Wyatt's Arrival

Here is the story of Wyatt's arrival into the world. I will try to keep it brief and G-rated for those reading this who aren't my nurse friends :) Besides, I know you really just came here to see the pics :) First, here is my final belly pic before heading to the hospital (39 weeks, 6 days):

Derek and I checked into the hospital on Thursday evening after enjoying our "last" dinner at Fazoli's. We got settled into our labor and delivery room and I got hooked up to the monitors. The contration monitor showed that I was having contractions about every 8 minutes, which was news to me because I didn't really notice them! The resident checked me and I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and started the Cytotec medication (pill placed up against the cervix to help it soften/dilate) at 7pm. The plan was to leave the medication in place for 4 hours, check cervx again and redose every 4 hours based on progress. Within 20 minutes of placing the med, I started having contractions regularly every 2-3 minutes! I started to feel them a little more, but they were still tolerable at that point.

At 11 pm I got up to the bathroom before I was due to be checked and get more meds and my water broke! The resident checked and I was at 3cm. They decided not to do any more medication at that point and see how I progressed. After my water broke, the contractions started to get more painful, so I got a dose of Nubain. The Nubain made me feel dizzy and more sleepy but didn't really take away the pain. It also made Wyatt sleepy, his heartrate fell to the 120's from the 150's. He seemed to be doing ok, just sleepy. By about 1:30 am, the contrations were really painful, I was dilated to 4cm so we decided to go ahead and do the epidural. Derek stayed in the room for it, and did great :) It really wasn't bad at all compared to the pain of the contractions! The relief after it took effect was heavenly! I could still feel the contrations but they were tolerable and I could talk and even rest! I was checked again around 4am and had progressed to 6 cm. The effects of the Nubain were finally wearing off and Wyatt's heartrate was back to normal. We tried to rest a little and planned to have the resident check me again at 6:30. Then around 5:45 am, I started having really intense back pain. The nurse called the anesthesiologist to give me more meds. The resident was in another delivery and wasn't able to check me right away. The nurse went ahead and checked me and we found out why I was having so much pain...I was at 10cm and Wyatt was ready to come out! My doctor was still 30 minutes away, so I got more pain meds and waited for her to get there. I started pushing around 6:45 (this is where I will spare you the details ;)) and Wyatt entered the world at 8:03 am on his due date, healthy and perfect! Hearing him cry for the first time was the best sound!

6 lbs. 12 oz. 21 in. long

Family of 3!!