May 19th, Its a boy! Due September 28! we are really excited.

August 18, Put up pictures of the nursery. Saw my doctor. Apparently I am growing a BIG baby. We talked about possibly inducing a week or two early so he isnt too big to deliver. Blah. But, I guess that means I will have my baby sooner... still induction is a little scary. Has anyone been induced?

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September 1st. Finally September is here! Baby month. My doctor thinks he would like to induce between week 38-39 which would be the 14th to the 21st. I am excited, nervous and just totally exhausted of being pregnant! So, lets meet that baby! I have to wait 2 more weeks. Hopefully I can hang in there, or maybe he'll come out on his own before than becuase he is so big.

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BIRTH STORY

We arrived at the hospital for a scheduled induction September 21^st (since we suspected our baby was quite large). I was exactly 39 weeks. It took them an hour or so to hook us up and I found out I wasn’t getting pitocin. Instead my doctor inserted a pill of cervidil at 9:15am. I was 1.5 cm and baby was –1 and I was 85% dilated I had to lie there while it dissolved for an hour. I was convinced this pill was garbage and they said if the pill didn’t put me in labor by 5pm I would get sent home. My husband and I walked the 4^th floor hallways every half hour between blood pressure checks trying to make something happen. Nothing happened except a few stomach cramps. Suddenly at noon I got a bad stomach cramp and the monitor registered I actually had a contraction about 10 minutes apart. At 1pm the doctor came in to check my progress. I was nervous I was going home. He said had made it to 2-3 cm and decided he would break my water. (This was painless although I was convinced it would be). My doctor said I would deliver by 9pm. I was shocked! YEA we were having our baby.

He also said to order my epidural because I would be in serious pain in minutes. (I didn’t believe him). He left and I went to the bathroom. OH MY GOODNESS. I couldn’t leave the bathroom. It was contraction after contraction. I think I was in there crying quietly for 30 minutes. Then the epidural arrived. It was awkward to crunch up my back but James helped me. The contractions were coming every minute and a half and lasting a minute (so 30 seconds of recovery). WOW labor was hard. Suddenly the epidural was in (a very simple procedure!) and the pain was GONE. It was 2:15. So I labored for a maximum of an hour. I loved that man so much!

So the next 4 hours I watched movies like a couch potato. I felt like I was on a long haul flight in first class. I knew my baby was coming and I felt great! Got a new nurse at 4pm (Kim). I was worried Kim would be mean since she looked business like, I was very wrong. I loved Kim.

At 6pm my doctor checked me and I was 9cm. WOW fast. He said I would probably start pushing at 7pm and like before the baby would be here at 9pm. He said first time moms with an epidural would be 2-3 hours of pushing (doesn’t that sound awful). He asked me if I had ever run a marathon. I said no, but that I liked to play squash a lot and I thought that was pretty intense. He said squash was not a very vigorous game (This put some fire in me). The nurse went to get something at 6:45 and I told my husband I needed to PUSH NOW. It was a deeply ingrained animal instinct. I was in tears because I had to wait. It was so powerful. Kim came back and said we could start at 7pm. I pushed so hard and tried to hold myself in a semi squat with my hands behind me. The pushing was hard and tiring but I had loads of energy from lounging around all day. LOTS AND LOTS of pressure. The contractions slowed down and that animal feeling comes over you to push every time one starts. Then you recover. My husband thinking we had lots of time had ordered dinner and left to retrieve it. He returned to the room at 7:20. I had made lots of progress and him being gone made it easier for me to be really intense. I was so focused. I made him take the smelly food away, turn off lights and at one point I announced to my husband (think of Nascar when the car comes in, I need water, wipe my forehead) He was a champ. At 7:35 my doctor returned from dinner in shock. He alarmed for a baby nurse! He said the baby was ready. He encouraged me a lot and I pushed even harder. At 7:46 I was in severe pain or pressure or something. It felt so wrong. This was his head. At 7:48 some relief and then at 7:50 Henry Harrison was born. He was HUGE 9lbs and 9oz. (I pushed that giant out in 50 minutes, everyone was shocked) There was some fluid in his lungs so the took him away to check him in the nursery. I was crushed. The placenta came next (which was totally painless) and I had a small tear which the doctor then stitched (this also was totally painless). I lay there whimpering in shock. The labor had been so successful, but I wanted my baby so badly. Eventually I got him. I love my big baby so much.

My advice to moms: Don’t let anyone tell you can’t have a big baby! Push harder than you ever have (its worth it) and get that epidural as fast as possible (its wonderful). Don’t try to be a hero for anyone. Just focus. It is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. It is not as bad as people told me, and not as painful at all.