Labor and Delivery

Saturday March 7th: Went for a nice Thai dinner with my husband- as we walked home I said this might be the last time there would be just two of us at dinner! 11:30 water breaks! Tony and I pack up and after calling the doctor head outside to hale a cab. Arrive at the hospital and get checked- water was for sure broken- get situated and checked into our birthing room.

Sunday March 8th: I did not sleep one wink. I was just watching the chart checking to see if any contractions were coming. Tony tried to sleep in an uncomfortable chair and maybe got 2-3 hours. After waiting and waiting for something to start happening naturally, the nurses finally gave me some pitocin to get things started. Contractions started coming about 5 minutes apart but I didn't really even notice them- they would 'up' my pitocin level about every 30 minutes. At about 4pm I started to feel something happening- contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, the pain was not unbearable but I wanted to get checked. I was only 3 centimeters dilated- darn! I ended up getting my epidural, which didn't hurt at all for me. About 6pm we had Jodi, Tony, Wryder, and Caitlin come for a visit. After they left the nurse said I needed to keep switching sides I was laying on b/c the baby was having hard time. Finally about 9:45 they checked me and I was fully dilated. I went from a 4 to a 10 in about an hour! It was time to push but I could not feel my legs. The nurse and doctor just sat on the edge of the bed and told me when to push. We did this for about 35 minutes until the head had come down enough for some serious pushing. They broke the bed apart and prepared for delivery. Tony was holding one leg and the nurse the other- baby was born at 12:02 on Monday 3-9-09.

Monday March 9th: Baby Aldo finally made it into the world. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. After getting cleaned we finally moved into another room at 3:30am. I tried to nurse and sleep through the night.

Monday-Wednesday: These days were all a little blurry- visitors came and went. Feeding came and went every 2 hours. Aldo had jaundice so he was under the lights getting a tan. I will bear you all the other after birth side effects!! Finally at 6pm on Wednesday we were discharged!

Things have been a learning experience for sure but worth every ache and pain. We are trying to get settled into our little life as a family. Luckily we had Tony's mom here since leaving the hospital and a guest appearance from her sister Chris! My mom and dad come a week from Wednesday and can't wait to get here. After that we have a steady stream of visitors until the middle of April, which I am looking forward too. Well better go take a nap- as they say I should sleep when the baby sleeps!! Love you all and will post lots of pictures later. (If you are on facebook that's where they are!)