I was expecting a baby boy due August 30. Well, he decided he just couldn't wait around in there and greeted the world 3 weeks and 1 day early, on August 8! Dominic John, 6 pounds, 3 ounces, 19.5 inches.
So since he's snoozing in his little bouncy thing at the table with me, and I'm sitting at the computer for the first time in 3 weeks, I feel compelled to share his story with all of you!.
Dennis and I were up early on August 7. He had a dentist appointment, and I wanted to get some work done before picking up Grammy and heading to UNH to run a few errands. Something felt a little "off" that morning and I told Dennis that I'll be calling the OB just to double check. He left, and about 40 minutes later when I stood up to get a cup of coffee my water broke! I called Dennis (who was just about to go into a dentist appointment - good thing I caught him!) and as he drove home I busied myself gathering the essentials. I packed our hospital bag (because that was on my "to-do" list for the week... plenty of time!), grabbed our car seat and instruction manual (once again... plenty of time... it was on my to-do list for the week!), and paced anxiously.
The doctor confirmed that yes, my water had indeed broken, and I should head next door to the hospital. Now. I wasn't having any contractions. Only 2 cm dilated. Most people would have gone home and wait for things to get rolling. However, I had tested positive for some kind of topical strep infection, so I needed to get started on an antibiotic IV. So we spent the day at the hospital. In the deliver room. Without contractions. Just waiting for things to get going.
We waited all day.
Finally around 5pm or so we decided it was time to start the ol' petocin. By 11pm we had regular, strong contractions. Yay! Mumma got her epidural. Yay! (I know there are many who are all about the natural childbirth. But I have to tell you. The epidural was pure magic. I could feel everything that was going on but didn't have pain. We were joking with the doctor and nurses between pushes at the end. So happy I did it!) Fun fact - the anesthesiologist who administered the epidural looked and sounded like Bill Murray. And he explained everything he was doing to this needle-phobic gal. And he was funny. We loved him! Oh yeah, he also took the pain away.
Epidural working its magic, the nurses put Dennis and I to bed. Told us to get some sleep - this baby wasn't going to arrive until morning. So Dennis napped on a cot. And I napped in the bed - and was only slightly annoyed by the blood pressure cuff taking my reading every 20 minutes. My mom and sister-in-law were camped out for the night in the waiting room. Fun fact - if you visit a hospital cafeteria at 3:00am you'll find an odd assortment of fare. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. Chicken fingers. French Fries. It all depends on what end of your day you're visiting... are you there really early, or up really late? (This is my sister-in-law's picture... I wasn't in labor taking pics in the cafeteria!)
4:00am arrives and the doc proclaims me to be 6cm dilated! Woo-hoo! She goes to the OR to deliver twins. 10 minutes later my monitors start doing some funny stuff and the nurses come in and announce that I've moved to 10cm. In 10 minutes. We give the doctor a few minutes to finish up with the twins - they prep the room, I assure them I can certainly hold off pushing, Dennis downs two Red Bulls and gets his game face on.
2 hours of pushing that seem to go by in a flash. Like I said, because of my magic drug we're laughing and making jokes between pushes. Dennis is absolutely amazing - a rock-solid presence for me. Encouraging and making me smile. Who could ask for more?
And the next thing you know, we get this little guy...
He's even cuter after his first bath - he was covered in that cheesy-looking stuff because he was so early. Here's some more cuteness.
He's a huge adjustment, of course. Who knew poo could shoot so far across a room? Who knew that breastfeeding does not really come naturally - it's really hard to figure out?
Here are things we know about Dominic so far. He hates having his arms confined - swaddle from the armpits down, please! He likes to take walks and ride in the car - and by "likes" I mean "sleeps". If you put him in his tub and cover him with a wet, warm cloth diaper he just chillaxes. He burps like an old man after a few cans of Bud.
90% of the time I feel great. The other 10% I'm completely overwhelmed. But I've been told that's how it's supposed to go. Dennis is fantastic with him. I'm lucky in two arenas.
So, this has been occupying my days. And nights. For the past three weeks. Although I am finding time to read! I'm thankful for the Kindle during those late-night feedings. I'm getting in some Les Miserables time, although I think it goes without saying that my post for July is long overdue and the next one will probably be late too. I'll get them posted as I get to those parts of the book.
Hope everyone is well. I'm not going through my google reader as in-depth as usual, but I am keeping up with your posts. Moms and Dads out there - reassure me that life will never be the same, but will return to some kind of normal. I won't be a food source every 3 hours forever, right? :)
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