Time to play catch-up!

It's been way to long since I've written! We have had our beautiful baby boy! He arrived on April 5th at 3:34PM. I cannot believe he is already 9 weeks old. He came early and surprised us all. Here is how it all went down:

I had my 37 week check up on Thursday (4/3/08) and I was a "firm 3 cm." dilated. The midwife said I could go at anytime; that we were just waiting on Noah to decide on when he was ready. But everyone I talked to said the first baby was always late and that I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Well... on Friday I went to school like normal, I had a ton of lab work that I needed to get done. I had lunch with some friends- Mexican- ummm! My friend commented that I was crazy to be at school so far along, but I needed to get my stuff done!! That night we had company over for dinner. I was so tired and Justin made the comment that if I didn't want the company that I could have the baby instead- I thought he was funny! It was about 7PM and I was sitting on the couch talking to Colleen and felt something odd... I went to the bathroom...and sure enough, my water had broke. Justin came in to check on me, and I told him the news. We then went out and informed our guests :)! I called my doc. and she told me my options. So, we decided to stay and have dinner then packed our bags and head to the hospital. On the way in, I called my mom to tell her. She could not believe it- she was just leaving Babies'r'us where she had bought some items for my shower- which was supposed to be the next day-oops! I also called my dad and told him and Justin called his parents (who were supposed to be leaving for the beach the next day with his grandparents) everyone was so excited!! We arrived at the hospital around 10PM and they quickly admitted us. It all happened so fast. I was not having many contractions at this time and when I did have them they were not painful. My mom arrived around midnight. My step dad and little brother and sister were also there. They were ready to make the waiting room their hotel room. The nurse had checked me and I was still only 3 cm. So we told my family to go to our house (my mom stayed with us though). Nothing happened all night. Still not many contractions, and when they came, they were not bad. Sometime early morning, they decided that I needed pitocin. That's when the contractions came- and they came hard! Ouch! I was trying to be brave and not have drugs. But after being up for so long (and already tired) I asked for some. I went with IV narcotics. Hoping to skip the epidural. BUT- I was way drugged. Justin and my mom laughed at me...I was hallucinating and really out of it. But, I was able to sleep for about 2 hours. Then the contractions woke me up. I took it like a pro for about an hour and needed more drugs. I got another dose of the drugs and after hallucinating for a few minutes passed out for about 2 more hours. When I came to- seriously...it was that bad- I said no more of those drugs. The nurse checked me and I was still not very dilated. My doc. had come to check on me by this point and turned up the pitocin. I was really hurting and nothing I, Justin, or my mom did was helping. So I asked for the epidural. It was about 11AM on 4/5. The doc came in and hooked me up- it was good stuff. I was able to sleep some more and was not in any pain! Thank God for modern medicine!! Being brave went right out the window! The family begin to pour in. Justin's family arrived from the mountains and my family came back. Justin's fam. brought him and my mom some lunch, it was around this time that Justin got sick. We had not eaten anything since the night before (and even then, we were too excited to really eat anything) and we hadn't slept much either. Justin got nauseous- I felt so bad for him. He had been such a trooper and helped me so much! Well, my doc came in around 3Pm and decided I was about ready. When I sat up to push I also got nauseous. The nurse brought me some IV antimetics but poor Justin only got crackers and Sprite. Neatless to say, he stayed by my head and recorded everything- avoiding the site of blood. I began to push at 3:25 and Noah was here at 3:34. It didn't take long at all! I did tear a lot, but it was worth it! Overall, the labor and delivery was nothing that I expected- it was so much better!!

Noah did great too! He was a healthy 7lbs 7oz and 21.75 inches (just like his momma!) and lots and lots of hair!! We were moved to the postpartum room shortly after. We stayed the night and had the go ahead to leave the next day. We ended up leaving Sunday night around 11:30PM. It was late, but we had to wait until Noah peed- and his little pee-pee was sore so it took him a while.

All in all, I loved my hospital experience! The nurses and staff were excellent! Noah stayed in the room with me the whole time (except when they needed to circumsize him and check his bilirubin and blood). It was amazing. And my husband was also amazing! He stayed by my side the whole time (except once to get something to eat and pick up my pain meds). I have to say, I have the most amazing husband and family! Everyone was wonderful!

Well, that's how it happened. I hope to keep everyone updated on little Noah! He's growing so big already! And he's such a great baby! We're so blessed!