August made his grand entrance at 5:03 am on Thursday, December 2, 2010 after a grueling 35 hours in the hospital. Cody and I checked in at North Austin Medical Center at 6 pm on Tuesday, November 30th for a planned induction. The goal was to be put on Cytotec over night, start the Pitocin the next morning around 4:30, and break my water by 8:30. Things did not go as planned…
Tuesday night was pretty easy. Cody and I watched a couple episodes of Dexter, hung out with our parents, and just generally kept things pretty low key. The Cytotec did its job, and I was hooked up with an IV and the Pitocin the next morning at 5:30. When my doctor arrived at 8:30 to break my water, she was unsuccessful but hopeful I would be ready by noon. The contractions were not uncomfortable, and she even let me eat breakfast! When noon rolled around, my doctor attempted to break my water for the second time. Let’s just say I was definitely at a 10 on the pain scale and it was still unsuccessful! This was definitely the most pain I was in the entire labor. I was shocked that there hadn’t been more progress in the four hours since she had last been there. The doc recommended I go ahead and get the epidural so that she could try to break my water again at 4 pm without me being in so much pain. The epidural was a breeze, and I recommend it to everyone! I was a bit bummed that the whole process was taking so long. At this time my doctor estimated baby would arrive early morning the next day.
When the doctor came back at 4:30, she broke my water easily, and said that I had progressed a little further since noon. She was hopeful things would kick into high gear now. Unfortunately I had no real changes until around 9:30 that evening. Once 9:30 rolled around though, things really started to pick up. I went from about 2-3 centimeters to 10 in about two hours. I was ready to push by 11:45, and I was so excited that things were finally happening. I had been worried about a C-section, but this progress gave me hope that it wouldn’t be necessary. Our wonderful nurse at the time, Carrie, said that first babies usually require 3 hours of pushing to get out. Mom and Cody did a great job helping me those first three hours, but when 2:45 rolled around and it still seemed like we were getting nowhere, thoughts of a C-section began to creep back into my head. Carrie called the doctor on call, who said he wanted me to continue pushing for another hour. When that didn’t work, the on-call doctor finally came in to take a look at the situation. He recommended trying the vacuum before we decided to go the C-section route. He explained some safety concerns, and we agreed to try the vacuum as a last ditch effort. After five long hours of pushing and trying the vacuum, I was prepped for surgery.
The surgery took maybe 20 minutes, and the entire time I kept asking, “Is he here yet?” I was pretty disappointed that I couldn’t see August for a few minutes after he was born. Then when I could see him, my hands were out of commission, so I could just look at him for a second. August arrived weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces. He was 21 and a half inches long. Cody accompanied him to the nursery and I was able to hold him maybe an hour later. He was absolutely adorable!!! I couldn’t believe he was ours!
The recovery was long and difficult. We stayed in the hospital until Sunday, and I was pretty much out of commission for the first two weeks at home. All is well now, and we’re slowly getting in to our daily routine. I’ll post more pictures of August’s first three weeks and first Christmas soon!
Now for the pictures!
Getting all cleaned up in the nursery.
The first time I was able to hold August in the recovery area.
Most of the very proud grandparents!
Two very tired, but happy new parents! We're so happy with our little family!
He is adorable. You look so very happy. Sorry to hear you had to have a c-section, I can only imagine how difficult that must have been. Enjoy your time with him, they grow so very fast.
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