Due Date!

Proud Mama taking Jackson home on Saturday April 12!

Home with Mom and Dad!!

Today was supposed to be D-day, but lucky for our family, Jackson came into the world 5 days ago and we are already safe at home and have had our first check-up with the pediatrician--all is well.

I am not even going to attempt to be as an impressive blogger as Adam, but I will at least post my "side of the story".

I was very hesitant to go to the hospital on Wednesday night because I had already decided I did not want to ever have to go to the hospital and then be discharged because I was in false labor. And having been to the doctor just about 24 hours before without any indication that the end was in sight I really had my doubts. So almost against my will, we took a hospital bag and Adam left his books and we headed for the hospital at arrived at about 11:30. I was now having contractions about 5-8 minutes apart for almost 3 hours. They checked to see if I had made any progress and I was dilated to a 2. Based on that I at least felt good that something had been happening and that even if they discharged I had made progress.
At 12: 15 the Dr. came in and said Jackson's heart rate had dropped a couple of times during the contractions and they would like to go ahead and admit me--SWEET! Life was good, I didn't have to go home, and I knew the baby was on his way. The hospital Dr. called my OB and he said to monitor to me until about 4 or 5 in the morning and then they would do something to augment the labor. I knew it was going to be a looooong night.

By 2:o0am they finally took me to the Labor and Delivery room and gave me an epidural--best part of the night hands down! Adam stayed with me in the room until about 3 and then ran home for an hour to get a few last minute things together before the baby came. 4:30 and they checked me again, I was dialated to a 4. They decided to go ahead and break my water hoping we we could get things moving a little faster. I was hoping I would have the baby by 7 or 8 am.

To my dismay 8:30am arrived along with my OB, he checked my progress and said I made it to 9 but my cervix still need to thin. He assured me he would be back after clinic. The next few hours were significantly less "fun" than the previous 10 hours. I developed a fever that was I think about 102, but body was shivering uncontrollably. My epidural dosage was off and I was feeling very uncomfortable. They eventually figured it out, gave me some antibiotics and I was finally able to fade in and out of sleep for an hour or so before my OB came back noon and I started pushing (Note: I woke up at 6:00am Wednesday morning and it is now noon the following day!). I was a little stressed about pushing knowing my body was feeling week and tired after fighting the fever and being up all night. Jackson hadn't dropped all the way down so it took quite a bit of pushing to get him down--an hour and half before he starting crowing. Adam was a wonderful coach as he stood by my side and counted me through the contractions. I had 2 wonderful nurses that were so encouraging and supportive during the entire 2 hours. He was finally born at 2:03 pm weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 inches long. He was born with a fever so Adam and I held him for a few minutes and then Adam went with the nurses and took him to the nursery to be monitored.

It was so fun to hold him for the first time and see his beautiful wide eyes open and looking at his bright new world. He wasn't fussing or crying just looking around. I couldn't believe I had done it. When pushing seemed hard I thought to myself, don't go to all this work and then have to have a c-section---KEEP PUSHING! I was thrilled that I made it through and only teared at a level 1.--Sorry if this was more than you wanted to know, but I figure if you have made it this far you must be a pretty close friend.

Despite the fever, all is well and there were no further complications after his temperature came down. We feel so blessed to have a healthy baby and are so grateful for all the support we have received as we begin this new journey with Jackson Keith Reynolds!