James' Birthday - November 18, 2013

in an attempt to be as candid as I feel comfortable, I'd like to share James' birth story...for family, friends, future-mamas, or for those who are interested in hearing it and connecting with our experience...

M 11.18.13

• ...at around 4:30am, my water broke (or at least it started to)
• but without contractions
• so after some Googling with Jake, we decided to go back to sleep for a bit
• but then the water kinda continued to break (I call it a slow leak)
• Jake got up to shave and get ready for the gym, I woke my mom up, told her what was going on and she encouraged us to call our doctor
• doc said to come in and have the midwife check me out, so we got our things together, took a few last belly shots:

so, did my water break, or what?! 6:30am and on our way to find out!

• and because I wasn't really having contractions yet, we thought maybe we'd walk the mile to the hospital
• so there we were: my mom, Jake, me, the bump, and our hospital bags walking our way across Parque Las Heras
• but after walking about a block across the park (and the "slow leak" continuing) we decided to hop in a cab
• in the cab, my contractions started coming on a bit, but felt more like menstrual cramps, and therefore weren't too painful
• but it was a good thing we took a cab, because by the time we got to the hospital and were in the elevator up to the maternity ward, I think my water had finished "breaking"
• I arrived at the front desk around 7am, a bit of a wet mess...they put me in a wheel chair and took me to the labor room where they hooked me up to a monitor to monitor contractions and the baby's heartbeat

• there could only be one "visitor" in the room at time, so my mom stood outside the door for the first couple hours, and when Jake had to pop out to fill out paperwork and such, my mom came in to be with me.  I was so happy she was there
• when Jake was in the room, he was holding my hand, fanning me, because I was dying of heat, especially during contractions, and reading a book aloud to try to distract me (which didn't last long because as the pain increased, my focus on the book decreased significantly)

• because my water had broken, the contractions weren't too strong yet, I was only dilated 2cm and I had tested positive for GBS around week 37, my doctor and midwife decided to give me pitocin to help move things along...this was about an hour or so after arriving
• well let's just say that smile didn't last long because the pitocin worked

• things moved along at a nice, steady (painful) pace
• I was asked a few times, after the more painful contractions, if I wanted drugs...I don't remember the midwife saying "epidural" (which I wanted to try to do without), but Jake and I concluded that that's probably what she meant
• it was sounding pretty convincing though, with all that pain...and she promised us that I'd still be able to walk, feel my legs, and push...but I continued to say no, probably because I just wasn't sure enough of what exactly I would be getting (lost in translation...?)
• I continued to dilate about 2cm every hour and just before 11am I was at 8cm and moving into the delivery room
• and Jake got to change into his special delivery outfit:

how handsome!

• here we are...the labor and delivery tag team...this was taken around 11am...and I was more than ready to get that baby out of me!

• time to get this show on the road...
• after one failed "push" my dr. said I was only 9cm so he'd be back in a half hour...what?! wait! come back, let's do this now! I really wanted the pain to be OVER with
• so he left and did a c-section real quick next door, and came back (what felt like) an eternity later
• this is when I sort of panicked...mainly because I knew what was about to happen, and that sort of scared me a lot...I wasn't expecting to feel fear or panic, but that's what I was feeling...I was already in a lot of pain, and I could only imagine how much worse it was about to get
• the dr. gave me the go ahead to try to push again...he told me to breathe in, hold my breath and push...except I breathed in, and screamed at the top of my lungs while attempting to push
• the nurses had to close the doors
• the dr. reminded me of what to do...told me I didn't need to scream...I was thinking, 'Ya right buddy, this hurts! I can scream if I want!'
• then I realized he meant that instead of screaming, I should hold my breath and use that energy to bear down and push...ok, ok...got it
• so I tried it that way, and sure enough, with the next push, the babe's head was crowning
• the dr. pointed out the pelos (the baby's hair) to Jake and I'm like, 'Come on! We can look when it's fully out! Let's keep going!'
• again, being a rookie at this birthing stuff, I didn't realize that we were waiting until the next contraction to push (maybe I didn't get as much out of the child birth classes that were in Spanish...I seemed to miss these small details...oops)
• this may have been the point where the doctor, nurse, and midwife walked away...
• and that's when I really panicked
• I was desperately asking Jake what in the world they were doing...I thought for sure something was wrong and they were preparing for a c-section
• at one point I gasped aloud, "What's going on?!" to which my doctor replied, smiling, "You're going to have a baby."
• apparently, they were just prepping everything for the baby to actually come out since we were within minutes of delivery 
• with the next contraction, another push, and the next, one final push...and at 12:28pm, James was born, all 7lb 11oz 20in of him!
• I was exhausted and had never felt such relief....this grueling task was finally behind me
• since we hadn't found out the gender, one may think I'd ask right away, "Boy or girl?", but I felt pretty out of it...
• but soon enough, the dr. showed him to me, saying, "It's a boy!" (I, and everyone else, kinda had a feeling)
• he was then put  on my chest for me to hold...such an amazing, surreal feeling...to hold this baby that's been growing inside of me for the first time...incredible
• I kept repeating, "Hi!" to the baby, and "Is he ok?!" to the medical staff, because he was looking pretty purplish-gray
• the nurses reassured me he was just fine
• dad then accompanied James to get cleaned up in the small room next door, then was returned to me to try to get him to eat a bit (he wasn't having it)
• and of course dad got to hold him for the first time:

• next, he was taken to the nursery to finish up, and I got to my room around 1pm where my mom was waiting
• eventually James was brought down to us...

• ...and he got to meet grandma

• here's grandma holding him for the first time..she's already got him praying!

• we were told in one of our child birth classes that it is tradition and a rule at Hospital Aleman for the babies to be dressed in white while in the hospital

• this is what the hospital had him dressed in: a smurf-like, cream-colored hat and a white button down long sleeved onesie where the bottom part flipped up from behind and had strings to wrap around him and tie in the front (confusing, I know)...but they sort of looked like robes and were convenient for diaper changes because we could keep his top half warm while dealing with the bottom half...

• we were hoping he'd be sent home in one of these outfits or that they'd have them for sale, but neither were possible
• so the nurse told us about a store across the street where we could get one, so that's what we did...bought this cute little souvenir for the small guy
• the rest of the day was spent resting, eating, rocking the little one, getting a few checks by the nurses, and emailing and Skyping friends and family to share our wonderful news

• we feel so grateful to have had a healthy, safe pregnancy and delivery...and to be blessed with this handsome, healthy little guy:

wonder what he's thinking...?

• I can't believe this pregnancy is over...definitely a bitter sweet thing
• I miss my belly, but love our little baby son...and can't wait for all the new experiences we have ahead of us with this little bundle