beckett robert Sex: boy Born: 05 February, 2008 Age: 0 years & 172 days Birthday in: 193 days Starsign: Aquarius Development: See the 5 months page. Biggest achievement so far: - making it out into the big world with the help of some very nice doctors, midwives, and nurses!!

Birthstory: My water broke at 7:15 pm or so on February 4, 2008 -- completely unexpected and rather exciting. I told Rob what was going on and he immediately started acting like a Mario Brothers character, binging around the rooms rapidly -- I had a hard time not laughing while I told him we'd probably wait a couple of hours before going to the hospital. He kind of grinned at me and jumped in the shower.

I called my practice and told them what was going on and in about an hour, one of the midwives, Rachel, called me to check on how I was feeling, etc. I told her I felt pretty good, mild contractions coming regularly at around 15 - 20 minutes, and she said as long as I felt good, I could stay home and just let the labor progress. Because my water had broken, though, she did want me to come in after a couple of hours, regardless. I also called my sister, who wanted to be in L&D with us, and my parents who insisted on coming to the hospital, even though I warned them it could be a long night. So Rob and I had some sandwiches and watched TV, and I kept notes about my contractions. About two hours later, the contractions were stronger, more crampy feeling, and I called the practice back. Once Rachel returned my call, I told her I'd feel more comfortable coming in because the contractions were getting closer together, plus I was just soaking the pads, etc. And off we went to the hospital, calling my parents and sister on the way.

We get there, check in, and they wheel me up to triage, where my sister joins us, and we meet up with Rachel, and then we hang out during a NST to just get an idea of how the baby's doing -- fine fine, they take me off the monitor and, after about 30 minutes, during which the contractions have become pretty strong, like the worst period cramp ever times 10, they get me into one of the L&D rooms.

From there the night just went on and on into the morning of the 5th, then into afternoon, and then into another evening. We went through three shifts of midwives and nurses, all of whom were absolutely fantastic and supportive. But the baby had his own plans, I guess, and was in no hurry to come out.

At some point in the morning of the 5th, I asked the second shift midwives, Mary Kay and Sarah, for some narcotics to take the edge off and possibly get some sleep. The only way for me to get through the contractions was on my feet, bent at the waist, with my forhead pressed on the bed, and then in between I'd pace or maybe sit. So by the time I looked for drugs, I was really tired and getting worried I'd be too tired to push. So they put me on a drip and Rob, my sister, and I tried to sleep. But every contraction woke me up, so I didn't really get a whole lot of sleep. None of us did, come to think of it. And my parents and brothers are in the waiting area, camped out with some other familes, like a bunch of soldiers.

The rest of the day of the 5th we spent contracting, harder and harder, and progressing to about a 4-5 (oh lord, that seems like a small return on so much contracting) and in the early evening, at some point, I tell Rob I can't do it without the epidural -- I'm just too tired. So my sister goes out for a smoke and to update my family (still there!) and Rob helps me get through the epidural so now maybe I can, again, sleep and progress and then, finally push. They also decide that to help things along, to hook me up with some pitocin, which should get the contractions going harder and open my cervix.

I notice, at some point, that my left side hurts; I can still feel the contractions. And, one of the nurses, Pam, notices, brow furrowed, that the baby's heart rate goes down, way down, when I'm lying on my left side. So the epidural can't really work effectively unless I move from side to side, but whenever I do, the baby's heart rate goes down and we all worry. And, when they turn up the pitocin too high, the contractions come too close together and the baby doesn't like it.

At last, the third shift midwife, Nomi, checks my progression and we are still at a 4-5 -- nothing for almost 10 hours even with pitocin. I tell Rob that we're going to have to have a c-section -- the heart rate dropping is too scary for me to want to chance it any longer. We tell Nomi what we want to do and I can tell by her face that it's the right thing, even though now I'm beyond exhausted and completely freaked out that the baby's not okay. Rob is totally solid, very calm and supportive, telling my sister what we're doing, calling his sisters and my parents to update them and ask them, finally, to go home, because no matter what time the baby's born, they won't be able to see the baby until the next day anyway.

The gears start moving and before long I'm in surgery and Rob's there all masked up; probably 15 minutes later, at 11:37 pm, ta-daa, I hear, "Here's your baby, look to your left -- it's a boy!" Rob and I are totally speechless, utterly, and we're both smiling like mad behind our masks and trying not to freak out. While they clean the baby up and, apparently, he pees like a fountain all over the place and is hollering like a champ, Rob and I agree on a name: Beckett. "Well, Karen, the baby looks pretty pink and pissed off," the L&D nurse, Pam, reports, and we all laugh like hell. They hand the baby over to Rob who hangs on while the surgeons finish me back up and off we go again to the L&D room.

My sister is wigged out and thrilled and Rob calls my parents at home where they holler and screech and then, after my sister goes home, we all try to sleep, first in the L&D for a few hours and then in the room. WHEW. So, it turns out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Beckett's shoulders and this is what was causing the heart rate slowdown every time I turned on my left side. So, even if we'd chosen to go on a few more hours, we might have had the c-section, but by then it would have been an emergency. UGH. So, much dramz, but in the end, everyone is okay. YAY!

Beckett comes home from the hospital - woohoo, we're out and about, world!

Hearing daddy's music for the first time (Back to Mine - Everything but the Girl)

Practicing tummy time - aren't you impressed by how strong I am?

I always look really happy after I eat :)

Trying out my new bouncie chair -- it's tres cool, no?

Looking oh so peaceful

Sleeping like a pea in a pod

Happy St. Pats!

Dressed for Easter in my fly monkey hoodie!

My aunt Cora gave me this thing... that I don't like.

I'm 2 months old - yahoo!

I crack myself (and my Mom) up!