Nixon's Arrival

The labor and delivery of our sweet baby boy was EXACTLY what I ordered! Friday, the 18th, was a normal day for me... just waiting for this baby to decide to come. If he hadn't made it by the 22nd we had scheduled to be induced. I was induced with Katera and, while it wasn't a hard or traumatic delivery, it wasn't my favorite. So I was really hoping this little guy would decide to come on his own. Thursday night I actually woke up with a few contractions, but didn't think anything of it. Friday I went about my day- shopping with my mom, lunch with some girl friends, and celebrating Quincee's birthday later at Cortney's. All through the day I was having contractions. They were weak, sporadic, and irregular so I still didn't think much of it. They were just enough to make my belly go tight but not painful. While we were at Cortney's they went away for a couple of hours so I thought it was false labor. We went to bed and after being asleep for about an hour I felt a woosh of warm. I have never had my water break on my own with my other two kids so this was new to me. I wondered if I had just had one of those 'I peed my pants' dreams that really makes you pee a little. So I got out of bed and the water gushed down my legs as I rushed to the bathroom. I took care of my little problem as best I could and opened the door to tell Jason we needed to go to the hospital. The funny thing is I had JUST packed my hospital bag that day! We called Grandma Sindy to come stay with the girls and headed to the hospital at midnight. Once we got settled in the delivery room the nurse checked and I was dilated to a 5/6. The contractions started coming more intense and quickly once my water broke so I was ready for that epidural! The anesthesiologist was there quickly and the epidural went great. Jason was really excited and relaxed a lot more once I wasn't in any more pain. They kept asking if I could feel any contractions, which I didn't. I just felt lots of pressure. The nurse checked again and I was dilated to an 8 and it was time to call the doctor! I just have to say what an amazing doctor we had! She is a CNM and takes such an interest and concern in each and every one of her patients. This was by far the best delivery of all of my kids! Once she got there she checked and it was time to start pushing. When my water broke Nixon had a bowel movement so there was meconium in the fluid. They worry about this because they don't want the baby to inhale any of that when they come out. We were informed that Jason wouldn't be cutting the cord so they could hurry and have a respiratory therapist start working on him. After about ten minutes of pushing Nixon was here at 3:00 AM! They immediately took him over to the incubater table and started suctioning his lungs and pounding on his back to get his lungs clear of any gunk. I didn't even get to see him for about 20 minutes, but they reassured us that everything was fine. When I finally got to hold him it was so awesome! He just nuzzled right into me. He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 21 inches long. I had forgotten just how little brand new babies are!