Merry Christmas!

Despite the fact this post is LONG overdue and will not have pictures-I felt it necessary to attempt to type with one hand and let everyone know about Gabriel's arrival! It all began when I went into my regular OB appointment on Thursday, December 10th and was holding steady at 3cm. My midwife instructed me to head over to triage to be measured and then to walk for an hour to determine if any progress had been made. I must say, contractions with no progress really is pain with no gain. After walking around the hospital's campus and visiting friends over at the rehab facility where Mike volunteered and I interned, we headed back. I still was only at 3cm and was sent home to labor further. At around 6pm that evening, my contractions began coming more regularly and were approximately 3-5 minutes apart for an hour. Since this is when they instructed me to return, Mike and my folks packed up and headed back to the hospital to find I was still at 3cm.

I was given two options: have a shot with long lasting pain medication to endure labor at home or be admitted with short term pain medication and then labor at the hospital (with the labor tub, birthing ball, etc.) Well, I opted for the hospital stay since I felt more comfortable there. Shortly after being admitted around 9pm, I was given the pain medication in my IV that would allow me to relax for 4-6 hours and then, hopefully, to manage more effective labor. Turns out my intolerance for pain medication put me to sleep for close t0 10 hours. So much for laboring. Upon waking up, the midwife told us I could either head home and probably ping-pong back and forth between home and triage (since my contractions were likely to continue but not make any progress) or I could be induced. After a bit of soul searching, we opted for the induction-I would have been scheduled for the induction on Monday morning had I not delivered that weekend anyhow. At around 9am I received my pitocin and by 11am was in a ton of pain. No longer allowed to labor in the tub or leave the bed (because you must be monitored), I opted for my epidural at 11am. (The anesthesiologist was headed into surgery at 12pm-so I either could get it at 11:30 or at 2:00...I'm not crazy) After a comfortable progress, Mike headed back to campus to pack up (he had set up for work that morning) and he arrived just after 3:30pm. By that time I had break through pain in my right side and received a bolus in my IV to help manage the worsening pressure. Shortly afterward I'd made it to 10cm and was given the ok to push. Merely 10 minutes later, Gabriel had arrived.

He was born Friday, December 11th at 4:18pm weighing in at 7lbs. 4oz. and approximately 19.5 inches in length. We arrived home after a two day stay at the hospital and some tough times (no one tells you about the 'second night' until the second night-hmmmm...and breastfeeding is, by far, the most challenging job I've ever had) I promise to buy each of my friends who finds out they are pregnant a care package with Maalox, a hemorrhoid pillow (for hemorrhoids or not!), and Lanolin (thank you, Christa!)

Considering is now almost four weeks old and pushing 10lbs.-it's safe to say he is doing wonderfully! I will say I dread returning to work *(as I think most new moms do)*, but will be taking on the challenge in a few short weeks. Meanwhile its naps and cuddling a plenty! Don't be surprised if Mike and I never do laundry again and our Christmas tree is still up at Easter!