Welcoming Colin to the world!

I'm sure you've heard...he's here! He's been with us for about 2 and a half days now, and he is perfect (if not slightly dramatic). Peter and I thought it might be fun to hear my side of the story for Colin's birth, and then hear Peter's version. Even I will be interested in how we tell it differently :)

Friday 8/31/12 5:00

Peter got home from work, and we were upstairs in our room talking about what we wanted to do with our evening. Peter had restricted me from vacuuming, and we were discussing the current drama in our HOA. I was sitting on the floor, snuggling with Ella, and he reached down to help me up. As I stood up, there was an audible pop, and in about 1.5 seconds, I realized my water had broken. After we stopped grinning like idiots, we stepped into action and called the doctor, and I sent Peter to finish packing our hospital bag and to eat a quick dinner. My doctor told me to come into the hospital, so we flew out the door into Friday before Labor Day weekend rush hour traffic in the worst possible direction at 5:30. I was having contractions about every 4 minutes apart, lasting close to 50 seconds each. I asked Peter to drive a little crazier to ensure Colin wasn't born in the car.

We got to Labor and Delivery around 6:20 and went straight to triage, where they determined I was at 7 cm dilated. At this point, I really only cared about getting into a room and getting an epidural placed! I was trying to be "brave" about my contractions, but I have a low pain tolerance and was terrified that I wasn't going to get my epidural in time because things were going very quickly. Also, I was pretty certain Colin was "sunny side up," with his back against my back, due to the pain in my lower back that was taking over my contractions.

We got the epidural in place around 8:00, and I was finally able to relax (physically and mentally). It slowed my labor down from progressing so quickly, and they encouraged me to rest as much as I could so that I would be able to push. Our nurse was pretty certain I would deliver before 3 am. I was dilated to 10 cm at 2:00, and we started trying to push. We ended up trying to push for a little over 2 hours, until I was physically exhausted to the point of not even being able to help move my legs anymore. The nurse let me rest for about an hour, and then the doctor made the decision that they thought a C-section was our best option, as we were concerned about Colin's positioning, as well as the fact that we suspected he was close to 9 pounds. 

I got prepped for surgery, which took a while, and then they wheeled me back around 5:55am. Other than having a breakdown due to exhaustion and fear at being on the table in such a vulnerable position, everything was fine. The doctor and nurses had to work really hard to get him out, as he was wedged pretty snugly into my pelvis, due to his larger head. Regardless, he entered the world at 6:04 am, weighing 8 pounds and 8 ounces, 21.5 inches long with a full head of dark brown hair and dark blue eyes (Copeland win). He has Peter's nose and ears.

I wasn't able to hold him right away, mostly due the fact that the anesthesia was causing me to shake so strongly that I couldn't even keep my arms on the table. Peter followed him around and took pictures, while we both cried. 

Eventually we got back to our room and I was able to hold him and feed him, which he had been demanding since birth pretty much. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of visitors (including Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Casie, Great Aunt Beth and Great Uncle Joe, second cousin Adam, Great-Grandpa Macy, friends Chris, Aimie, and Todd) and doctors and nurses checking on him.

We are scheduled to leave tomorrow (Tuesday). Colin has started to have increased bilirubin levels, and he's turning yellow a little more each day. He has been on a bili blanket to try and reduce this, but it hasn't helped much yet. It caused him to become a little dehydrated and run a fever, so we have been supplementing a little extra fluid to bring it down. He was supposed to be circumcised on Sunday, but the OB believes that he has a condition called hypospadias, so it was necessary to leave his foreskin so that it could be used later by a pediatric urologist to help correct the condition. Despite all of that, he's doing really well. He loves to eat, and we've gotten better each day. He hates being cold and gets really mad when you take off his blankets. However, Peter is becoming a super speedy swaddler, and after he is swaddled, he is perfectly content again.

I'm healing as well as can be expected. When I have painkillers in my system, I feel okay and have no problem moving around the room. When my painkillers wear off, my incision burns, and it's tough to move in and out of bed or even to get comfortable.

We are totally enamored with him, and we have been loving snuggling with him and laughing at the goofy faces he makes when he's sleeping (or awake). So since you read all of this, I'll reward you with pictures of the cutie. Peter's version of labor and delivery to come.

Fresh out into the world!

Whoa that's cold!!

First time Mom and Colin were together!

Taking a nap on Aunt Casie

Wearing some real clothes, which he later peed on. Soon-to-be story of our lives.

Sleeping on Mom.

 

Why yes, I am adorable!!