Reid Warren, born Monday, May 23rd at 10:21 pm
7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 1/2 inches long
long and thin with a fuzz of dark brown hair and royal blue eyes
When we woke up Monday morning, we didn't expect to meet our baby boy late that night! I woke up feeling like I had every morning for the past month: total impatience at how slowly time was crawling by until this baby came. We were planning to be induced on Wednesday morning so after I showered and ate breakfast, I started looking for a project, anything that would keep me occupied. I remember Jake was taking his sweet time finishing a pancake at the table, Deric had run to Home Depot to buy polycrylic to finish a table he built for friends of ours (and was hoping to have completely finished by Wednesday) and I had checked everything off my before baby list except for actually packing bags. So when the doctor's office called me at 8:30, I was in Jake's room packing his bag for his sleepover at our friend's house even though it felt a little premature.
(Back story: Because I developed cholestasis while pregnant with Jake, I had been on the lookout this entire pregnancy for the same symptoms, mainly itchy hands and feet. I thought I was in the clear by this point but last Thursday night my feet itched all night long and I woke up paranoid, called the doctor and they had me come in to draw blood. It felt kind of ridiculous because the lab results wouldn't be in until Monday or Tuesday and we were scheduled to induce Wednesday anyways. My feet didn't itch anymore that weekend so I figured it was a fluke.)
When the nurse called I only half paid attention because I was fairly sure she would tell me the results came back normal. It wasn't until she said that my levels were elevated and the doctor wanted to induce today that I really tuned into the conversation. I asked how soon we needed to be at the hospital and she told me as soon as possible. I asked if two hours was soon enough and she said no, not really, that they wanted to get things started right away. I hung up with her and immediately called Deric and told him to come home. I remember feeling really excited but all the sudden incredibly sad that I hadn't even had the chance to play with Jake yet that morning. I walked down the hall to find him and told him he'd get to go to his sleepover today, but that I had to get our things ready before we could go. He happily went back to playing while I started to pack both our bags. Deric got home and packed his stuff, did some chores around the house and got Jake ready to go. We dropped Jake off at our friend's house and he was so excited to be there that he barely registered when we left, which made me feel good.
We made it to the hospital right at 10 and I was taken right to a room. We waited maybe twenty minutes for a nurse to come in and get things started, just enough time to finally let friends and family know what was going on! I got dressed in the gown and the nurse started the IVs and monitors. Pitocin was also administered and we spent the next two hours watching tv, texting family and friends and eating lunch-- Popsicles for me, Chickfila for Deric. My doctor came in and broke my water at noon, and that may have been the most painful part of the whole ordeal. (I don't remember that pain with Jake, but then I realized I'd already had my epidural at that point.) Contractions picked up so I asked for the epidural and got in right in time. I could feel the contractions getting stronger really low in my abdomen and all afternoon they were about two minutes apart. The afternoon actually passed really quickly considering I was so bored. I ate as many Popsicles as I could stomach, trying to keep blood sugar up, and developed a slight headache from not eating or drinking water. I tried to nap on and off throughout the afternoon but never actually fell asleep. Around 5pm, the nurse checked and I was dilated to a 4. I was a little disappointed but she said that usually things progressed pretty quickly after you hit 4. And then at 7pm, still a 4. At this point I gave up on having the baby during the day and started to pray that we wouldn't be up in the middle of the night. I just wanted to have this baby and eat something! My doctor had gone home at 5:00 but assured me she would be back within ten minutes when the nurses told her it was time. At 8:50, the nurse said my doctor had asked her to check me again and I was dilated to a 7. Twenty minutes later, I was an 8. I started to get more excited but realized it could potentially be two more hours.
By this point, I was starting to feel more of the contractions than I wanted to so I administered a little more meds, then a little more...and nothing really changed. The nurses had told me to let them know if this happened so they could call for the anesthesiologist. I wasn't in much pain, more discomfort, from the contractions but I was worried that I would feel too much when I actually had to push, so I asked them to call the anesthesiologist. They did but couldn't get ahold of him right away (of course). A little while later, my doctor came in and suggested that if I wasn't in major pain, that we should "just have the baby!" and push away the pain. I remember Deric and I looked at each other with a look of surprise and excitement before we got distracted by the nurses beginning to prep the room. I was still worried that the pain would be too intense but I was obviously excited to start pushing.
Because of the pain I was in while laboring with Jake, I don't remember very much at all of his actual labor and delivery. So this time, I wanted to really be aware of everything going on. I checked the clock to see what time it was so I knew how long I would be pushing, and it was just before 10:00. Everything was prepped and the nurses instructed me to start pushing right at 10:00. I'd push three times during each contraction and barely have the breath to get through it, but it wasn't otherwise very painful, just tiring. I wasn't making any progress at first so I felt discouraged but pretty soon, the doctors and Deric could see the top of his head. Deric kept me "up to date" on what was happening which encouraged me enough to keep pushing. Finally, he told me that we were really really close so I did my absolute best to push and within twenty minutes of pushing, he was here! My first thought as he came out was absolute terror that the doctor would drop him. She suctioned his nose or mouth and the cutest little cry came out. Deric got to cut the cord and then I got to hold him. I remember being on the verge of tears but not actually crying. I was mostly in disbelief that this pregnancy was finally over and he was really here! All that waiting and worrying about him was over and I could hold him and know that he was just perfect.
It seemed to take forever for both of us to be cleaned up so I could hold him again. I noticed that aside from that first good cry, he was totally quiet and calm. He looked around and seemed to wait so patiently for the nurses to check him out, and then I held him and he nursed pretty well almost right away. I don't remember the next few hours except that he was wide awake but didn't cry. He really seemed too good to be true. ;) Around 3:00am I nursed him again and we both went to sleep for a few hours.
The next morning, Deric and I finally decided on his name. He had told me the previous afternoon that he was coming around on my favorite name, Reid, but I tried not to get settled on it in case he changed his mind. But as I got into the shower that morning, I asked Deric to let me know if he wanted to go with Reid by the time I got out of the shower so that we could share the news. And when I came into the room, he had written Reid Warren on the whiteboard.
^ready to go home!
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