connor thomas is
one whole week old today!
my mom was here with us for the week and left today...ian and connor and i had a nice day of napping and eating and catching up on some tv on the dvr. it is cold and rainy and gross here, but the weather just made me feel a little better about wanting to sit around the house all day.
we took him to the doctor on wednesday and found out that he had lost 12% of his birth weight, so we had to bring him back to the doctor for another weigh-in on friday...and found out that he gained 10 ounces in 2 days! i'm breastfeeding and my milk came in on late wednesday, so i think that was just what the doctor ordered. he's been filling diaper after diaper (sometimes right after we've changed him!) and that actually makes us very very happy.
birth story:
so people have been asking about the birth and if i don't put at least some of it down on paper now (while ian is holding a fussy baby and watching the MLB playoffs), then it might just never happen.
we went in on october 9 for a routine doctor's appointment. i hadn't slept in three days due to this itchy rash that was covering my lower torso and was spreading to my hands. i thought i'd mention it (again) to the doctor and he'd just give me some cream or something since i wasn't due until the 12th. but no, he checked me (and I hadn't progressed since the week before) and just said, "go to labor and delivery, you're going to have this baby today or tomorrow. i want them to induce you. this rash is going to get worse before it gets better and I think you're going to have a big baby anyway and will probably need a c-section." i had really been hoping for a natural childbirth and was hoping to avoid the epidural as long as possible and so I was a little distraught about my entire birth plan being thrown out the window with really no explanation.
after a few phone calls home, we headed across the medical campus to labor and delivery and i answered a million questions, got into the hospital gown and had the IV started. they gave me a medicine to get me to 100% effacement and then they started the pitocin drip (along with the first of 5 rounds of the antibiotics for the group-b strep that I had). the contractions were getting strong and i decided to have some nubane (sp?) so that i could rest for a bit, since I hadn't really had any rest in days and I knew that I had a big night ahead of me. ian and I watched jeopardy and i was answering questions right in between the contractions, which ian found hilarious.
at that point i was still without the epidural. about two hours into the pitocin drip, the contractions were coming about 1 minute apart and they were right on top of each other. at that point, i was so tired, i begged for the epidural. i hadn't slept in four days at that point and i was concerned that i wasn't going to have enough strength for the birth. the epidural was an interesting experience and i was honestly terrified that i was going to move and he was going to paralyze me. the anesthesiologist was hilarious though (very dry humor) and it went very quickly. we had the most amazing nurse in our room named ruth, who actually wasn't supposed to be in our room, but the nurse that she took over from had to go into an emergency c-section, so we really lucked out. i honestly credit her as the reason that i was able to have a vaginal delivery and not a c-section like the doctor (who was not my doctor, but someone else from the service) was pushing for. in fact, up to an hour before he was actually born, it looked like i was going to have to have a c-section.
so, once the pitocin worked it's magic and i was at 10 cm, it was time to push. ian was not planning on watching the actual birth, but honestly, once it got started, there was nowhere else for him to look. he was the most amazing coach and i honestly don't know how i would have gotten through it without him.
i pushed hard and in many different positions for two hours and then the doctor had to go to another emergency c-section. they decided that i should stay on the pitocin and also should up the epidural so that i could sleep for a couple of hours while the doctors went to do the section. once they came back (actually about an hour before) i started pushing again. connor's head was under my pelvis and it didn't look like he would turn the corner. but ruth got me up and pushing and the next thing I knew they were calling for the doctor and for the pediatrician (when my water broke while i was resting after the epidural was placed...the only natural part of the childbirth and definitely the weirdest...there was meconium in the fluid, so they were going to need to take connor away right away to suction his mouth and clean the poo off of him). i pushed about five times, ian was watching everything and coaching me on, and the next thing I knew, there was a bunch of pressure and a pop and at 6:43 a.m. there was baby connor's butt sticking up in the air. i couldn't stop crying and they took him over to the warmer. the second i heard his cry was probably the most amazing moment in my life. ian went over to the warmer and ended up holding him soon after he was wiped off, suctioned, diapered and swaddled. i had quite a bit of tearing so they were fixing me up for about a half an hour. i had a lot of blood loss, so they were talking about a transfusion...the doctor managed to stop the bleeding with a few extra stitches though, so i avoided having to have blood.
the next few hours were kind of a blur. i remember ordering breakfast because i hadn't eaten in 24 hours and getting transferred to our private room. ian's parents came in the early afternoon and then my parents and my brother came in around 3 and 4. it was a great experience to be able to share him with everyone. the next couple of days were spent having all of the standard tests run, having his circumcision, entertaining visitors and just trying to rest. since my milk hadn't come in right away, we ended up sending him to the nursery to have formula, because we were so tired and he was so hungry. the lactation consultant assured us that we had made a good decision for ourselves as parents and not to beat ourselves up over it.
we got connor home on monday afternoon, and had a house full of visitors. we had lots of food and i finally laid down for a short nap (i have NEVER been so tired in my entire life). i was pretty stressed about the whole milk issue and so had a bit of a rough evening. we ended up giving him a little more formula and took him to the doctor on wednesday...and the rest is history.
we're enjoying every moment with our little boy and can't believe that we made him! he's so cute, very precocious and is just generally a chill baby (except for his fussy times in the afternoon).
here are some more pictures:
getting to hold the baby for the first time:
"oh daddy, i can't believe they blew it, either!":
beautiful flowers from all of connor's grandparents:
being guarded by miles and oliver:
sleeping baby:
