We planned on Noah entering the world around October 1st. Well...he and the Lord had other plans! :) He was obviously pretty comfy where he was and didn't want to leave. The plan was to induce on the 12th, my dad's birthday, if he wasn't here yet. We laughed thinking that was ridiculous and would never happen...of course he would be here before then! However, the 1st came and went, and I still had not dilated any. Looking back at photos, I grew huge the last few weeks of my pregnancy. My tummy fundal height measurement increased by 3 or 4 inches in about a week! I still cannot believe I was that big!
Noah Michael Bailey arrived Tuesday, October 12th and 6:15 p.m. He was 9 pounds, 11 ounces and 21 inches long. Tuesday was quite the day! I went to the doctor on Monday, October 11 for an laminaria (I'll spare you the details of that because the thought of it still makes me squirm!) to help me begin to dilate because there were no signs of labor beginning. Brian took the afternoon off, and mom came during the day to spend the afternoon with us. After my appointment, we went grocery shopping to make sure the house was stocked with food when we got back from the hospital. Dad left home after he finished teaching school and arrived later that evening to stay the night. Brian's parents were on their way, but we wouldn't see them until the next morning.
We were told to be at the hospital by 7:00 the next morning for labor to be induced. I guess 7:00 was a shift change...we sat and waited for at least an hour to be admitted to a room. Around 8:30 or so, they began pitocin and broke my water to induce labor. The pitocin definitely worked because I began having contractions, and they increased in frequency and intensity throughout the day. However, the contractions never caused me to dilate as planned. They gave me some anesthetic around 2:00, and that made me horribly nauseous and caused lots of throwing up. The anesthesiologist came in around 3:30 or so to give me an epidural. I had a "wet tap" which resulted in a lot of head pain. Fortunately, that was fixed and the pain didn't last long. By 5:00 that evening, I had not dilated any more than a 2, maybe a 3. My OB said that I could continue the pitocin and wait for dilation, but there was the possibility that no more change would occur even after another 10 or 12 hours of medicine. Or, they could do a c-section, which would most likely be the result even if I waited it out and continued labor. We all voted to go ahead with the c-section rather than waiting another 10-12 (at least!) hours!! It was 11 days after my due date and my dad's birthday, so we didn't want to wait any longer and thought it was the perfect day to have a baby! A c-section was definitely the right choice due to his size. We also learned after his birth that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which was part of the reason he never dropped and caused me to dilate. I briefly got to meet my precious boy and give him a kiss while I was in the operating room. Brian then took him to meet his grandparents and then on to the nursery. After Brian and Noah left, I threw up again and then fell asleep. I woke up as they were moving me into the recovery room (which, no joke, looked like a janitor's closet with a desk and some medical equipment). Brian and I had about an hour to bond with our sweet Noah before he had to return to the nursery and I had to be moved to another, much nicer and larger, room. It was such an unreal experience getting to hold and nurse my baby for the first time. After 9+ months of waiting, he was finally here in my arms, and I was in love!
I'm not going to lie, I was in a lot of pain after surgery. Despite the pain, I seemed to be recovering well. I was able to be off my IV and monitors and up moving around less than 24 hours after surgery. Noah received great reports from all of his tests and examinations...such an over achiever already! I was able to get up and shower on Wednesday afternoon, which made me feel much more like myself! I'm not sure what day it was, but one afternoon, maybe Thursday, I was in horrible pain and had the same pain throughout the night. I had been pretty strong up until then (I'm really a pretty big wuss!), but I just couldn't hold back the tears! Fortunately, the pain medicine kicked in quickly! After a couple more nights in the hospital, we were released on Friday around noon. It was so nice to be home! Once home, we had so much wonderful help, which was much needed! My parents and sisters were here through the weekend, and mom stayed until Tuesday. I was still having some trouble getting around and was moving pretty slowly. By Sunday afternoon, I finally began feeling more like myself. Brian's mom came on Wednesday to help out, and his brother and sister-in-law and dad came over the weekend. We are so thankful for everyone's help and couldn't have done it without them! And so our adventure of parenthood began!
Sorry for the super long post. Like I said, I'm doing this to look back and remember, and there's lots I want to remember! So, if you made ti to the end, thanks for sticking it out!
Immediately after Birth
First Family Photo
Headed to the Nursery
Handsome Boy!
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