Four of a Kind

 

At the end of April, we went from a party of five to not fitting in one of our vehicles. And, like the rest of this pregnancy, almost every part of it was a first for me.

Due to my "advanced maternal age" and history of miscarriages, we got to pick his birthday. Well, kinda. Our doctor was available on two days during week 39 and I picked the earlier date. (the later date was May 4, and while that would have been incredibly cool, I was not interested in waiting any longer.)

So, on the last Saturday in April, we arrived at the hospital at 7:30-ish am to be induced. We met our nurse and got the low-down on what would happen. After changing into one of those lovely hospital gowns, I started getting hooked up to various fluids. I don't usually have a problem with needles, but this time, I almost passed out when she was inserting the IV. That was a bizarre experience. But some apple juice and crackers helped that.

We started antibiotics (I was positive for group b strep) and pitocin, maybe some regular saline, I'm not sure. I avoided the Foley bulb by having progressed to 3cm when they first checked. Then we waited for contractions. And for me to be ready for the epidural. That point came at noon. Then around 1:30, the resident came in to break my water. This was not a new experience for me; but while doc was in there, baby had reached over his head and was trying to shake doctors hand. So, adorable, but not good at this point. 

After an hour, doc was able to break my water. And then everything paused. By 5pm, I was only at 6cm. So, we tried a new position that was apparently similar to planks. I wouldn't know, I don't exercise. And it worked! Within 45 minutes, my arms were exhausted and I was at 10 cm.

So, they called for my doctor and got everything ready. After some coaching, I got the whole pushing thing figured out. Amazing how one can forget something that should be intuitive. Anyway, 3 pushes per contraction and 3 contractions later, I had an 8 pound little boy laying on my chest, peeing on me. 

Welcome to the world, baby!

Now. . .to find a blog name for him.  Did you know that while Bruce Wayne apparently adopted more kids than Dick Grayson, they were all Robin? There is a Red Robin. And a Red Hood.  But they all started out as Robin. So. . . that's confusing.