On Wednesday evening, my water broke at work. I thought I'd peed my pants. We went to the hospital and to my astonishment, they confirmed that it wasn't pee, but my water had actually broken. They admitted me at around 9:00 p.m. My contractions were consistent- two to three minutes apart- and it was the worst pain of my life. They FINALLY gave me an epidural at 10:30. It took them an hour to put the epidural in. Apparently, my ligaments were closer together than the average persons, so it was difficult for her to get the needle in the right spot. I had progressed from three centimeters to five in an hour and a half, so they assumed he was coming. WRONG! I had to lay there on my nine-month-pregnant stomach for an hour, contracting and feeling like I wanted to puke from pain. FINALLY, she got the epidural in (after five tries), and I wanted to kiss everyone in the room. It was the best feeling ever. I was able to relax, calm myself down, and get excited. The epidural is a major reason why I want to have kids again. I hate needles, but the epidural was worth getting poked.
I stopped progressing after the epidural. They gave me to option of having pitocin or waiting until the morning to see how I progressed. I chose to wait and see if I could progress on my own... bit that didn't work out. At this point in time, we had my mom sleeping on two chairs pushed together, Tyler's dad sleeping in a rocking chair (sawing logs), Tyler was on the couch, and Tyler's mom was on the floor. At five a.m., they decided to induce me with pitocin. I was still only at five centimers at that point. At six o'clock, they gave me the pitocin, and by 8:30 I was at ten centimeters plus three. They had to wait for the doctor to get there. They asked me not to push, but the contractions were making that impossible. When the doctor finally showed up (around 9 o'clock) I pushed four times, and then they asked me to wait because he was still getting dressed into his scrubs. He didn't have time to dress into his scrubs, because the baby's head popped out on it's own. I had a contraction- I didn't push, it just happened. I started yelling "I didn't push, I didn't push!"
I started crying as they placed him on my belly. He was beautiful. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was so perfect. He was pink and had lots of soft, dark hair. He was screaming loudly, but he calmed down when I finally held him. Tyler and I cried tears of joy as we gazed upon our amazing creation. Tyler says that he is his favorite person in the whole world. I'll gladly take second :)
Here are his stats:
Name: Zander Scott Spence
Weight: 7 pounds 6 ounces
Length: 19 inches
Head: 13 inches
We took him home today. I love holding him, sniffing his sweet baby smell, and gazing at his perfection. We're excited and exhausted.
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!! WOO HOO! I'm so excited :) Excited for you guys to experience parenthood, excited Zander is happy and healthy, excited I'm an uncle again, excited for our expanding families... way to go, mom and dad. You guys are my favorite to hang out with, and now we have one more huge (7.5 lbs) reason to visit even more often!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you and Tyler. I know you're already great parents. The only unsolicitied advice I can give you is: Ha ha! Who needs advice? You'll figure it out. That's half the fun/misery!
I love you guys and miss you. I want to come over in a couple of weeks, if you're around. See you then?
Cameron
Congrats mommy! and just in time for mothers day too. Enjoy every minute of it - it goes by so fast... and thanks for the quick blog update!
ReplyDeleteMy eyes are still all watery so it's hard for me to see what I'm typing! Zander is so beautiful. All of your pictures are beautiful. It sounds like you had a pretty smooth delivery for the most part (minus the epideral fiasco!). Thanks for getting me even more excited to have my baby. I can't wait to get all our little ones together sometime.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Momma!! You did a fantastic job :)
Tammy and Tyler CONGRATULATIONS!!!! He is adorable!! Can't wait to see him and hold him.
ReplyDeleteYAY FOR ZANDER!!! WE love him! I think it's so funny that in the middle of labor, with his head already out, you're yelling, "I didn't push!" You funny.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew's a doll. I think it's funny because both Paquita and Jesus said he looks like Arabella ;-) Funny, huh?
I can't wait to talk to you. I'm so impressed that you posted this. Nice work. Anyway, welcome to Mommydome. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!
Congratulations Tammy and Tyler:
ReplyDeleteZander was excited to meet you, too! He is beautiful and strong. He was so curious, trying to open his eyes to look around and you are a lovely family together. I hear he sleeps well. May heaven pour its blessings upon you and yours. Happy Mother's Day.
Jo and Grant
Woo Hoo! He is such a cutie. I loved being able to see both you and Tyler fall even more in love with him the last few days. You are a wonderful mother. He's such a doll, too. He is the perfect combo of the two of you.
ReplyDeleteSo when are you going to post the video of you giving birth? ;)
¡Enhorabuena! Congratulations to all three of you!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing?! To have something you actually made yourselves without factories or shops or anything like that? I guess Karl Marx forgot about baby making when considering his theory of alienation, because this is the one thing nobody can take away from you: the fact that you brought something so beautiful into the world.
Now, tell me. When you looked at Zander for the first time and he stared at you... did you see that something you can't quite place that reminds you of yourselves? Like a gesture, a slight glimpse. I found that most thrilling.
Again, well done guys!
Congrats Tammy Jo! Troy, Jack, and I are so proud of you, and happy for you and Tyler! Being a mommy to a boy is so fun; I'm so excited for you.
ReplyDeleteSniff