Caleb's Birth Story

This is the closest I get to a race report right now, so brace yourselves, I may be long-winded.

So, as many of you read on Tuesday, May 31, after my doctor check-up, I'd resigned myself to being induced on Wednesday, and I'd made my peace with that.  Then, a few hours after posting, and sending out emails to friends and family, I began to have some irregular contractions.  Jerry got home from work at 4:30 and the contractions were still irregular, but I was beginning to believe that this might be it.  At 5:30, I told him we needed to head to the hospital.

Thankfully, my mom was still here, so we left Norah in her care and jetted off.

By the time I got checked into the hospital and to a room in labor and delivery, it was nearly 6:30 pm, and my contractions were about 2-4 minutes apart, but I was only 3 cm dilated.  The nurse I had who was admitting me and getting everything initially prepped in L&D was S-L-O-W as molasses, and I kept asking for an epidural -- stat!  The contractions were motherfuckers, and spaced so closely together that I felt like I didn't get a break in between.  I wanted the drugs, dammit!

Finally, after more than 2 hours, I got the sweet, blessed relief of the epidural, and I went quickly from 4 cm to 8 cm.  There was a nurse shift change in that time, and my 2nd nurse was WAY better.  So, after I had the epidural (I can't thank modern medicine enough -- bless those who are strong enough to do it sans spinal tap, but natural child birth is NOT for me), both Jerry and the nurse had a short break in my cursing and crying, and I felt relaxed and ready.  At a little after 10 pm, the nurse midwife came to check me and she took one look and said, "You're gonna need to start pushing; he's RIGHT there."

She broke my water, and 6 pushes later, he was born.  10:30 pm on the dot.  An hour and a half still left in May -- guess he didn't want to wait until June after all. 

Despite the fact that he was bigger than Norah (he was 8 lbs 3 oz and she was 7 lbs 10 oz), the pushing was so much easier this time around than with Norah (when I pushed for nearly a solid 2 hours), and both the attending nurse and the midwife said I "made it look easy," but I think that's just the nature of 2nd children -- the path has been traveled before and the body knows what to do the 2nd time around.

Unlike Norah, who came out screaming bloody murder, Caleb was eerily quiet at first, and he was kinda gray.  But, they suctioned his mouth and nose, and then he started peeping, but it really wasn't until they started cleaning him up that he made much noise, and even then, he was quiet for the 30 minutes or so.  Thankfully, he pinked up quick, and he has certainly demonstrated in the last 72 hours that he knows plenty well how to use his lungs!

Since then, I've been recovering well, and as I mentioned in my post from yesterday, we returned home yesterday afternoon, and for me, it's such a relief to get checked out of the hospital.  We had a private room this time around, but still, hospitals are just not the place for me.

 Like being in a car accident, or after running a marathon, my entire body feels stiff and sore, but that should pass in another few days.

Caleb too is doing well.  He checked out as a perfectly healthy baby by the hospital pediatrician and he sees our regular pediatric office tomorrow morning for his first check up there.  He's getting the hang of nursing pretty easily (again, it helps that I did this before because I feel much more confident about BFing and what to do/expect, etc).  He has the typical newborn night vs day mixed up, but again, that should correct itself in a few weeks' time.

For now, we're all a bit exhausted by all the change, but overall, we're doing well, and I'm of course, riding a whole wave of emotions, including the best one of all: Feeling like I get to fall in love all over again -- with Jerry, with Norah, and of course, with Caleb himself.  I even have extra love for Scooter right now, and I can't always claim that! ;)

Thanks again for all the comments and congrats.  I appreciate so many people thinking of us and keeping up with us.  Sorry that I am currently MIA from reading and commenting on your own blogs, but I assume it'll be a bit before I'm able to catch up with your lives.  Hope you too are doing well!