David Michael weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and was 21inches long. he was 36 weeks old.
I started having contracts around 3 am thursday morning, but they stopped by 8 am. they came and went all day and night so we decided to go to the hospital late friday night. by 2 am I had dialated to a 4 so they decided to keep me there. after a few hours when I hadn't progressed they gave me pitocin. after being in the hospital a total of 8 or 9 hours they sent me home saying I wasn't progressing and he wasn't ready.
we returned to the hospital again sunday night complaining of severe back pain that I thought was contractions. still at 4, no contractions. they gave me lortab and sent me home.
tuesday I had an appointment to see my dr. everything seemed to be going well. no contractions, no back pain. so we went to get food and go home. as soon as we were done eating and got in the car the back pain returned. no contractions so we went home. I took a long nap. when I woke up I was feeling better, but it wasn't long before the contractions started again.
I kept telling Erik I wasn't going back to the hospital, but eventually he insisted on taking me. I stared at the lights on the road and the lightening storm to keep my mind off the pain. this time was real.
I hurt so bad I didn't want the nurse to touch me, but she insisted. still a 4. I almost died. after 2 hours they decided to admit me and I decided I couldn't bear the pain any longer and got an epidural. best idea ever! I was so comfortable I almost drifted to sleep when it took effect. I had also calmed down enough to get to a 6 or 8.
then we waited for my water to break and for David to come. my contractions started to be irregular so they gave me more pitocin, then they'd get to strong so the lowered the dose. this went back and forth for awhile until they decided to break my water the rest of the way (I think it was leaking slowly.
Next came the pushing. I pushed slowly for 2-3 hours before we determined he wasn't coming out very well. it was very relaxed. I would contract and push 3 times then wait a few minutes to push again. the dr was called in and decided to use the vacuum to help him out the rest of the way.
after a few agonizing minutes, David was through. I was relieved but started getting nervous when it took the dr so long to stitch me and for David to recover. they believe he was in shock and wisked him away.
After they cleaned everything up they moved me to a room down the hall. it wasn't more than an hour before they brought my baby back to me. we were so excited to have him with us.
we all got to go home on the 23rd and are recovering quickly. the only thing we haven't gotten the hang of is feeding. as soon as David's face touches my skin he goes right to sleep. he's had quite a few bottles so we think he's gotten a little lazy, but still so cute!
