nothing ever goes as planned...

I apologize for the delay; I know many of you have been anticipating a more detailed post for quite some time! We did end up going into the hospital at 10pm the night my water broke. After about an hour, we were admitted and taken to labor and delivery for fetal monitoring. Contractions continued to build, but they were bearable. At about 1am, I decided to take a warm shower to help with the intensity of the contractions. By 3am, I decided it was time for an epidural (the first of many things I didn't particularly want or prefer prior). I was slowly dilating and I wanted to rest some before having to push. Around 9am (only dilated a 6 or 7), the nurse gave me Pitocin (the second thing not preferred) to speed up my contractions and dilation. I received a second round of my epidural at about 10am. At 12pm, I started getting nervous; I was slowly making progress and nearing the 24 hr mark of my water breaking. I asked the nurse what would happen if I met the 24 hr mark; she told me that I would have to have a C-section. Finally, near 2pm, I had dilated to a 10 and was given the okay to push. At this point, the drip for my second round of epidural ran dry (leaving me with two more hours of effective pain killer). I made good progress pushing in the first hour, but by the second, I was worn out and near the 24hr mark. At 4pm, the nurse decided to call my OBGYN; since Joel was nearly crowning, we were going to try to help him out via vacuum (the third thing not preferred). Since my doc had two more office appointments before closing, I was told to stop pushing (an EXTREMELY hard thing to do). The doc finally came at about 4:40pm, debated between forceps and the vacuum (and mention C-section), chose vacuum over forceps as the nurse was handing him forceps, performed an episiotomy (the fourth thing not preferred), and Joel was born at 4:56pm. Unfortunately, the last of the epidural had worn off by the time the doc was pulling Joel out, so I felt EVERYTHING. Not good. Due to the use of Pitocin, the vacuum, and a slow response time, Joel was not placed on my belly for APGAR testing, but taken to the bassinet for evaluation. I was given pain medicine, but that only made things worse (a final thing I had not preferred; I always have a bad reaction to pain medicine). It was probably 15 minutes before I was able to hold the baby for the first time. Holding him was such a strange experience; it was crazy to think that I made him. Joel was taken shortly after being given to me; I was starting to fade due to the meds. I don't remember much after that until my parents came in. Even then, the rest of the night was fuzzy until about the time I went to the bathroom; I was a lovely shade of green and nearly passed out. I remember Robert ordering dinner for me and everyone trying to get me to eat. One of the nurses later told me I looked bad; it took me a long time and a lot of effort to finish my dinner. I was taken to post-partum after 7pm. My parents stayed with us until about 8pm. By 9pm, I was finally feeling coherent. I had very little pain from the entire birthing process. The first night went smoothly; Joel only woke up once or twice. Nursing went well; he has a STRONG latch! By the second night, however, things went sour. Joel was latching wrong and I wasn't able to provide enough for him. He started crying and continued on for hours. I had only gotten MAYBE 4 hours of sleep total since my water had first broke. Frustration and desperation led us to supplement him and send him to the nursery for a few hours so we could get rest. When he returned, the cycle started all over again, leaving me very depressed. I have actually been having a difficult time up until a few hours ago. Latching and nursing is falling into place, as well as sleep (for baby, not myself yet). Robert and I are trying to set a pattern so that things regulate. I never realized how difficult this would be, even with everyone telling me prior to giving birth. One thing I would take from this experience and pass on to other first time mothers is BE FLEXIBLE. You may have a good idea of how you want things to go, but be open to everything! Enjoy the pictures of little (big) Joel.
*Just thought I would note that he was not 20.7 in; he was 22.5 in! No wonder his feet were permanently lodged in my ribcage.