Our Baby Boy!

Gehrig Drew Woffinden was born February 1st. Oh what a beautiful and perfect baby! So the quick rundown of the delivery- I was due Thursday, January 28th- but I wasn't having any contractions and was only dialated to a 1 and not effaced at all- I actually worked all day and the next day too. And although it didn't feel like I was having the baby any time soon I was very irratible and very uncomfortable. My belly seemed to be growing exponentially that last month and it is terrible when it is hard to bend over- Any way we decided to be induced Sunday night so we could have the baby on Monday. It was definitely not how I pictured having a baby. There was no crazy contractions wondering when should I go to the hospital- no water breaking no rushing into the emergency room- nothing of the sort. Instead we scheduled our room at 10 pm. I packed my bag Sunday evening. Fixed myself dinner- curled my hair- and we headed to the hospital. They started me on some various drugs to try to get that baby ready to come out. Well the petocin worked quite well and sped things up. I thought I was going to die when the contractions started coming fast and hard. They asked if I wanted some medicine to take the edge off- the lady was really funny- she was telling me it was just like when I take a drink and have a nice buzz or have a glass of wine- it was quite unimagineable that Drew and I couldn't quite relate because we have never had a drink. I told them I didn't want the drugs- then I was going to die- so I asked for the smallest dose and it put me right to sleep. That was so nice. Then I woke up to more contractions and at this point I was dialated enough so they could give me my epidural. They guy took FOREVER to get up there and give it to me. That was quite an experience- I was sitting on the edge of the bed with Drew and my nurse on both sides holding me as I am having these crazy contractions hunched over as the guy is trying to give me this shot. My head felt like it weighed 100 pounds so Drew was holding it for me. He got the needle in there ok then somehow the guy ripped that huge needle out of my back as he went to grab something on his tray! That was a little too much for Drew so all of the sudden he tells me that he has to sit down and I had to hold my head on my own. The nurse was still there so she helped me as the guy tried again. Drew apparently didn't sit down but rather laid down right on the floor! It didn't quite help that he hadn't eaten anything- but after he had something to drink he was fine again. The epidural kicked in pretty fast so I was able to sleep for a couple of hours and woke up around 2ish. I was ready to go but by now Dr. Guzman was in a surgery so they stopped my petocin to slow things down until he was ready. We basically just hung out until he was ready. I was so hungry- I couldn't eat anything all day and the ice chips were not too satisfying. They let me have some gum though. that was nice. So my dr got up to the room around 4:45 and he said we should have our baby out before 5:30. He is so fun- he was just chatting it up and taking his time hanging out with us- the nurse kept having to speed things along. The plan was to originally break my water- but by this point I was ready to deliver so they didn't need to break my water- which means the baby would still be born in the sack- which is called "en caul" Dr. Guzman was so excited! apparently it only happens about every one in 1,000 births and is supposed to be very lucky! He called it a snow globe. So any way I was not completely numb so I could feel the contractions- they just weren't painful. So we did probably around 5 sets of pushes- I was a little distracted so I didn't keep count but we started pushing around 5:00 and the baby was out at 5:15! Drew was wonderful- being so helpful and encouraging. Our nurse was great- she explained everything perfectly to me so I knew what to do- (they didn't explain it as well in my birthing class or maybe we just didn't pay enough attention because we got the giggles and laughed the entire time we did the breathing exercises!) It was incredible hearing that first cry and then getting to hold that tiny little guy in my arms- oh it was awesome! He weighed 7 lbs 8.5 oz. He was 20.5 inches long. He has the most perfect lips and a full head of dark hair. Drew was quite shocked at his hair- me too- I was imagining he would be a little blonde toe head like Drew was. It was an amazing experience- and one of the best days ever. Our little stud is perfect!