One Week (the 23rd) Update

Our little man is now over a week old & what a joy he has been! I can't stop kissing his little soft cheeks & warm neck. He really is a great baby & doesn't fuss too much unless he is really hungry or I'm taking too long changing his diaper.
Merrick loves the sound of his daddy's voice so Adam will pull out his guitar & serenade Merrick to sleep. Merrick definitely has his daddy's little chin, we think my nose & maybe more of Adam's eyes but I guess it may be a little too soon to tell.
I'm going to type about my labor just so I have it written down before it leaves my mind all too quickly.

The Saturday before Merrick was born Adam & I spent the afternoon walking around downtown & then over to a huge set of stairs by our public library. I was hoping that would help move the labor along. I was getting nervous as my due date was approaching because I had my mother in-law on her way to CA & my mother flying in on Thurs.
Sunday we drove down to Orange County to have dinner with family. My sister in-laws Kim & Courtney went out walking with me after dinner to help start this labor again. I was hoping I would feel something Sunday night but aside from a tight belly I woke up Monday (my due date) feeling just like it was any other day.

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday at 11:45am. When my doctor started to check me I politely asked if she could maybe strip my membranes since I had family coming into town. As she was stripping my membranes she was about to tell me how tight my bag of water was when all of a sudden my water broke!
We both just started laughing & she asked me how I felt about delivering the baby today! Perfect timing on Merrick's part!

The doctor told me I could either go to the hospital right then (but informed me it was very busy & I would most likely have to wait for a room) or I could go home & labor & come back when my contractions were about 4 min. apart. Since I wasn't feeling any contractions at the moment & figured this could be a long process & I chose to go home first. I called Adam, told him I felt great, don't worry about me, go to your meeting & I will call you later this afternoon.

I was home around 12:30 & feeling great. At 2:00pm I called my mom because I started to time my contractions & they were 1 min. long & a couple minutes apart. Just then Adam walked in the door & I was so grateful to see him! Together I labored & he did the timing...by 2:20 we were grabbing our bags & heading out the door.

When we got to the hospital I was definitely in labor & feeling nauseous. Very quickly I "lost" my yogurt & juice that I had to eat that day so the nurses gave me an IV because they were afraid I was dehydrated. They checked me & said I was only 2.5 cm - possibly could stretch me to a 3. I was pretty bummed when I heard that because I had been a 2 for the last 2 weeks & the way I was feeling I was sure I would be at least a 4.

Since my water had already broke the nurses didn't want to check me that often as to not risk an infection. Our doula Nicole showed up & soon after Adam's mom & her husband. The parents were escorted down to the waiting room while Adam, Nicole & I walked the halls. During a contraction I buried my face into Adam's chest, put my arms around his neck & we would sway together - this approach seemed to help the best. After each contraction I would feel so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sit down & close my eyes so I really didn't walk for very long, I just wanted to lay down.

From 3pm to about 6pm I was laboring with Adam & Nicole just trying to breathe through each contraction. Adam had asked the nurse since they weren't going to check me very often how would they know how dilated I was. She said they just go off of the mother & her reaction, she then predicted that I probably wouldn't have the baby until 1 am or so! I heard that comment & just told Adam: "I can't go that long!"

Soon after that I really started to feel the need to push - either push out the baby or something else. I went over to the bathroom but when I didn't need to push the "something else" I knew it was the baby. Through the pain I told Adam & Nicole that "I couldn't do this anymore" & they knew I was serious since that was the first time I had said that all night. Nicole ran out to get a nurse, when the nurse checked me I was a 9!

Very quickly the nurse started to page my Dr. & get the room prepped for delivery. I was a little out of it but when I heard the word "stat" I knew this baby was coming & probably pretty quickly.
My Dr. was not responding to the page so they had to bring in the hospital's midwife to help me deliver. She was with me for the first initial few pushes & then an on-call Dr. came in to finish the labor.
Adam was a little nervous my Dr. was not there to deliver this baby but by this point I could have cared less who was there...he was coming & I was ready! I gave probably a good 8-10 pushes & Merrick was born at 6:51pm after almost 5 hours of total labor.

20 min. after he was born my Dr. came into the room shocked! She was in the O.R. & saw the page but by the time she was finished the baby was here. She & the nurses said that with first deliveries they rarely go that quickly & I was probably 1 out of 100 that labors that fast.

All-in-all I think I had a great labor despite my doctor not being there. Having him without medication was bearable but right after the delivery I was convinced we were only going to have 1 child...how quickly my mind forgets the pain!
It was so special to be able to hold our precious little guy for the first time. His eyes were wide open for so long after he was delivered that I just couldn't stop staring at him. I was so grateful to have Adam there with me laboring, it was so comforting to know he was right by my side the whole time, tickling my arm, rubbing my back, kissing my forehead, etc. Our doula Nicole was wonderful! I think if it was just Adam & I we would have been a little stressed & overwhelmed...who knows, I probably would of had the baby over the toilet if she didn't run out to grab a nurse!