The contractions weren't really getting any closer together, but boy were they getting more painful. I definitely got to the point of where I couldn't talk to anyone during them and I definitely couldn't move during them. Now I know what she meant about the contractions being painful lol. I wasn't sure how long I would have and I considered still sending Mike to at least Sacrament so that he could find someone to teach his class. Pretty soon it was obvious that wasn't going to happen so he had to call around to find a sub. About 10, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer and we headed up to the hospital. When we were leaving, Jasper didn't want anything to do with me :( It completely broke my heart. I didn't want to leave him, knowing that he wouldn't be the only one anymore. I cried the entire way to the hospital hoping that he would forgive me for bringing someone else home to take away his mommy's attention.
When we got to the hospital around 10:30, we were taking upstairs by the nurse who was going to be with us for the day. Her name was Lori and she had been delivering babies for 20 years but boy she didn't look like it at all! She was super nice and cracked jokes the entire time. When she checked me, I was already a 4 and 80% effaced (what?! my cervix was actually behaving! She asked me if I wanted an epidural (yes!) and by 11:30, the anesthesiologist was in the room ready to go. Ugh I hated him!! He was absolutely horrible. He wasn't paying any attention to me at all (seriously, he just talked to the nurse) and didn't tell me what was going on. And then he got upset with me when I would jump when he poked me! Seriously? And to make things even worse, when it was all over, he was upset because it took him longer to do it than his "normal." It was like he was trying to race himself and do it as fast as he could. If I was a different person (and not heavenly grateful for the pain relief he gave me) I would have said something. I still might call the hospital and complain if I knew his name...
Once the medication set in, I was good. Mom got to the hospital a little before 12 (she had to wait for dad to get there) and we sat and waited. There was a point where I started to get sick to my stomach and light headed. Turns out that because of the way I was laying, the epidural was going up my back. She sat me up, gave me some oxygen and after 5 mins or so, I was all better. She thought maybe I was getting close because I was pooping (a nasty side effect of the baby coming down the birth canal) and my water had broken. Talk about a mess! She checked me and I was already a 7 (woohoo!).
Around 1, I noticed that the baby's heart rate was dropping a little. The nurse came in and again asked me if there was pressure (not that I could tell) and moved me to a different position that the baby liked better. Poor guy was getting squished. She checked me again and I was already a 9 so she called the doctor.
Around 1:40, the doctor arrived meet me. My actual doctor wasn't on call (go figure ugh) but the guy who was going to deliver the baby was amazing. His name is David Damian and he was super nice. He went to go scrub up and I started pushing. Within 1 push, they could already see him. A couple of more pushes and the doctor was there to catch. 1 more push and the baby's head was out and he was screaming his head off. 1 more push and he was out at 1:49 pm. They wrapped him up and handed him to me right away which didn't happen with Jasper since he was preemie. The doctor handed Mike some scissors and was going to get him to cut the cord, but Mike chickened out. I couldn't help thinking how huge this little guy was and how the heck had he fit inside me!! They took him away for a little bit to clean him up and to the let the doctor deliver the afterbirth. Luckily, I didn't rip or tear and didn't need any stitches. My nurse and doctor did an AMAZING job! The whole labor (starting to get bad at about 7 that morning) only lasted 7 hrs!
After he was all cleaned off, they brought him over to me again. I got to try to nurse right away! This little dude was starving and latched on right off the bat. He nursed for 50 minutes straight!! Of course, I'm not sure how much he was actually eating since I hadn't gotten my milk in yet, but he sure was trying. ;) They took him away after about an hr (the best hour ever! Again I didn't get this with Jasper at all) to give him an actual bath, to weigh him, and to just run some tests. He was 7 lbs 6.8 oz, 19 1/2 in long. Say what?! He was almost 2 whole lbs more than Jasper and my little hips had pushed him out.
Jasper was able to come and visit his little brother later that evening. Again, he wanted nothing to do with me. But boy was he SUPER excited about the baby. He would just sit there and stare at him and kept saying "baby baby baby!" over and over. Mike went home with him to put him to bed and came back later that night to stay with us. We asked the nursery to keep Mason for a couple hours so that we could get some sleep, but I really didn't end up getting much. My amazing night nurse checked me right before I went to sleep and didn't bother me until they brought the baby back.
Our time at the hospital was short and sweet. It was such a different experience having him in the room with me whenever I wanted. He was super healthy and passed all of his tests and was able to go home after 24 hrs. Leaving the hospital with the baby was another amazing experience that I didn't get to have with Jasper. They wheeled us out of the hospital, with Mason sitting in the car seat in my lap. Jasper was napping when we got home, but was excited that the baby got to come home with us.
Being home has been amazing. Mason is such a sweet baby and rarely cries (I'm sure that will change). At first he wasn't nursing for long periods of time and often would want to eat every hr or so. We got into more a schedule and things have been working out great. We had his first weigh in on Wednesday and it turned out that he was losing weight. They wanted me to start supplementing his eating every time I fed him. I was really worried that he was going to start wanting the bottle instead of me, but actually he has started to nurse better too. We went back in on Thursday and he had gained all the weight back in 1 day. Boy can this little guy eat! He also has been sleeping pretty well (except he has some awake periods at night) and can sleep through Jasper and Chewy making all kinds of racket. I guess that is good practice, because our house is never quiet.
Jasper is still completely in love with his little brother. Any time I am feeding him, he wants to be close by to see the baby. If he can't find the baby, he gets upset until we show him where he is. He loves to help hold the bottle when I am feeding him and going to get diapers when I need them. I could not be happier with the way he treats Mason. The bad thing is though, he is already starting to do things to get attention. The little stinker.
Thank goodness Mom is here with me. I have no idea how people do this by themselves. I know I am going to have to learn sooner or later how to manage both at once, but I am eternally in debt to Mom and all that she has been doing to help us out. In fact, as I sit here blogging, she is doing the dishes. Maybe I should finish up and help out ;)
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