The Birth

We had Ethan on Friday, November 25th at 5:43 PM. I went into labor that morning around 6 AM, I think. I kept thinking my cramps and pains were because I had a full bladder. (Happens a lot when pregnant. Everything's pushing on each other and hurts because your bladder is full.) So I kept getting up to the restroom but would come back to bed and the pain would come back. Around 7 I thought, "oh maybe these are contractions." I began timing them. They were a little inconsistent but otherwise were about seven minutes apart. I didn't know when to stop timing them. There was a lot of what I would call residual pain. There would be the intense peak of the contraction but then it would linger for a long time. So some of the contractions I would time would be 2 minutes long. That didn't sound right to me so I thought it could be false labor. I laid in bed until 8 (Thanks Emma for sleeping in!) and woke up Adam and let him know that today might be the day. He just smiled and we discussed it further. There was no bolt out of bed "rage" reaction. :-)

Around 9:30, I took a bath. Erin told me that she had heard that if you take a bath and still have contractions after that then it's labor, else the contractions would go away with the relaxing hot water. I tried to relax in the bath but I continued to contract and started getting emotional because I couldn't believe this day was here. What the crap am I going to do now? This is my last day with Emma alone? No, it can't be. :-/

Around 11, I accepted my fate and called my mom to come out and watch Emma. My contractions were five minutes apart but didn't last long, maybe 30-45 seconds. I kind of did the opposite. My contractions lasted longer in the beginning and got shorter for a while. I thought that meant maybe my contractions were floundering and it could still be false labor. Eh. Called the doctor and let him know we'd be on our way soon.

After a bumpy, uncomfortable ride in the challenger to the hospital, we got to our room and settled around 1:30. I was so bummed when they checked and I was only 5 cm. Almost 8 hours of contractions and I only progressed 1 cm? Dang. I labored a while longer without epidural. When I was ready for it, I told the guy I wanted only a partial dose. I was completely numb with Emma and I wanted this time to be different and be able to still know when a contraction was starting. My anesthesiologist rocked and gave me exactly what I wanted. I felt a lot of the birth. Probably 50-60% I'm guessing. I think that's kind of ideal.

Got the epidural around 3, I think. Soon after, they broke my water and things progressed quickly. Had the baby at 5:43. We took a few days to decide on the name, much to the social worker's chagrin. She had to come in on her day off on Sunday. Who doesn't need to name a baby on a Sunday?? lol. Why is there no social worker that day? Anywho. He looked a lot like an Ethan. While my favorite name is still Andrew, I think it fits him the best. Ethan Andrew Hedgpeth was 8 pounds, 11 ounces. (Holy crap! Good thing this happened a week and a half early or I would have been pushing out almost ten pounds!)

What's funny is I have told my doctor this entire pregnancy that I was thinking he'd be a Thanksgiving/turkey-induced baby. I didn't quite believe myself but apparently I knew what I was talking about ;-)

Here's a few more pictures. We used a birth photographer this time around. It was nice to have these moments captured and not have to worry about getting all those "firsts" pictures.

I know these pictures are a little invasive but I really like them :-)

Oh right. Emma came up that night. She didn't stay long since it was close to bed time. I would describe her as stoic that night. She just didn't know what to make of it all. She didn't want to be in the bed with me, so Adam held her.

Now, she's super cute with him. She pats his head and gives him kisses. She has her moments of wanting to be held by momma when I'm holding the baby but overall, it's been a good transition.

Love you all. I'll try to write again soon.