It was a little too dramatic - even for my taste - but Noah has finally made his entrance! I tried sex, evening primrose oil, spicy food, walking, jogging, yoga squats, raspberry leaf tea and, finally, castor oil. All to no avail. We reluctantly agreed to an induction on Sunday, June 8, as he was not getting any smaller and I was beyond sick of being pregnant.
It started out great, I was progressing steadily and handling the contractions - with the help of my husband and my doula. We went au natural (except for the Pitocin) for 12 hours and I thought I was on top of it. Then, they turned the Pitocin up. I went from being on top of the contractions to being underneath them. When the nurse said "Tell us when you feel any pressure." I thought "Yes! I'm in transition. " But I was only four centimeters. So, I did what any self respecting bad ass triathlete would do. I went for the epidural. Well, first, I gave it another hour to see if I could get a handle on it, then I went for the epidural.
Again, things seemed to be progressing and at 2pm, Monday I was declared to be at 8 centimeters. Groovy, we thought, he'd be here in a couple of hours. But a couple of hours came and went and I was still 8. More troublesome, he wasn't moving any further down. Even more troublesome, I was running a fever and bleeding "more than normally". Worse still, his heart rate started to decelerate. There was light merconium when my water broke which, by itself, wasn't a big deal but, coupled with everything else, was cause for concern. We decided to bail and go for the C-section.
It was a good decision. He was born within 20 minutes of our decision and needed oxygen and three days in the NICU for inhaled merconium. It was scary but along every step of the way there was someone there to reassure us and support us. He is a strong little guy and we knew within 24 hours that he would be just fine.
He weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 12 oz. He was 22 1/2 inches long and his head was 15 inches around. No wonder he wasn't dropping!!
He was Gulliver among the Lilliputans in the NICU. The parents of all the tiny preemies were looking at us like "What's HE doing here?"
Thankfully, by Thursday morning, he was released to my room.
And, Friday afternoon, we took him home with us. On his first visit to the pediatrician, he weighed in at 11lbs 3 oz. All's well that ends well, friends. And all is well.
11 comments:
I'm so happy for you and hubby and Boy Genius.
Welcome to the world, Noah!
Outstanding!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Too bad it had to be so dramatic and scary but in the end - He's Perfect! Adorable!! Yay!!!
That is awesome that everything turned out well in the end. Reading the blog, I started to get scared even though I saw the pictures. I am so glad that mom and baby are both doing well. Get lots of sleep, because he will dictate when you get the sleep.
Congrats and welcome to the beautiful big boy!
That's a big baby - Congrats! He's gorgeous!
Congratulations. What a beautiful baby boy. Hope you are enjoying your time with him. I haven't stopped by in a while, but I have been thinking about you.
he's beautiful!!! my daughter was a big one too--ouuuuch! congratulations!!!
How is mom and baby doing? I am sure hoping you are getting lots of rest. Keep us posted.
Amazing and Congratulations!
I can't handle childbirth stories (character flaw), so I had to just look at the pictures. Oh my god, he's ENORMOUS!!! Did you feel the need to carry him for an extra year before pushing him out?! June 8??? I thought we were shooting for May 16?! Once he did finally hatch (I'm sure he slid out quickly and easily like he was on a water slide - since I can't read the full story), though, you guys sure look like a big, happy family!
Love the name Noah, by the way.
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