He's Here!

Our little Hudson is finally here! He is perfect, tiny, and finally here! Here's the story:

Nick and I got to the hospital at 8:45 and checked in to Radiology. We didn't have to wait any more than 5 minutes and they called us back. The ultrasound tech came and got us and took us back to one of the ultrasound rooms. He had me lay down and fired up the machine. His job was to find a pocket of amniotic fluid that the radiologist could go in to and draw out some fluid. The tech was looking around for a long time because there wasn't really a pocket anywhere! He said that my tummy was just all baby. That made me laugh but made me a little nervous too. My tummy being 'all baby' meant that all that volume was baby weight, and something I had to push out! Yikes! Finally the tech found a little pocket in the upper left quadrant of my abdomen but there was 2 problems. 1: The pocket was super small and he was kicking and moving like crazy which made the space anything but constant. 2: It was right next to his little boy parts. The radiologist came in and assessed the space on the ultrasound and felt comfortable enough to do it. This is about where I got super nervous. I was so afraid of how bad it would hurt. He prepped my stomach, gave me some lidocane, and in went the needle. It was uncomfortable but nowhere near as bad as I expected. I was watching the screen the whole time and it was so weird to see a needle come into the picture right next to his little body, draw some fluid, then removed. The radiologist looked at the fluid as he was putting it into the tube and he said it looked great! He said it was clear fluid with a little bit of cloudiness which is a sign of lung maturity. I immediately got my hopes up even more.

From Radiology we were sent up to Labor and Delivery for an NST while the lab processed the fluid. They said it would only take about a half hour until the results but 45 minutes later we were still in the triage room. Just as my worry was getting close to unbearable my nurse walked in at 10:15 and told me we were going to have a baby today! Ahh! I could have jumped for joy if I knew it wouldn't hurt so much! She wrapped a blanket around me in my hospital gown and walked Nick and I to LD room 3. They immediately got me in bed, started my IV, got the pitocin running, and called Dr. Ollerton and he said he'd be in in a little while to break my water. We took a few pictures and waited for my mom, dad, sister, and Beth to get there to hang out with me while I labored.

My Mom, Dad, and Savannah got to the hospital around 11:30. Dad brought Nick some Chubby's for lunch. While in labor I was only allowed to eat clear fluids. It was a bummer, but better than throwing up food and such on top of labor. Beth arrived shortly after. This is where our picture taking ended and hers starts. I'll post them once I get them. She was so awesome to take the time and effort to take pictures for us during labor, during the delivery, and after. I owe her big time. 

At 12:15 the doctor finally got there to break my water and really get things moving along. I was super surprised when he said I was still 3cm and 80% effaced. That's what I'd been the Wednesday before and I was sure that I'd dilated at least a little during that week. I told my nurse a little before the doctor got there that I wanted my epidural but the anesthesiologist was in the OR room with a C-Section then had 2 other women waiting for epidurals as well. I asked before them but when I asked the nurse if they were really hurting she said the other women were acting like they were really hurting. I told her to go ahead and have him do the other epidurals first and that I could wait. At the time I was pretty uncomfortable but I felt like I was doing a good job breathing through them and Nick was being super great at helping me get through them. The anesthesiologist got to my room just a little before 1 and I was ready for him. I got up to the bathroom one more time then they had me sit and dangle my feet at the edge of the bed and Nick sat on a chair in front of me. The nurse put a pillow against my stomach that I curled around and held Nick's hands. I was so so nervous for the epidural. Even more than I was for the amnio, and for a just cause! That bad boy HURT! Since my lower lumbar nerves are so agitated and that's right where an epidural goes in it took the anesthesiologist a little while to decide exactly where to put the epidural and a whole lot of lidocaine to make the insertion bearable. He finally got it in, dosed it, and it worked like a charm. At least all that discomfort was worth it! 

After I got the epidural I was SO relaxed. Like crazy relaxed. I could barely have conversations with all my peeps! at 1:30 Mom, Dad, Savannah, and Beth went to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. When hey left I put my headphones in, turned on Pandora, and dozed for a little while. I didn't get hardly any sleep on Sunday night (imagine that!) so my body welcomed the chance to get some rest. Besides, I knew I had a long day and a lot of work ahead of me. 

I was checked again at 3:15 and I was only a 4+. The pitocin dosage was a tricky thing for my body. When they turned it up even a little bit my body would start to crank out contractions. So many that it wasn't healthy for little Hudson. Once they'd turn it back down it wouldn't contract enough! 

