How it all came to be

For those of you interested in the details of how Cooper was born, here they all are.
Tony and I found out we were scheduled to be induced Wednesday morning. We were supposed to be at the hospital by 6 am, but we were running behind. I got admitted to maternity by 7 am. My nurse had a nursing student shadowing her that day so I got to be a teaching tool for someone. It took a while to get my IV in, it took three tries and I have some nasty bruises from the first two attempts. Once the IV was in pitocin (contraction medicine) was started. My doctor showed up a little before 9 to break my water. THAT was painful and definitely NOT fun. Things were progressing so I got my epidural pain relief around 11 and was 80% effaced and almost 5 cm dilated. I started getting some sharp pains shooting from my hip down my left leg around 12:30 and asked the anesthesiologist what he could do to help. After consulting with the nurses and my doc, he decided that Cooper was pushing up against a nerve in my pelvis and that was causing the pain. I got a little extra added to the epidural to try to help. As my contractions continued to get stronger, so did the shooting pain. By 2 I was having a difficult time not being very vocal (screaming) through the pain. Because it was caused by a nerve in my pelvis, there was nothing that could be done to stop the pain other than to get the baby to move off the nerve. By then I had progressed to an almost 10 cm and was 100% effaced. My nurses got my doctor and I was encouraged to start pushing through the pain. That was really the hardest thing I had to do! I think everyone in maternity knew how miserable I was. Even the poor anesthesiologist waited outside and felt bad he couldn't help. I'm sure I almost broke a few bones in Tony's and my nurse's hands trying to push Cooper out. It didn't take long to figure out he was facing sideways- towards my hip and that his fat face had caused all my pain. Once he was born at 2:42, all the pain went away. Altogether, my labor only took almost 8 hours. It wasn't the greatest labor, but I only had one small tear to give me any lasting pain.

Cooper was born with one loop of his umbilical cord around his neck. It was loose, so it wasn't a big worry, but it scared Tony. Cooper also popped out and immediately proceeded to poop and pee all over me. His APGAR scores were 8 and 9 (out of 10) so he was really healthy. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces. I find it interesting that none of my pregnancies seem to follow the "normal assumptions". Each of my consecutive pregnancies has been longer than the prior one, instead of shorter like normal. Each of my babies has weighed less than the prior one instead of more like normal.

My mother-in-law brought the boys to the hospital to visit us and Colten was really excited to see Cooper and me. Carson seemed to think that I was sick and wasn't coming home. He wasn't as impressed by Cooper. Tony headed home to spend time with the boys and help out with them and I spent the night with Cooper. Cooper spent most of the night nursing and snuggling with me. It was nice to be so close to him, but I am exhausted from lack of sleep. He passed all of his newborn screenings and fell asleep just in time for Tony to come back to hold him so I could eat breakfast. Cooper and I were given a clean bill of health, though Cooper is a little jaundiced, so we all headed home around 10 a.m.

We've spent most of the day nursing and sleeping. It was so sunny I took Cooper, stripped him down, and "baked" him in some sunshine to help his jaundice. Things are going well and I've been able to finally eat and get a shower. I'm feeling pretty good and just a little sore around my stitches. Though I had 1/2 hour of misery giving birth, I've been so happy with my doctor and the hospital. I'm even happier to be home.

I still look about 6 months pregnant, and am only down 8 pounds from what I went into labor weighing. My feet are so bloated I can barely fit into my flip-flops and I'm a little sore, but I have the greatest gift: a beautiful baby boy to care for.