A Baby Story

Our little guy has arrived. There is a ton to write about, but while Mom and son enjoy a post feeding nap, let me run down our Monday.

• Friday - Appointment. 3.5cm dilated, 80% effaced (the same way she's been since the beginning of April. Midwife says, "I'd be surprised if you don't deliver this weekend, but don't quote me on it." Thus, I'm quoting her on it.
  
• Saturday - Due date. No baby.
• Sunday - Due date + 1. No baby.
  
• Monday - Due date + 2.
  
• 2:45: Wife has Non-stress test. Hooked up to machine that measures contractions and heart rate of child. She had 8 very mild contractions in 34 minutes.
  
• 3:20. Test complete. Everything looks good. We make another appt for Thursday.
• 3:40. Grocery shop. We spend some time in Aldi's. I mean, I think we spent $60. At Aldi. That takes time.
  
• 4:45. Arrive home (30 min from hospital), I put away groceries, wife uses bathroom.
• 5:00. Wife wonders if her water broke. Calls office.
  
• 5:45. Midwife on duty calls back and tells us to come in to hospital. En route, wife has first somewhat painful contractions.
  
• 6:20. Arrive at hospital, ask for room with bathtub in which to labor.
  Hooked up to monitors, contractions become more regular (4 min apart) and stronger. Her water has not broken.
  
• 8:30 Still considered outpatients, nurse checks wife, says she's 5-6cm dilated. At this point, we're in it to win it.
  
• 8:45. The nurse brings in a labor ball, and allows Nicole to get up and move around. Also, she's given a dose of pain relief via her IV.
  
• 9:00. Drugs make her loopy.
  
• 9:30. Midwife comes in, after helping deliver another baby. Asks if wife wants to get into labor tub, she says yes.
  

At this point, I should note that this tub is not intended for delivery. We did not deliver in this tub. She seemed to enjoy the tub, though. I think it helped take a little of the edge off of the contractions.

• 11:00. After two stints in tub, midwife suggests heading back to bed to check things out. At this point, contractions are virtually on top of one another.
  
• 11:10. Upon checking, midwife tells us that the dilation has increased to 9cm. With that, she's too far to receive an epidural. The midwife breaks the water and discovers meconium present. My son has already had a BM...while I'm proud, it's the first hurdle we've encountered.
  
• As we prepare to deliver, a pediatrician arrives to take care of potential problems presented by meconium.
  
• 11:46. After pushing through about 8 contractions, my wife gives birth to our son.
  
• After not hearing him cry while they suctioned out any meconium, we heard our son cry for the first time.
  

He was 8lbs 7.7ozs. A pretty good sized baby. Chubby cheeks and a fair amount of hair. Ten fingers, ten toes.

There's a lot to dissect here....so, over the next few entries, I'll focus on different parts of the labor and delivery.