Foster is here!! A Birth Story

Baby is here! 

I was dilated to a 4 at my Wednesday appointment so we scheduled my induction for the next day, Thursday September 13, at 5:30 am.They started my pitocin around 7am and broke my water around 9. The anesthesiologist came at 9:30 because he had a full schedule for the day so I got my epidural while dilated to a 5. Getting the epidural so early was a huge change from my labor with Archer. I was in pain as soon as they broke my water and stayed that way until noon or so when I was finally dilated enough to get an epidural. This time around I felt very little pain, just mild crampiness. The epi made me sleepy so I napped off and on all day. 

Around 2:45 the nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 9.5. I told her I was starting to feel pain again so the anesthesiologist came back and gave me a bolus of meds so I was completely numb again. The doctor arrived at 3:30 and prepped the room. I pushed 4 times on my first contraction starting at 3:45. Then my doctor said something funny and I laughed and he slid down a little so the doctor said to laugh again and he started coming out on his own, so I basically pushed 4 times and he was out at 3:47pm. (We were racing with the girl in the room next door and won! lol) 

Baby's First Picture

Baby was 9 lbs, 3 oz; 21 inches long; 14.5 in head. He was BIG! But I knew he was going to be big.

We kept it quiet because we knew it was going to be a crazy day and weren't sure (obviously) how long it would take to be in a recovery room. It's a good thing too because we didn't get him back from the nursery until 9pm. I'm definitely not pleased with the nursery staff, to say the least.

Recovery has been awesome. I feel so much better, less physically exhausted, less sore, just better overall than I did with Archer. I only took 2 pain pills and a few motrin at the hospital. I've been taking a few more at home because my back is really stiff, but it's not painful. My stitches aren't super painful and I even left the dermaplast at the hospital lol.
 

I've been up and around since 2 hours after his birth and even cooked dinner yesterday. I'm impressed with how my body handled labor this time around. Other than the pain I'm down 17 lbs and can fit my pre-pregnancy jeans. 

But I must say, I wish it had been this easy the first time, I might not have waited so long. :) I told Chance that and he just looked at me like I was nuts, so I guess that's a no on any future tries.