Alex joined this world officially on 7/23/09 at 9 lbs, 4 oz. He is just beautiful!! The picture above was taken about 1 hour after Alex was born. We had a great birth experience (considering). Alex took his time in getting here and we had to be induced 5 days after the due date. Being induced is a strange thing because of the way childbirth is romanticized. I always imagined being woken up in the middle of the night, grabbing our overnight bag, and rushing to the hospital just in time to welcome our little bundle of joy. Well, this was nothing like that. We called the hospital to see if they had an extra bed since we were only 5 days late and considered "elective" and were on our merry way.
We arrived at the hospital at 7 AM and were told to wait for a room to clear because someone came in between the time we called and the time we arrived. We sat around the waiting room for hours and that was taking it's toll on me considering I was 9+ months pregnant and waiting rooms are not known for comfort. I was also told to eat a light breakfast and nothing else so all I had was toast and yogurt.... not much for being prego. We were admitted into our room at 10 AM. At 11 AM the doctor was able to get the ball rolling. It took about 20 minutes after the doctor broke my water and administered pitocin that the contractions started. After about 2.5 hours of back labor I was done and was ready for an epidural. The contractions were only 20-30 seconds apart and I was quickly losing all of my energy. I knew at that rate I would never be able to push effectively.
I wanted to have a natural birth but I will tell you one thing-- my birth experience went from insanely painful to letting my family join us in the room to wait until I was fully dilated. My dad's eyes were glued to the monitors and he was telling me when I was having contractions. He would say, "Oh! That was a BIG one!" Even I thought it was funny.
When the time came to push the family left and it was only Brent, a nurse named Jen, our doctor Kacey, and myself. I pushed for 2.5 hours and was constantly amazed at how wonderful my husband is. I asked for ice chips but only one or two at a time. He helped me focus on breathing which was awesome because I kept forgetting to do that. I only had one moment that was questionable-- I called him a chimp. Okay- I have to explain that one. I had an allergic reaction to the epidural and was itching like mad. I asked him, "Scratch my armpits Chimp!" You know, because Chimps groom and scratch one another. Weird. Anyway, I only cursed a few times much to my surprise. I was very cooperative and followed direction well. Again, the romanticized version of a out-of-control prego girl just didn't happen.
When it was time for Alex to arrive, the room was suddenly full of people. Brent was able to see him crown and at one point I had to stop pushing so they could unwrap the umbilical cord from Alex's head. That was very scary. Brent and I knew something was up because our doctor was talking to the nurse about how much the baby's heart dropped after each time I pushed. But in the end, Alex was born and they flopped him on my stomach. I didn't cry surprisingly at all that day, not during the pain and not from the joy of seeing my first born son. I was just in shock that it was really happening, that the day had finally come that I would meet my Peanut.
Over a month later, I gotta tell you that I love being a mom. It is the most wonderful experience to care for such a dependent little baby. I have gotten so excited in the past week because he coos now. He has characteristics, his hands are huge, and he always has toe lint. It's just been so much fun.
I will admit I was very overwhelmed at first. We struggled with breastfeeding, I lost my appetite, and I felt like I was in a fog. Just tired. I cried a lot but a lot of the time it was tears of joy at having such a beautiful, healthy son. Then one day the fog was just gone. I am so grateful for that. Now I have a clear head that knows how lucky I am to be part of such a loving family. I really hit the jack pot when I moved to Minnesota. I love my life.
Brent and I have created a blog just for Alex since our family is so spread out. Check it out for updates specific to Alex, the link to his site is on the right hand column.
