Welcome to the World!

So, now that we finally have something worth blogging about, Andy and I thought we'd finally start a family blog.  On Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 8:51 a.m. (after 29 hours of labor) we welcomed the newest member of our family into the world--Isaac James Brasher.  He weighed in at 9 lbs. 7 oz and was 21 inches long.  Neither of us were expecting a baby who was anywhere close to that big!!  Both Isaac and I are now at home and doing fine.

Below are some pictures of Isaac and us since he was born.

Andy first holding Isaac

Me getting to meet him for the first time

Our first family photo

Isaac giving us what we've now decided is his favorite look.  We just haven't figured out yet what emotion he's conveying.

Going for a thoughtful pose.

Lots of people have asked for details about the labor and delivery... if you want those details, read on.  This is just the short version though, there are a lot of other things that happened, but I'm still wrapping my head around some of them.


The Short Version

The short version is that on Wednesday morning we went into the hospital about an hour and a half before our scheduled induction because we thought I had finally gone into labor on my own.  Since I wasn't really progressing they ended up deciding to augment using pitocen (something I was really trying to avoid).  9 hours later (at 6:00 p.m.), they broke my water again to help try to speed up labor.  I was able labor without an epidural until about 10:30 p.m.  The contractions were just too much for me at that point and I wasn't making enough progress (I was still at a 7 and had been on pitocen for 13 1/2 hours) for the end to be near.  My midwife was amazing and let me make the decision without any judgements one way or the other.  She said later though that she was very happy that I decided to have an epidural because she was worried about how I'd progress without one.

After the epidural I was able to sleep in between them coming in to check on me.  Thank goodness for that time of rest!  By 1:00 a.m. I was almost fully dilated, but there was a lip on some parts of my cervix.  We tried pushing a couple times to see if the midwife could get the baby's head around the lip, but I was so tight that they were scared it would tear my cervix to continue trying.  As a result, we spent the next 5 hours trying to get that lip to go away.  Around this time they also did some blood work and determined that for some reason I had metabolic acidosis (basically, my body was too acidic).  This was resulting in some kidney problems.

At 6:00 a.m., they called the OB from their practice who was on call in for a consult.  He recommended a c-section, but said that since the mine and the baby's vital signs were fairly stable, I could have as much time as I wanted (unless things changed) to make my decision.  Andy gave me a blessing and I immediately knew that I needed to get into a different position.  Even though I was numb from the waist down, Andy, Jen (my midwife), and the nurse helped push and pull me onto all fours and then held my legs in position so I could labor in that position for awhile.  Being able to change positions allowed my body to progress and saved me from getting a c-section.  It was truly a miracle.  An hour and a half later when the new OB on call came in to check on me he said I was ready to push, but that I might need forceps depending on how the baby handled the stress of me pushing. 

At 8:00 a.m. I started pushing, much to everyone's relief.  Jen K who had been my midwife elected to let Jen W the midwife who was now on call help me push.  She felt that since Jen W was fully rested she'd help me to make better decisions.  Ultimately though, Jen K ended up staying with me through the whole thing since she wanted to see the baby after being with me the whole time I was trying to have it. 

After about an hour of pushing though, I was so tired that I felt it was in my best interest to take the OB on call, Dr. Allen, up on his offer to pull the baby out with forceps.  It hurt like heck and resulted in a 3rd degree tear, but at 8:51 a.m. Isaac was finally born.  I spent the next hour getting stitched up and then was transferred to our postpartum room (they would have left me in the delivery room for longer but they were full and had people checking in).

I spent the rest of Thursday and most of Friday cuddling with my little boy and sleeping.  After doing more blood work on Thursday evening and Friday morning, they decided that I needed to receive a blood transfusion Friday evening.  They gave me two units of blood to help get my blood count high enough that I could go home and have enough energy for it to not be dangerous for me to be home alone (before the transfusion I could barely stand without getting super dizzy and spending the next hour or two in bed recovering). 

The blood transfusion helped immensely and by Saturday morning I was allowed to go home.  By the time Saturday rolled around I was ready to get the heck out of the hospital and start recovering at home.  Isaac and I are now safe at home and feeling much better about life.  I have 13 needle holes in my arms and one in my back from the epidural.  I didn't pass out during any of the IV insertions or blood draws, so I think it's safe to say that I might be over my needle issues.  We'll see what happens though when someone tries to give me a shot...