Nathan's Birth Story!

Hi all!!! So I think everyone knows that Nathan is here by now...and I am finally getting around to posting his birth story, so here it is:

Nathan Alexander Whippo was born on January 31, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and 23 inches long! We went to the hospital at about 8:00 the night before to start being induced. (He was a week late and the doctor could tell he was big.) I had been in early labor all throughout that day anyway. When we got there they gave me one medicine to help things progress (not the Pitocin, that came later) and up until midnight the contractions were steadily picking up. Jon and I walked around the halls for a while. After a while I decided to take an Ambien and morphine shot. My doctor had ordered them for me so I could try to get some rest, as I had not been sleeping well toward the end of my pregnancy. So I was able to get some sleep and it took the edge off of the pain.

By 4:30 am the morphine was wearing off and the contractions were pretty intense, but Jon was very supportive and encouraging. At 6:00 when they came to give me my Pitocin, I decided to ask for them to do the epidural at the same time, which worked out well because the anesthesiologist was just finishing up with a C-section down the hall. I went into the hospital figuring I would try to make it without the epi, but at the same time keeping an open mind and not being opposed to having one. It was my best friend that day and I am SO glad I decided to get it!!! Some people experience pain when getting it but the process was really not bad for me. It was working wonderfully until after a while I started to feel pain coming back in different spots, until it was back altogether and I could feel everything. The nurses didn't know what was going on and were trying to figure it out, when one of them realized my epidural drip was disconnected. What happened was they gave me an instant shot of pain medicine into my IV to give me relief until the actual epidural kicked in, then that initial medicine was supposed to wear off and the epidural would keep flowing to provide the continual pain relief. Apparently my overnight nurse had forgotten to connect the actual epidural before she got off her shift and left, so that's why I started to feel the pain again after the first medicine wore off! :\ They got the guy who did the epi back in the room and got me hooked up once again.

At some point my water broke. They put an internal monitor on Nathan's head, as he was so low that he kept coming off the regular monitor. I progressed very quickly from 7 to 10 centimeters and then pushed for one hour with the help of Jon, my doctor, and two of the most wonderful nurses we could have asked for. They gave me oxygen because Nathan's heart rate either sped up or dropped a little, I can't remember which one. Things were going fine until Nathan's head got stuck, and his heart rate on the monitor was dropping. (I didn't know this at the time, just knew that they were having me push a lot more and harder than I already was.) His shoulder was stuck (known as shoulder dystocia) and that often means the umbilical cord is pinched which is dangerous, and by this point it was too late for a C-section, so we had to get him out quickly. After all sorts of tugging and prying and shoving (which I am so thankful I couldn't feel!) they managed to get him out. The cord was loosely around his neck and easily removed. They laid him on me and he was blue/purple, Jon cut the cord and they took him over to the warming light and gave him some oxygen. He was rather shell-shocked by the whole experience but began to cry and was doing fine. His color turned a nice pink and he was looking great (as you can see in the early pictures)! I only got to hold him for about 10 minutes before they had to take him to the nursery, but I did get to nurse him right away and I was really thankful for that. Jon went with him to the nursery and gave him a sponge bath.

I did end up tearing, which I think is pretty obvious given the struggle to get him out, but they did not need to use a vacuum or forceps to get him out, and obviously we avoided a C-section, so that was great. Recovery has been sore to say the least but I'm feeling a lot better now and can actually sit without pain. :\ In the hospital and now since being home, Nathan has been such a good, content baby! He nurses like a champ, almost exactly every two hours during the day and then he is able to go for 3- or 4-hour stretches at night. It really works out perfectly because we are able to get some decent sleep between feedings at night, and I wouldn't want him to go any longer between feedings right now anyway, as he's still so young. He is alert all day long, which is so fun but what we are dealing with lately is that he just won't sleep all day. I've never met a 3-week-old who doesn't take naps, and it is baffling! By evening he is a lot crankier if he hasn't slept so I do what I can to get him to fall asleep during the day. It is getting better.

He really is just so content though. We could not have a greater blessing from God than this kid! He is just now starting to smile on purpose. He can smile at me and completely make my whole day. :D I'm also starting to pump milk for bottles so that Jon can give him the occasional bottle. Then when we need to leave him for longer stretches of time, or go to church or a movie and actually sit through the whole thing, we can. I am greatly enjoying BFing him and hope to continue for as long as possible (up to one year if I can, but right now I am setting a smaller goal of six months). It caught me off guard how much I love him...you really don't know what it's like to love your own child until you have him, and I didn't know I could love him this much. It makes making any necessary sacrifices much easier when I know I'm doing what I believe is best for him. He is a lot of fun and we are really enjoying him!! :)

I am going to try to keep this blog updated still with things about Nathan; it may not be as frequently as before but I am going to try to write here on a semi-regular basis. I think everyone has seen pictures one way or another, but I will post some on here soon, too. Bye for now!