Jen--Look at all that hair! What a cutie! You look great, too--I looked like crap for the first few days, but you look so put together!

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Krissy

Jen, Jackson is so cute! He will have so much fun growing up with his cousin so close in age. They almost look like twins! You look great! I am glad breastfeeding is going well. Try to take a nap when Jackson does so you don't get too tired. Looking forward to your birth story and more pictures!!!

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Jen- He's so beautiful
Congrats Again!!

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Jen - He is absolutely gorgeous! He has such a head full of hair. I know you and your DH are so proud of him!

Jen - what an adorable little baby!

CONGRATS TO YOU AND DH!!!

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Jen- He is just gorgeous!!

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Congrats Jen! He is just beautiful.

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Jen, He is adorable, look at all that hair! You look great only 2 hours after labor, too!!!! It wil be so nice having a cousin that close in age - do you live close too, so they can grow up together???

Congrats!

Jess

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Jen-Congratulations! Jackson is too cute!!!

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ok, the little one is sleeping so I am going to try to write up the labor story.

The day before my water broke, we saw my OB & decided to induce on 11/13 b/c he would be on call that day.

We went to an election event Tues night & went to bed late b/c we were watchinng the speeches & news. I think we turned the tv off at 11:30. My water broke about 1:45AM. I wasn't sure if it really happened b/c I had to pee at the same time. My underwear was wet in the front, but not a ton & the bed wasn;t wet. I think more came out when I peed, but I couldn't tell. So I got up and started walking around a little & checking the books I had. I googled it to determine how I coudl tell if it was fluid, or if my bladder was just full (b/c I had a ton of water that night). The only thing I could determine was that it did not smell like pee & one of the sites I found said it might smell like bleach, which is kinda did. But no contractions. So I woke DH & told him i thought it might have happened. He reminded me that I have had a couple "accidents" and that it probably was just another one (he was very asleep & totally calm). I told him I was going to call the nurseline. I got a callback from a male nurse. I told him what happened. He said that since there wasn;t a gush, and I wasn;'t leaking, that it didn;t sound like my water had broken, but he would call the Dr. (my OB was on call that night). And that I should drink a big glass of water & lay down. The nurse called me back & told me that I could come in if I wanted to, but they didn't think I needed to. I proceeded to push back and explain that it definitely didn;t smell like pee....he finally said, "well if you really want to, you can go to the hospital." I was not very happy with the way he was handling the situation - I mean, what if I hadn't gone in??

Anyway, I woke DH & we got things together & packed the car. I grabbed a pop tart & water and we headed to the hospital about 3. I felt silly, and was sure it was a false alarm.
We get checked in & the nurse did the PH test, which was inconclusive. Then she did the sample test with a speculum & immediately said she saw lots of fluid. She confirmed fluid sample & came back & told us it was the real deal. I think we were both a little shocked.

It was 4 AM, so it was too early to call anyone. We decided DH would run home to feed the dogs, and get the stuff we forgot. I tried to rest, but I was too excited. My nurse let me take a shower (b/c the mean phone nurse told me not to shower before the hospital).

I was still at 1cm, but 90% dialated. Although my Dr was on call, we decided to wait a little bit to start pitocin. & the nurses changed shift & the awesome nurse from our hospital tour came in, Ed. (My night nurse was really cool & I think she hooked me up). They got me all set up and we waited. No contractions (well, no real ones) so we started pitocin about 8AM. Ed upped the pitocin every 15 minutes & I was having contractions pretty quickly. I was laying in bed, but after a while, I got up & tried standing/rocking side to side, which helped for a bit. My nurse had me lean over the bed & he pushed on my hips, which felt much better. He taught DH to do it. By 10:30, I was in pain and I was only at 4cm. I took one dose of phentenol, which made me feel relaxed & loopy, but really didn;t help with the contractions. & it wore off within 30 minutes. Ed suggested i get my epi b/c the Dr was a couple doors down. I was all for it. The Dr was great, and the laticain shot hurt, but the actually epi didn’t. Ed got righ tin front of me, forehead to forehead, and held my arms & hands. I think it really took my mind of what was going on. I had relief in less than 10 min – I actually got worried b/c I thought my contractions stopped & had to ask Ed what was going on.

After the epi, Ed told me that the Dr was concerned about Jackson’s heart rate. It was dropping with every contraction. He told me the Dr who would deliver him was very conservative, and would probably suggest a c-sec. Especially b/c he was an IVF baby (more conservative). He even went as far as to shave my stomach. So all day, we were concerned about the baby & the complications of a c-sec. I just tried to prepare myself mentally.

I rested from 12-2:30, waiting to finish dialating. By 2:30 I was fully dialated, and the Dr suggested starting to push. He said we would see how Jackson handled the pushing for a bit. We started pushing on every contraction just before 3. Ed was a super great coach & really helped, as did DH. DH started getting excited, and that got me excited. Within a few pushes, they told me they could see his hair (it is pretty long). By 3:45, Ed told DH to push the call button & 5 people rushed in with the Dr and got everything ready. The Dr told me he wanted to do an episotomy, b/c I wasn’t stretching enough. I asked for another shot b/c I was scared I would feel it – the pressure was kinda confusing with the pain I was feeling. During one of my last pushes, DH got super excited & said something like “omg, we’re having a baby!” & this got me so excited I pushed really hard & his head popped out. Then I felt a big release & the rest of him came out. I lost it & started crying. He was born at 4:07PM.

They put him on my chest for a second & then rushed him over to the heater/scale area. I didn’t hear him crying, so I was worried, but DH said he was crying. DH followed him over and stayed with him while they checked his oxygen levels. It turns out that the reason his heart rate was dropping was b/c the cord was around his neck. B/c of this, they didn’t let DH cut the cord, but they let him do another “ceremonial” cut while Jackson was being weighed. Meanwhile, the Dr is sewing me up, and I asked for another shot b/c I could kinda feel it. Turns out he did a stage 2 cut, and the I tore, so it was a stage 3. Not so fun, but it could have been worse.

His oxygen levels were fine, and they brought him back to me shortly so I could feed him. I was in love immediately. Jackson was awake, and alert, just looking around.

So, all went well, just a little earlier than planned. And I am bummed my OB didn’t deliver him, but the other OB was good. I am just happy he is healthy.

One that note, time to feed Jackson!

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Jen - What a wonderful story!

Sounds like DH had the most amazing experience of his life!

Giving birth is such an amazing thing!

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Great story Jen

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