Jack's Birth Story

You know how I was going to let the baby decide when it wanted to be born?  Well, in my first real act as his mother, I decided that "Lima Bean" had had enough time and scheduled an induction for Tuesday night, 10/4/11, at 41 weeks.  It was really hard for me to make the decision, but what tipped the scale for me is when my favorite doctor offered to come over to the hospital and do a special delivery for me on Wednesday, even though he wasn't on call.  Fair enough, 10/5/11 it is!  We also found out after he was born that 10/5 is the most popular birthday, statistically speaking.  Eh, I've lived 28 years without knowing that, but it was totally not intentional.

41 weeks, headed for the hospital

We went in to the hospital at 8 on Tuesday night, I had my first dose of Cytotek at 9, the next at 1, and at 4 a.m. I woke up with pretty frequent contractions. When I was checked at 5:15, I was at 5 cm. The contractions were coming every minute and lasting a minute long, and it was just ridiculously intense. I tried out the tub for all of four contractions and then called uncle and asked for the epidural. I'm really glad and I don't regret it for a minute because it gave me some time to rest. I was able to get it right away, and at 8:00 I was at 9 cm. My water was broken at that point and we pretty much just waited another couple hours for the head to keep coming down before I pushed. The day nurse who helped me push was so awesome and encouraging. I asked for my epidural to be turned down so I could feel the contractions, and that helped a ton. She called over my favorite doctor from the office when the head crowned, and about three minutes after he arrived Jack was born at 11:53 a.m. I pushed for just a little over an hour and Brent didn't pass out.  It was really a perfect birth experience and went SO MUCH BETTER than I had ever imagined.  The whole thing could not have been a more positive experience, and seeing our little boy come into the world was just amazing. Amazing.

Jack isn't a family name, but I've always loved it.  My Jack Robert comes from a long line of Roberts - my grandpa, dad, and brother all share it as a first name.  

His first pictures:

"You're sending me home with these people?!  They don't know what they're doing!"

Welcome home, Jack!

Meeting his sister.  She is just beside herself.