The day Jamie was born
He was due on October 7, 2006. The morning of Tuesday, September 26, I woke up feeling contractions at about 5:00. I waited a few minutes before waking Bryan. This birth was going to be a little more complicated than our first - for one thing, we needed someone to watch Rees while we were at the hospital. Bob & Maryanne had volunteered to be “on call” for the task. Also, Rees was born on a Sunday, so I wasn’t concerned about stopping the world that morning for what I thought was going to be the big day. Since this time around was a Tuesday, Bryan would miss work, so I wanted to make sure it was the real thing. After about an hour and a half or so, I was sure. We started to get ready to go to the hospital. Bryan called work and also his parents. I called my mom. Bob came to get Rees, and we went to the hospital.
I had been nearly fully effaced for a few weeks, but only dilated to a two or three. When we arrived at the hospital, I was dilated to a five, so they got me all hooked up to the monitors and said I was there to stay. Soon my mom arrived. It was about that time that my labor slowed, so the nurse suggested I walk and move around for a while. The contractions were strong, but I felt fine between them, so I didn’t feel the need for pain management. My nurse (Heather) checked me at about 12:00 and I was dilated to an eight. She said that if I wanted an epidural, we’d better do it right away, so we did. It went smoothly, even though it was very stressful for me. Soon, Dr P arrived and happily hung out at the nurses station, checking up on me from time to time. Around 1:00, they broke my water, and by 1:45 it was time to push.
Having learned some lessons from Rees’s birth, Dr P and I decided on an episiotomy after just one or two pushes. James was born very quickly, around 2:00, weighing a healthy eight pounds, three ounces (ten days early!). No signs of jaundice or tongue-tie like his brother - just a happy, chubby baby with a big head. Bob and Maryanne brought Rees to the hospital soon after to meet Baby Jamie. Rees didn’t quite know what to do or think, but I think he had the feeling that things were about to change big-time.
More pictures here.
Add comment May 14th, 2007
