Birthstory!

Well we decided to keep our 6 am appointment at Labor and Delivery. Still no contractions. Since they were expecting me, check in was a breeze- only a couple of minutes. The lady at check in asked if my water had broken at home. Elton had called to inquire about wireless internet @ the hospital and blown my cover. Lucky for him- it didn't delay anything. I refused the wheelchair and we went to L&D. They got me right into a room and I changed into my lovely hospital gown. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 4. Still no contractions and they started an IV of pictocin. I had mixed emotions about that- didn't want the hard contractions but didn't want to be there all day either. Still no contractions, only a little mild cramping. At 7 there was a shift change and I got the best nurse in the world: Tonya Corl. She asked how I wanted my labor. I of course told her quick and painless and she offered to get my epidural going. I was a little leery about that- I've heard of epidurals wearing off before you have to push and that you have to time them carefully. She put my mind to ease and said that it would continually administer the medicine until the turned it off. The anesthesiologists were there quickly. They kept talking and it was relatively painless- felt like a bee sting. Sooo much better than contractions! This epidural was totally different than the one I had with Brianna- I could still feel my legs, they felt warm and tingly like they were asleep, I could still feel pressure (when it came time to push). Pressure but no pain. With Brianna my legs were completly dead- no sensation, couldn't tell when I was having contractions, and couldn't really tell how to push.

Shawn was doing his typical "Opossum" act- kept running away from the heart monitor. They ended up having to put a monitor on his head- didn't feel that either. They tried to put one on pre-epidural b/c he kept trying to get away= that was PAINFUL! Dr. Hanson (bless his heart) decided to wait.

Labor consisted of a rather full house, Elton's mom Doris was there, Dad and Janet were there, and Chris, Katherine, and Brianna. Brianna was obviously intimidated being at the hospital. She stood back and waved at me. I called her over and put her on the bed with me and that made her feel better. That didn't last long- you can't keep her still and then the kids entertained themselves by eating all of the "labor lollipops" the hospital provides. She came over once or twice to hold my hand. Grandpa took them to the cafeteria - my kids are always ready to eat!

The hospital staff was great- they pretty much just left us alone, and didn't say anything about us having twice the allowed # of people in the delivery room. After a while I started feeling some pressure and called the nurse into check me. She said I was a big 9- only a tiny piece of stubborn cervix left. She called everyone back in, told them they could stay 5 more minutes and then they would have to clear out. After everyone left, she told me to let her know if the pressure increased. Well Elton and I ended up falling asleep and had a nice little half hour nap. Tonya came back in and said we could either sleep some more or she would go ahead and check me. Of course I opted to go ahead and be checked. She said I was a 10 and that the babys head was "right there" she was surprised I couldn't feel it. She said give a practice push and then she called in Dr. Hanson. I only had to push 4 or 5 times and Shawn was out! 11:57 am.He scored 9's on both his Apgar tests. He weighed 7 lbs. 11oz, and is 20" long. He has lots of super soft spiky brown hair and blue eyes. He is perfect!

I had to recover for an hour and then they took me to my room- 224. We had quite a few visitors, and Chris spent the night with me. That turned out really well- he was actually quite willing to wait on me, and very helpful. He kept complaining about how much Shawn wanted to eat- he just wanted to hold him. His first words this morning were "Where's my baby?" ;0)

We've been home about 4 hours now and he has been wonderful! It is such an adjustment having a little boy again. Our other baby boy is 15, and 6'4! We keep slipping up- I keep calling him pretty ( he is!) and Elton called him a princess! Guess we are too used to baby girls!

We are all so excited about Shawn finally being here! The girls are being great big sisters- always wanting to hold him. Brianna announces every little noise he makes and defended him! I called him a little piggy (he's using me for a pacifier already!) and Bri quickly corrected me "He's NOT a piggy, he's Shawn Thomas, he's my baby!". Katherine in her sweet maternal way always strokes him and gives him kisses. I was gathering up a load of wash (making sure we get rid of any residual hospital germs) and had left Shawn sleeping on the bed. Katherine was playing on the computer, heard him wimper, ran over popped the pacy in his mouth, and made sure he went back to sleep. She told me all about it when I walked back in the room and proudly announced "I am GOOD!" ;0)