Joshua has arrived! He is now about a week and a half old (plus those 9 months). We have survived our first full week here at home. Although Tim and I are both very tired, it has been a blessed week. But let me back up at give you some details.
Tuesday August 23rd I woke up with a lot of energy and my house chores were already done, so instead of wasting all that "nesting" energy, I packed up all my paper and stamps and headed to my parent's house to make cards with my mom. The next day, Wednesday the 24th, my water broke at home at about 3:30pm. Halleluia! I calmly walked into Tim's office and told him to remain calm as well but we needed to go to the hospital now. So Tim began loading the car as I made sure Coco was outside with food and water, the AC was off, all the doors were locked, etc.
When we got to the hospital they examined me and found that although my water had broke I was still only 2 cm dilated (where I had been for the past few weeks) and my contractions were still very mild. So we began the routine we had been doing for weeks: let's walk this baby out! Slowly my contractions began to become stronger in intensity and frequency but I still was not dilating. I think Tim and I walked the hallways of the maternity ward for about four hours. It was the only thing that helped me with the pain.
But a new dilemma was fast approaching: I was becoming exhausted. My doctor came in to check me at about 11pm and after finding that I still had made only very little progress, I might want to consider starting a pitocin drip to increase my contractions and hopefully encourage further dilation. Knowing what I know as a nurse, I knew that a pitocin drip would also increase the pain of the contractions as it increased the intensity. They were already pretty painful and I had not had any medical intervention at that point. So, I asked to sit in the jacuzzi tub hoping to relieve some pain and get some rest for a while.
After about 45 minutes in the jacuzzi I had to get out. The warm water was not relieving any pain, only slowing the frequency of the contractions. So I got out and told the nurse of my new plan of attack. I told her that if my doctor wanted to start a pitocin drip that I wanted an epidural and a shot of nubane in the mean time while we waited for the on-call anesthesiologist to arrive. Well, after I got all settle in my room again the nurse came in for another exam and found that I had progressed from 3 cm to 5 cm on my own while in the jacuzzi. The pitocin order was cancelled so we could see if I would continue to progress on my own. I still got the nubane shot and kept the order for the epidural.
The nubane shot worked well. I still had pain with my contractions but it really took the edge off. The down side was that it made me feel like I was tipsy. I had a hard time focusing and following directions and I had no sense of equilibrium. Fortunately the anesthesiologist came soon, placed the epidural and I actually was able to sleep for a few hours. I didn't feel the contractions at all.
When I woke up a few hours later, the nurse checked me again and found I had progressed to 7cm! Yay! She called my doctor and he said to check again in a few hours. At that time I was 9cm and it was time for some "practice" pushes. My nurse said I did so well with those that we would keep going. At that time it was about 9am. I had been in labor all night and it was soon to be over. The epidural was still working; I wasn't really feeling the pain of the contractions. What I was feeling now was the pressure beginning to build in my pelvis.
I do have to say that I was truly blessed by such a great labor team. My nurse Sierra was a great encouragement and having both Tim and my mom help me with pushing and providing love was great. Of course, I appreciate all my doctor did for me as well. And at 10:38 am, after nearly one hour and 40 minutes of pushing and 19 total hours of labor, Joshua was born! He was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long with his umbilical cord wrapped loosely around his neck about 4 times. He was just fine though, just a wiggle worm in my tummy.
We stayed at the hospital two extra nights and came home Saturday afternoon, the 27th. Tim's mom came to stay with us for a few days and was a huge help! We went to Joshua's first doctor's appointment on Friday and he is already 10 ounces more than his birth weight! He's a happy, healthy, growing boy. Tim and I are doing well. Mostly just tired but not exhausted. We went back to church yesterday and Josh did really well. It was so nice to be back in fellowship again.
All in all, everyone is doing well. It's a steep learning curve for all three of us but God's grace, peace and comfort are getting us through. Joshua has an online baby book that was created at the hospital. You can view it
here Below are some picture that have been taken over the last week.
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| Tim, me, Joshua, Dr. Mellum and Sierra (mom is taking the picture) What a great team! |
Joshua just minutes after being born
proud Daddy
Mommy and Joshua
brand new baby
happy Molter family
my handsome man (takes after Daddy)
Time to go home
Coco thinks she is Joshua's protector
Already reading the Bible with Dad
One cool dude out for his first walk in the park
Mommy's precious little boy asleep after feeding
Mommy loves me (kiss mark on his cheek)
