Mmmmmmmommy

I'm back. I feel like blogging. Finally!

I have a little guy sleeping next to me as I type this. He's in his REM sleep cycle, which means that he flails his little arms around and makes cute baby noises. Apparently that's how babies' REM sleep cycles are. I have a lot to learn.

So where do I begin? I'll start on April 15th, when I went to get checked by my midwife. I had progressed to about 2 cm and was 80 percent effaced. I knew that I wanted her to deliver my baby, as opposed to any of the other doctors in the practice I go to. Not because I don't love all the doctors there, because I do. It's just that I had developed a great relationship with my midwife. So...we set a date for induction for Saturday, the 19th because my midwife was scheduled to be on call at the hospital that day. Woot!

So I ended up starting my maternity leave that Thursday the 17th to give myself a couple of days to get ready, do some things for myself, that kind of stuff. I even got a manicure. When I went out in public and people would ask when I was due, they looked a little scared when I told them.

Brian and I went out for a fun dinner on April 18th and I started to get nervous. I hadn't really been nervous for labor prior to that. I guess it just hit me all at once. I had to get up at about 4:30 the next morning, so I'm glad I got nervous so close to my induction.

We got to the hospital at 5:45 on Saturday morning and I was admitted a little after 6. I started the Pitocin at 7 a.m., and started feeling contractions an hour or so later. No big deal. Well, at least at first. Once the contractions got a bit stronger, I asked very nicely for my epidural, which they were more than happy to give me.

Good stuff.

I slept for about three hours after I got that bad boy. In my head I was all, "Labor? No big deal! I could do this every day!" That is, until it came time to push. Not that it was bad, but it was so much more exhausting than I imagined it would be. I pushed for a little bit, and it was determined that the little man's head was face up instead of face down. So they had me lay on my side for about an hour to see if he would flip down. He did!

Then the real pushing began. I swear, I am really proud of myself for not cussing anyone out. I was surprisingly calm. I remember when little man started to crown, my midwife and Brian commented on the fact that they could see his hair. And I kept saying, "Are you sure it's not pubic hair? Are you sure it's not pubic hair?" (Because, let's face it, I hadn't really kept up with the grooming down there. Ahem.)

Just as he was crowing, my epidural started to wear off. Wowsers. That hurt. I said that I didn't think I could do it anymore. I felt like I was going to split apart. But the anesthesiologist came in and gave me more and I was able to finish what I had started. I was surprised that once his little head came out, his body followed so quickly! And I was not in the least bit surprised to hear that it was a boy! I just knew it. I knew it all along.

I can really describe what it was like when they put him on my chest, but I just felt like I had known this little guy all my life. Tucker Scott. We had picked out the name awhile before. It was literally the only boy name we could agree on. Here he is:

I am completely in love with him. The past couple of weeks have gone by so quickly that I can't actually believe it. I don't even know where the time has gone. I spend a lot of it staring at him because I can't believe he's here and that he's mine. Here's another couple of photos for your enjoyment.