Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Birth of Louis

Louis' birth story goes back to the very beginning of my pregnancy with him. I was determined to have a much more peaceful and pain free delivery than I did my first time. I hoped and prayed for all of those months, talked to my Dr., and the end result couldn't have been any more perfect.

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We had to be at GBMC at 6:15am on Wednesday September 21st to check in. There was someone ahead of us when we got there, so by the time we got into our delivery room it was around 6:45am. I immediately changed into a gown, and was then hooked up to the monitors. Then they gave me my IV and started the fluids. Before starting the induction the machines were already picking up some contractions. My Dr. (Dr. O) came in a few minutes after 7:00am and broke my water. At 7:20 they started the Pitocin. The Nurse checked me internally just after that, I was 3cm dilated and about 70% effaced - just as I had been at my last Prenatal appointment one week earlier.

It took a couple of hours or so from there for my contractions to become painful. Around 9:00am Megan and Jessie arrived to be there with us for the delivery. At 9:50am the Nurse checked me again, I was 4 1/2-5 cm. From there my contractions were pretty painful and I started thinking about an epidural. I had to pause during a contraction, but in between them I was fine to be apart of the conversation in the room. My contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart.

At 11:45 I got the epidural. It took at least 15 minutes to really kick in. It eased the contraction pain in my belly, but it seemed like as the epidural started to kick in, pressure "down there" was building. At this point I also got the shakes which is a sign you are close. I told the nurse I was feeling increased pressure, so she checked me again sometime between Noon and 12:15. I was 7cm.

The pressure was becoming un-bearable very fast, and not just pressure with a contraction - the pressure was consistently there. I complained to the Nurse about the pressure and said it felt like I was going to the bathroom. The Nurse looked, and assured me that I was not, but that I was probably very close to delivery. From that point the mood in the room changed and there was a lot of commotion. They started prepping the room for the baby, and the Nurse checked me internally again. I was a complete 10cm, and had gone from 7cm to fully dilated in less 30 minutes.

Dr. O came in right after that. He was obviously in a hurry. He took one look at me and said "You're uncomfortble! I promised you that you wouldn't be!" He had the anesthesiologist give me what he called a "Delivery Dose" which was an extra shot of the epidural medicine directly into the catheter in my back. That kicked in immediately and I could no longer feel the intense pressure. He said he ran over from the Operating Room, leaving his other patient on the table just as he was about to start a C-Section. He said he wouldn't be able to deliver me, and Dr. E (one of the other Dr's in his practice) would be right over! Things were moving so fast!

Dr. E came in just before 1:00pm and quickly got "dressed" for the delivery. The Nurse turned off the Pitocin.

A couple of minutes past 1:00pm I began pushing. Louis' head moved down and was immediately visible. I reached down and felt it. Since the Pitocin was turned off, my contractions became a bit farther apart and I had several minutes to wait between pushes. I couldn't feel anything during pushing, or Louis coming out. It was so surreal to have a baby slowly making his way out, all the while I could converse in the room between contractions/pushes!

I pushed through only 4 or 5 contractions, and at 1:23pm Louis James was born peeing all over Dr. E! He was placed on my chest before being taken to the warmer.

The Nurse took Louis over to the warmer a few minutes later to check him out, and weigh him. He was given a 9 & and 9 for his Apgar scores. His weight came in at 8 lbs 6 oz. Dr. E and the Nurse both insisted something was wrong with the scale, they said there was no way he was that small. It wasn't until Louis was re-weighed in the Nursery that we realized the scale had been off. His birth weight was actually 9 lbs 6 oz!

We were in our Delivery Room for about 2 hours after Louis was born. Megan and Jessie stayed with us, and James' Mom Mary, Aunt Debbie, Brother Matt, and my Parents along with Big Brother Emerick came to meet Baby Louis while we were still in our delivery room. Announcing his name was fun. We had only chose his name 5 days before his birth, and his middle name the day before his birth!

Emerick was adorable meeting his new Baby Brother. He had the cutest grin on his face and said to me "Mama! Who you holdin'?!" It was precious.

Louis' delivery was amazing (and soo fast!), it was exactly what I had hoped for. I even got to experience my baby being immediately placed on my chest, something I hoped and prayed for.

Here is Louis' Birth Day through images. Turn up your volume!

3 days old

Friday, September 23, 2011

Introducing....

Louis James (that's pronounced loo-eee)
September 21, 2011 @ 1:23pm
9lbs 6 oz
20 1/2 inches

Born after a very peaceful labor (induction) that lasted less than 6 hours :-)

Details and more photos later!




Thursday, September 8, 2011

Mount Gretna - Year 2

We spent this past Labor Day Weekend at the Gretna Cottage, our second annual Labor Day Weekend trip with my Parents "Grammy and PaPa". The weather wasn't the best, but we did get 1 day without rain to spend on the "beach". Saturday we explored the Indian Echo Caverns which Emerick loved. He is really into "caves" and pretends we are in a cave every time we enter a parking garage :-) We also went on the Chocolate Factory Tour Ride at Hershey's Chocolate World.

I would say the "beach" day was the highlight of Emerick's weekend, he loooves the water. This first picture says it all. Then, there is the photo of my HUGE belly at 37 weeks. I had to take a picture on my cell phone, as I was getting ready to take a bath in the clawfoot tub and caught a glimse of myself in the mirror. Dang!
































Monday, September 5, 2011

Sleeping on Grammy


Emerick has a habit of falling asleep on my Mom. He has never been the kind of kid (or baby) that falls asleep just anywhere. He usually needs his comfort items, and his bed or car seat. There is something about Grammy that he finds comfy, and he usually falls asleep on her at a restaraunt for dinner after a long day of play and no nap.


















Thursday, September 1, 2011

Butt Naked


Emerick has a new habit of stripping when he is supposed to be taking a nap. This is how I found him the other day. Sound asleep, butt naked :-) It also blows my mind how bendy he is and the positions he can sleep in!










Baby Feet

I took this video tonight, as I was laying on my side on the couch the baby was really wiggling around a lot, and he also had hiccups. The video is kind of dark, but you can see his foot roll across the side of my belly twice, and also some other wiggles.