Its Baby Time!

I really cannot wrap my brain around the complete change in our lives since mid-February. We spent 9 months knowing we'd eventually have a child in our home. But once he actually showed up its like..."Really? This is mine? I get to take him home? I'M in charge?!" Ridiculous. And awesome.

So let's back up and tell the story that everyone wants to know.

I visited with my doc on Valentine's Day and we discussed in detail False/Early labor--mainly because I was having contractions IN his office. He assured me they'd stop within the hour (they did) and made sure I understood this was all totally normal and if they got worse I could always go in to the hospital for some pain medication.  He didn't think I'd last another week without going into real labor, but I was all prepared to make it to our due date on February 19th.

The next morning I woke up around 4am with major indigestion. It was kind of coming in waves of pain like...every four to five minutes? But I was sure this was more False Labor and it would end within the hour (it didn't). My sister told me later that indigestion is an absolute sign of impending labor but I had zero idea at the time. All I know is that an hour later I decided to start timing things and see how it went. And 45 minutes later I decided to wake up Mr. C. And 30 minutes and one really painful shower later (I was hoping the hot water would help. Nope!), Mr. C announced we WERE going to the hospital.  Bless that man. We should have left earlier because by the time we walked into labor & delivery I was stopping at least every minute for another contraction. Yikes!

The first twenty minutes at the hospital were crazy--I can barely stand up and yet they want me to give a urine sample?! Ridiculous. But I did it. The nurse checked me and said I was dilated to a 4 and my water was going to break at any moment--so glad it didn't break as I walked to my Labor & Delivery room!

The next twenty minutes were pretty much terrible as Mr. C helped me try to focus through contractions while we waited for the blessed anesthesiologist (I spelled that right on the first try, y'all. BAM.) to come for my epidural. She was quick and effective and life got a whole heck of a lot better really fast. *sigh* 

And then we waited. I dozed and sucked down pure oxygen because I could. Our nurse was the bomb.com and I'm so glad of it. She was totally chill and helped us both relax--especially because I progressed loads faster than anyone was expecting. We got to the hospital just before 8am. I had that epidural in before 9am. And Nurse Jeanna walked in around 11:30 and said it was probably time to start pushing. WHAT?! We didn't even get through one episode of Animal Cops Houston!

My doc showed up about thirty minutes later and referred to watching my stats on his smartphone while he drove--isn't technology awesome?!--and even he seemed surprised at how quick things were going. The room soon swarmed with people and we soon started pushing and sooner than you'd expect (less than twenty minutes!), we had a baby!

A baby who was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 20-inches long. A baby the perfect size and yet still so so big! I can't believe he was inside me! I can't believe I pushed him out of me! Crazy. And awesome.

Baby C is the most exhausting human being I have ever encountered. We've had many a challenge these past few weeks--especially with breastfeeding! (Giant Shout Out to Karen, the Miracle Working Lactation Specialist who saved us. SAVED US, people!!)--but we've had a lot of wonderful helps, too. Thanks to our moms, our ward, and many other friends and family.  Along with being exhausting, Baby C is also super adorable and makes us laugh all the time. He has a penchant for peeing on anyone who attempts to change his diaper, though he also pees on himself so to that I say, 'Karma, my son. Karma.' His hands are sooo expressive and he coos and whines and whimpers in the most fantastic way. And...we love him. So So Much. 

Welcome to our world, Baby C!