went kaput this week so I’m running the laptop until we get a new desktop. After I do that, I will have her take a picture of M and me so we have a before picture, and we will download it to the computer to make sure everything is a go for next week. I can’t believe we are really this close to B day.

Random thought:I should have brought in my CD player and headphones today to help keep my sanity.

Hump day and the longest week of my life

Today was hump day, and thank heavens! It seems that this week will never end. It also seems like Monday is such a long ways away, when it's barreling down the pipe...out of control.

They say a watched pot never boils. That is so true. The hours each day have drug on agonizingly slow. The anticipation of having six weeks off and a new life to add to our family is preying on my patience (which I will admit that I have very little of under normal circumstances).

So I sit and wait...and wait...and wait...

Hopefully I will find something out at my doctor's appointment tomorrow. I'm just too much of a control freak I guess to go with the status quo.

Push it out

So, I got a phone call at work today from my mother. M had informed her that I was at the hospital to have his baby brother and that B was coming to pick him up to see his baby brother. I just had to laugh.

When I picked him up this evening, he informed me that we were going to Meme's so she could give me a shot and that he and daddy were then going to help me push his baby brother out. Kids have such an active imagination. I'm kind of glad to see him getting excited about the baby though. I have had my concerns about how he would adjust because in some ways (as any normal child would) he has shown that he is not the least bit interested in the change that is about to occur in his life. I'm anxious about the baby coming, but in other ways I am excited.

I look forward to seeing lil' man's face when he meets the new addition.

B minus 7

So, here we are…one week until “b” day. All the late pregnancy stuff is going on. I’m exhausted. I’m not sleeping. I’m nauseous. I have a headache. I’m having contractions. Now, are the contractions real, or are they braxton hicks? I time everything and feel lost while doing so. I am basically absolutely miserable.

I want to go home and not work, but I need the time and the money, so I work through it. I want to scream at people to leave me alone, but alas, I am inundated with all the “problem child” issues.

Things still aren’t ready. The house is a disaster; however, laundry is caught up. My bag is packed. In short, I’m not ready at all; B is however as he is excited to see whether it will be another boy or girl.

All I want is to go to my mommy’s and curl up in a ball and put my head in her lap. I know that won’t help though, so I sit here—miserable—and wait. Patiently? If you want to call it that, go ahead.