Then, at about 1 pm my doctor came back and since the medicine was making me contract regularly, my water bag came into a position that my doctor could break it, so she did. There was A LOT of fluid, even my doctor was surprised. After that, my contractions started to hurt right away, but not so much that I couldn't take it, but enough that I had to breathe through them and squeeze the bed a little. Eventually I got up to go to the bathroom and decided to get in the whirlpool tub for a while. My contractions were getting stonger and stronger each time. I went into it thinking "How bad could the pain really get?" but holy cow, it was unbearable. I called for the nurse to come get me out of the tub and because I was still getting the Pitocin, my contractions were coming almost nonstop because my body was naturally contracting too. I told her that I was ready for an epidural and prayed that it wouldn't take long for the doctor to come give it to me. He came pretty quickly, but it seemed to take FOREVER for him to get everything set up and get the catheter in my back and then tape everything up and then FINALLY the drugs were being pumped into me :) While he was putting it in though, I had to be hunched over with my back curled and stay still while he put it in my spine all the while I'm having the worst pain of my life.
After that, though, it was smooth sailing. I had to switch positions a few times to get the epidural to affect both sides of my body evenly, but that was a small price to pay for the comfort I got. I even fell asleep a little bit. Meanwhile, the nurses checked me a few times and I was progressing just fine. By the time the doctor got back at about 7 pm I was ready to push. And since I had the AWESOME epidural, I didn't feel any pain while I pushed. It was the best part of the whole day because he was finally coming out and I didn't have to feel it :) Afterward we figured I probably pushed for about 25 minutes or so. Between contractions we all just kind of sat there and talked like nothing was going on. It was nothing like what I've seen on TV, but that's all thanks to the drugs.
So then, finally, at 7:38 pm, Owen was born. Ryan cut the cord and then the nurses took him. He was crying and making noise, but it was more of a whimper than an all out screaming cry, and it ended up that he had quite a bit of fluid in his lungs and he was a little pale. The nurses had to work on him for quite awhile, and even had to call in some help. They were really good though, and stayed calm with us, but they were concerned about him. Eventually they were satisfied that they got some of the fluid out of him and went over and weighed him. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I was a little over 9 lbs at birth and Ryan was 6 lbs and some. Then we finally got to hold him and take pictures.
We got to go home on Friday and my mom came and stayed with us until today (Tuesday). We got pretty lucky because Owen is a really good baby. He only cries when he's hungry, gassy, or really needs a diaper change. Otherwise, he mostly sleeps or just hangs out and looks around. Our dogs are still getting used to him. They don't really pay too much attention to him, but our lab, Ragnar, sometimes barks at him when he cries.
It was awesome to have my mom come and stay with us. She cooked and cleaned and did laundry and helped a lot with Owen. I wish she could stay forever and do all that stuff! :) I'm nursing Owen, and he's doing good with it. Better each day, too. Ryan and I took him for his newborn check up yesterday, and he's a little jaundice, but not enough that we have to do anything but keep him well fed so that he cleans out his system.
Now we just have to hope that the weather cooperates enough that we can get home for Christmas, and the rest of our family can too. We want to show him off to everyone!
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