I had chosen Friday, September 21st, as my last day of work before my maternity leave. I had been hoping that he wouldn't wait too long to be born after that because I wanted to spend as much of my maternity leave actually holding him and boy did I luck out!
On Sunday, September 23rd, my dad was playing guitar in the band at the local church, so Rich and I headed over to watch. I was told by numerous people that perhaps the music would put me in labor, I was hoping that would ring true! After church my dad invited us to lunch with them. He kept saying that he thought I looked like I was going to go into labor soon cause I looked "flushed". I just laughed it off and thought I'd be waiting at least another week. Rich and I took off to Apple Hill for some apple donuts & fresh apple juice, then we just hung out around the house for the rest of the day.
I usually was exhausted by 9:30 pm but I couldn't fall asleep on this night so I just laid in bed watching tv. Rich was in bed with me googling different things on his phone. I told him "why don't you look up what you're supposed to pack in your hospital overnight bag". Right at midnight I went to roll over to try to fall asleep and I felt a pop. I laid there for a minute wondering what the heck just happened, I was afraid to stand up cause I thought maybe my water broke but no such luck. Contractions did start coming at that point though. At first they just felt like braxton hicks, but I started timing them anyways. They were coming about every 5 to 7 minutes. After about an hour they started getting pretty intense and about 5 minutes apart. After 2 hours I couldn't stand or walk through them so I told Rich it was time to go to the hospital to get checked. (During those 2 hours, Rich was shoving things into a bag for his hospital bag. Good thing he had JUST read an article about what he should bring! HA!)
Once we were at the hospital they hooked me up to the machine to track my contractions & the baby's heartbeat. I was measuring at 4 cm & 95% effaced. After an hour I had progressed to 4.5 cm, so my doctor told them to admit me and we'd be having a baby soon! I spent the next few hours just trying to get through the contractions in the jacuzzi. It started slowing me down though, so I had to get out. The epidural nurse was already on the floor, so he came in and got me all set up & numb. Once I was pain free my doctor chcked me again and I was at a 6, she broke my water and told me to rest. I slept for a few hours, then called my family to let them know how things were going. My doctor was going off rotation, so one of her partners would be delivering me. Every few hours I would start feeling contractions again, so they would come in and give me another kick in my epidral. At noon the new doctor came in to check me and I was at a9.5 cm and 100% effaced. She said it was go time! My epidural(s) were so amazing that I honestly couldn't feel anything. My feet were tingly and swollen, and I couldn't feel my legs on tiny bit. My mom and Rich had to literally hold them up so that I could push. I had to watch the contraction on the machine to know when I was even supposed to push. After 33 minutes of pushing, out came my little guy! Born 9/24/2012 at 12:47 pm. They put him right up on my chest and there he stayed for 2 hours before they took him to be weighed & measured! I am so glad that they gave me all that time with him right after he was born! He was and still is so perfect!
During that first 2 hours with our baby, Rich and I had to decide on a name. We had 4 names picked that we were choosing from: Richard Jr., Alexander, Nicholas and Dominick. Right away Rich said "he's not a Richard", So that one was out. Then I said "he's not a Nicholas either", so that one was out too. It was down to Alexander and Dominick, and obviously you know which way we went! His middle name is Michael. He has a lot of special people in his life with the name Michael, so that's why we went with it as his middle name.
Rich got to give him his first bath and then they weighed and measured him. 7 lbs 13.4 oz. 20 3/4 inches long. We were in the hospital a total of about 30 hours.
My whole pregnancy & labor and delivery were what my doctor calls "Text Book". I was so blessed to have everything go so well. I can't believe I am finally a mother. I have waited a long time for Dominick and I couldn't be more in love!
Daddy & Dom
Mama & Dom
Snuggling with Mama
Bright Eyed right from the start
Going Home
Yesterday (11/11) with my boy
