Oh yeah, I had my baby, like 6 crazy weeks ago. Good thing too, huh? Going 7 weeks over my due date would be a big issue.
Here's the scoop for those who haven't listened to me share my baby story. Sadly, I didn't go into labor on my own. On the morning of Friday, February 5, I was having some Braxton-Hicks-like contractions. After dropping of the rest of my crew with a friend, we headed to the hospital. I was supposed to be there at 7, by the time we drove there, got checked in, got dressed, etc; it was probably 8am when they started my Pitocin. As a general rule, I don't like the hospital. I get super stir crazy and bored. A girl can only take so much cable TV. Don't get me wrong, my hospital was great and had a much larger room than I have ever had. Nonetheless, it's not my fav place. So, after they started my Pit, I went for a walk around the labor and delivery unit that I had never toured before. In my previous labors, I have done lots and lots of walking to help baby come (12 hours of labor before). This time, a few rounds of walking had me wanting to go sit in bed. Jake, being my awesome labor coach, wanted to see me up and moving...not sitting...let's get baby here! So instead of sitting in bed, I headed back to my room for a warm shower.
Again, soon the contractions became more than I wanted to do on my own, so I got out and tried to head to bed. Jake continued in his good coaching, and encouraged me to take my contractions standing up. They were coming every two mintues, so I had little time to recover between them. By about 10am, I was miserable...crying, moaning, whining...I didn't want to get my epidural and be confined to bed. Again, usually labor lasts about 12 hours, I didn't want to be stuck in bed for 10. I was only dilated to a 2 when I came in. Nonetheless, I called for the anesthesia. They came quite quickly, though it seemed like forver. The doc was awesome and getting my epidural didn't hurt AT ALL for once. I remember counting the last 4 contractions that I could feel...after that, we checked and I was dilated to an 8. My doc came in and broke my water. Not too long after that, I told my nurse that I felt like pushing. She checked again and said I was at a 9, and called the doctor. As soon as he got there, I started pushing. A few contractions later, at 10:44am, Mr. Jackson James Morton arrived. He was 20 1/2 inches and 7 lbs. 8 oz. He was, and continues to be, a very sweet tempered baby. At birth, of course, he cried. But as soon as the nurse handed him to me and I laid him on my chest and started talking to him; he stopped. He's pretty much been that way ever since...little does he know that at some point, if he wants to get any attention around here, he's going to have to get A LOT louder.