Around 6 my nurse came in and decided to put in an internal uterine contraction monitor or IUC. During labor the external monitor that measures contractions is good at telling you when a contraction starts and how long it lasts but isn't accurate at all when it comes to the strength since it will vary depending on how tight it's been put on. My nurse and doctor wanted to know exactly how my uterus was contraction and how strong so they could be more exact with my pitocin dose and get things rolling. She put that in and it showed that my contractions were really doing pretty good, my cervix was just not responding as quickly as they expected. At 7:40 I was dilated to a 6 and at 8:45 I got to a 7. I was told that after a cervix dilates to about 5cm it's usually smooth sailing from there and pretty quick to move after that but I was still just slowly progressing. 

It was around that 8:45 mark that my epidural started to be less effective and I could feel my body really doing something. I called my nurse in and she had me dose myself again with the machine (it would let me give myself a little extra medication every 20 minutes). I told her that I'd been doing so for a while but I was still really in a lot of pain. The anesthesiologist was again with another patient in a c-section but this time I wasn't as happy about waiting. I had Nick help me roll to my right side, I gripped the side rail with both hands, and moaned through the contractions. Not a pretty sight. And not a pretty feeling either. I started to shake and my body was telling me this baby was coming very soon.  

Nick and my Dad were both glued to my bedside and the monitor. It meant the world to have them there supporting me. Their concern melted my heart.

I had Nick call my nurse in to check me again at 9:25 and I was complete. I knew it. It was at that point she went to get the anesthesiologist to tell him to hurry it up. I was so nervous that I was going to have to deliver while significantly undermedicated. The anesthesiologist came in at 9:35 and gave me a big dose that would kick in quick. He walked out and Dr. Ollerton walked in and told me it was pushing time! Nick stood by my bed and took my had. This is about when I lost it. I told Nick to kiss me and I just started to cry. More like sob. Nick bent over the siderail of the bed and held me in his arms and cried with me. We were finally going to be parents. We were finally going to meet this precious person we loved so much already and had waited so long to meet.

By the time my nurse got everything ready and Dr. Ollerton set the bed up and put on his sterile gown and gloves the sharp pain of my contractions was mostly gone but that uncomfort and need to push was definitely there. So I pulled my legs back with Nick helping hold my left leg and my nurse Diane holding my right. I took a deep breath and pushed as hard as I could for 10 seconds. At the end of the contraction I couldn't believe what I heard next. Dr. Ollerton said "Look at all that hair! Here's the head!" What?! Already?! I let out my breath and took in another one and pushed even harder. His shoulders came through and there he was, at 9:46pm, our son. The doctor clamped the cord, Nick cut it, and they laid Hudson on my chest and started to clean him off with towels. He didn't even cry! He gave a little screech when he was first born but once he was on my chest he calmed right down. After they dried him off they took him over to the warmer to give him his Vitamin K shot, erythromycin eyedrops, weigh and measure him, and put on his diaper. After all that fun stuff they finally handed him back to me to do skin to skin. I held him there and Nick and I just stared. He was absolutely perfect. All 6lbs 3oz and 19 inches of him. From his brown hair, chubby cheeks, and swollen eyes to his long, skinny little legs. I can't put into words how I felt at that moment but it was complete bliss. My life had just been turned completely upside down in the best way imaginable. It was never going to be the same, and I couldn't have been happier. 

After holding him for a little and an attempt at breastfeeding (I kept falling asleep I was so exhausted!) we invited my Mom, Dad, and Savannah in to come meet our little man. They were absolutely in love. They each held and talked to him for a little while. I was so proud to introduce him and show them exactly how perfect he was. After they met him the my nurse came in, cleaned me up, and helped me get in a wheelchair. We headed downstairs to our room.

My friends down on Mother Baby hooked us up! They saved the biggest room on the unit for me and even decorated it! I have the best friends ever. 

Once I got in bed they headed to the nursery with Nick and Hudson while I rested. I had thrown up quite a few times after delivery and was still feeling pretty crappy. I ate a few graham crackers in hopes that it would calm the nausea a little bit, which it did. Nick's family all got to the hospital and watched the bath through the window. After Hudson was all cleaned he had a hard time keeping his body temperature up. They kept him under the warmer for a little while longer and then he was finally warm enough to come to the room. 

Nick's family passed him all around and everyone snuggled him. It was pretty late by this point and they all headed home. 

It was finally just Nick, Hudson, and I. A family of three. It was so surreal. I tried breastfeeding and he did fantastic! Something that we've found Hudson is really good at thankfully. We didn't get much sleep that night but somehow I didn't care one bit. I was happy to stay awake for days with our handsome little ball of love.

I took this picture to show how tiny Hudson really is compared to my hands

And if I didn't make him look small enough already, his Dad sure did a good  job at it!

I packed 3 different newborn outfits for Hudson to wear but they all totally drowned him. They might have been big but that didn't make them any less adorable!

That's a summary of the most amazing May 6th I've ever had!