So, on the day Little H was born, we woke up bright and early to be at the hospital for induction by 7:00 a.m. I had not slept well the night before and was in so much pain that I really thought he might be about to come on his own without any assistance from our wonderful doctor. But, that was not to be. It was about 9 a.m. by the time they started induction with cytotec. This drug required me to stay in bed for at least one hour before I could get up and go to the bathroom. This fact, combined with the fact that I was lying on a bed that could possibly be used to torture terror suspects it was so uncomfortable, did not get things off to a very good start. After four hours, I was still not having contractions with any regularity and the doctor had said we would use pitocin next. That was all well and good except that all heck had broken loose in Labor and Delivery, and we were sort of forgotten for about 2 hours. Hubby and I just sat and stared at each other and thought about how hungry we were. Good times, I promise you. I think we also watched some tv including a show on the history channel about the real DaVinci Code. They finally got the pitocin going around 4:00. By 5:00, contractions were STRONG and I was ready for the epidural. So, I got an epidural after being stuck in the spine 3 times before the doc was "satisified with its location." Sadly, regardless of its location, IT DID NOT WORK. When my OB (whom I really do love) came in about 6:00, he said he wanted to break my water...and I said PLEASE NO. Not until my epidural is working better (the anethesiologist was on his way back to do another) PLEASE. He laughed and said "well, you didn't expect complete pain relief did you?" At this point, my head spun around and I literally HISSED at him, "you know, I have done this before and I know what to expect and while I don't expect COMPLETE pain relief, I also don't expect ZERO pain relief." He broke my water anyway, and then I truly was in pain. I finally got the 2nd epidural around 6:45, and it blessedly worked like a charm. At some point during all of this, they checked me and I was about 9 cm. The nurse came in about 7:30 and said the doctor wanted me to push to see what happened. I pushed for about 3 seconds and she said "STOP, STOP, STOP!" She called to the nurse at the main desk and said, "Call Dr. R and tell him she is complete and plus 3". She told me not to move, cough, or laugh and for heaven's sake not to push. Just a few short minutes later we heard Dr. R's footsteps running down the hall. He ran into the room and into the gown that the nurse was holding up for him and said, "ok, I've got my catcher's mitt, let's do this thing!" It wasn't QUITE that easy, but I did only push for about 5-10 minutes (maybe 3-4 contractions) and out came a beautiful baby boy who looked exactly like his big sister did when she was born 6 years ago only bigger. At 8 lbs. 1 oz. he is our biggest baby by far, but he still looked so tiny to us.
Big sis and Grandparents came to visit when he was only about an hour and a half old. M sang to him (Castle on a Cloud) and he was wide eyed and as intent on her as could be. It was so precious to see. He still loves her just as much. He is her baby all the way:
It was as sweet a day as could be, truly sweeter and relished because I knew it would be the last time for us. I have to admit that while I do NOT love being pregnant, I really do love giving birth. It is an incredible thing, and I am a little sad to think I won't be doing it ever again. Still, I know I am fortunate to have been able to experience it 4 times.
We ended our day with dinner from Krystal. Very unglamorous, but there was nothing else open because it was almost midnight by then. It was fabulous--especially since we hadn't eaten in 24 hours.
