A Baby Story

I thought I should blog about the birth of the newest addition to our family. I was awakened at about 1:30 am by a contraction. I went to the bathroom and quickly realized that it was time to go to the hospital. I woke Rich up, and we were off and running. Well, not exactly running.

I was, of course, very worried and nervous because I was only 33 weeks and 5 days along. I didn't even have time to pack a bag. We arrived at the hospital just after 2 am, and checked in. When they checked me I was at a 4, and then quickly progressed to completion. They also changed rooms on us 3 times during the labor and delivery phase. My contractions were pretty hard, and they didn't give me an epidural until I was at about a 6. I think I was at about an 8 before it started to make a difference.

Because Connor was a preemie, they had me deliver in the OR, where they had a pass through window straight to the NICU. Just before they wheeled me in, they gave me a super dose in my epidural. My OB arrived just in time to wheel me to the OR and deliver the baby. I only pushed for about 10 minutes. He was born at 4:54 am, and weighed a very healthy 5 lbs 6 oz.

For most of the rest of the day, I learned what it was like to be paralyzed. I could not move or feel my legs for most of the day. I finally got to go see Connor at 4:00pm.

He was doing pretty good. He started on a CPAP machine to help keep his lungs inflated. By the time we got there, he was off the CPAP and was breathing with a high pressure tube.

He is our beautiful little boy, and is doing very well. We hope to be able to take him home soon. Stay tuned for status updates. Here are some pictures: