NATHAN'S BIRTH

Here we are on Thursday. We were running a few little errands and stopped by our parents houses to say hello. It was hard to believe that we were going to the hospital that very night.
I was nervous about being induced but I can say I had a great birth experience. It all began at 9 pm on Thursday as we arrived at the hospital. I was hooked up to an IV (my first experience with an IV) and around 10:30 pm they put some gel on my cervix to help it soften. I didn't sleep much that night and did not like being hooked up to the IV and baby monitor. It was impossible to get comfortable. At 6 am Friday morning the nurse started the pitocin in my IV. My contractions began soon after that and became even stronger after Dr. Bhasin broke my water around 9:30 am. I was 3 cm dilated at the time. I was told I could ask for the epidural at anytime but I was doing OK so I wanted to wait a bit longer. It must have been 10 minutes later that I told Kevin "I'm ready for the epidural." The contractions quickly became more intense and closer together. Being a busy baby day at the hospital (30 babies were born that Friday and the average is 10 babies/day), I found out that the anesthesiologist was in the OR for a c-section so I would have to wait. That extra hour of waiting was the roughest part for me but Kevin was such a great coach and really helped me to stay focused and breathe. (We actually used 3 breathing techniques from our class!) By 11:15 I had the epidural and with it came great relief. I was able to relax and rest awhile. By 1:00 I was 10 cm dilated and around 1:30 I was getting ready to push. At that point I couldn't believe that soon we would finally get to see our little boy. Nathan was born at 2:28 after pushing for 45 minutes. My first thought upon seeing him was "how did he possibly fit inside me?" Even the doctor was shocked by his size. Her estimate was 7 1/2 to 8 pounds. It was unreal that he was my baby. It is such a miracle how we enter into this life. We are so blessed to have a healthy baby. We love him beyond what we imagined!

Here's Nathan after his first bath. He loved having his hair washed and feeling the warm water on his head according to dad. You'll notice his foot sticking out which bears his baby lo-jack band.
Just hanging out with daddy after being cleaned, checked, poked and all the other baby procedures they do in the first few hours after birth. He was very good during all that...what a tough little guy. I was happy to have my boys return from the nursery.
Looking at this picture I can see how much Nathan has already changed in his first few days of life. He only gets cuter with each day:) And here's mommy with her little love bug on Sunday. I finally showered and was feeling a little more normal. We came home from the hospital at 4 pm on Sunday.

And so begins our new adventure as parents.