It all started Monday (Feb 9) morning very early - I woke up and lost my plug and started having contractions - I knew these were just early labor b/c I was able to pretty much go about my day as usual. I did end up having Jess come home from work mid morning because I was not sure how quickly the contractions would progress and I did not want to be surprised! Anyways, we had a drs appt already scheduled for that afternoon at which time he said I was 2-3 cm and 70% effaced - that he would expect it to be 24-48 more hours. We came home and ate an early dinner, I took a bath and tried to get some sleep, but by about midnight my contractions were really starting to hurt (I thought) so we called the drs office and they told us to go on in to the hospital. We were at the hospital from 2-4 am about and in those 2 hours I didn't progress so they decided I wasn't in active labor, gave me 2 Ambien and sent me home to rest through the rest of "early labor". This would have been a great plan, unfortunately by the time I got home my body decided it was a good time to go into full on labor - problem was I was so doped up on the sleeping pills I could not figure out what was going on! I'd sleep for 5 or 10 mins and then have a contraction that would have me coming out of the bed crying out in pain and I couldn't process what was happening to me, at around 8 am I was able to figure out that I was seriously in labor and needed to wake up, so I went downstairs and started pacing around the living room. Luckily it worked and by 9 I was calling the drs office to get an appt to make sure this was the real deal. Sure enough it was and I was admitted and had a wonderful epidural by around 11 AM. Unfortunately, my contractions never really got regular - I stayed at 6 cm dilated for hours and hours to the point where they were pretty certain there was a c-section in my future, but with the help of a tiny bit of pitocin I started to dilate more rapidly. Unfortunately during that time my epidural stopped working. They adjusted it twice and then had to replace it - however I was in so much pain I could not even sit up to do it, so the wonderful dr put it in with my laying down. So then they checked me and I had dilated to a 9 while I was off the pain meds (go figure). So then it was just time to wait for him to get into place and for me to be ready to push. Oh I almost forgot! Early on at the hospital the dr determined that he was facing sideways, so he needed to turn face down to come out - my dr was sure he would do it on his own and he did, but he ended up face up instead of face down. So at about 9:30 I was ready to push - which btw for anyone who has not had the joy of pushing a baby out I think you should know that it is not a quick thing like it looks like on TV - oh no. I think I did pretty well and it took me about an hour to push him out - of course the dr did say my job would have been a lot easier if he had been facing down! So after 40 or so hours of labor we were able to welcome Jacob Clayton into the world. In the delivery room I had a wonderful set of cheerleaders - Jess, My Aunt Sara, and our friend Patricia - I could not have done it without them. In the waiting room waiting to meet him we had a huge crowd that included Laura (now Lollie), Aunt Kiki (Kristi) and Uncle Will, Gerald, my Uncle Rick, Jason and Brittany, and I heard that Sandra and Justin were there. Thanks to everyone for the love and support that got us through that, I know there were a lot of people out there sending us positive thoughts!
Since Jacob joined our lives we have been unbelievably blessed by Laura coming to stay with us and filling our pantry and tummy's with good food - not to mention having an extra set of hands with experience around. Also, my Aunt Sara, Uncle Rick and Kimberly were here this weekend making double sure that we did not go hungry and blessing us with their company. On Sunday we got a SURPRISE visit from Aunt Kiki and Uncle Will - sneaky guys! Also, we've had visits from various friends in Austin - which we LOVE!
What they say is true, once you meet your little bundle of joy your life is forever changed. I can hardly remember the pain that it took to get him here, but I know that it was well worth it. We are breastfeeding, which has been a little bit of a challenge, but each day that gets a little bit better. Jess is an amazing father, he never tires of loving on his little boy, jumps at the chance to change a dirty diaper (he's better at it than I am), is sweet and affectionate and concerned about my well-being constantly.
I am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends! This weekend Jake will get to meet his grandparents on my side, his great grandma on my side and his great grandparents and aunt on Jess' side and he is so excited!
Oh I almost forgot the best part - he's already sleeping 4-5 hours a night - it is wonderful! I was blessed with a GREAT baby! Here are a couple of more recent pictures!
