It's A Boy!

Conner was born on June 7 by way of emergency C-section. I went into labor early in the morning, but felt no rush to go to the hospital because the contractions didn't hurt like everyone told me they would. I figured I had plenty of time. However, when I called the doctor's office once they opened, they told me otherwise and so we headed to the hospital...

...where we played hours of gin rummy in perfect calm and almost perfect comfort. We should have stayed home longer. But isn't that what most first-time mothers say?

By evening, my blood pressure was skyrocketing but labor wasn't progressing much at all. The going theory was that the extra amniotic fluid around the baby -- spotted much earlier in the pregnancy by ultrasound -- was cushioning me from feeling the contractions. That's how I managed to get to 5+ centimeters without any pain medication. But they didn't want my blood pressure to stay up like it was, so they started me on pitocin, gave me an epidural, and broke my water. Soon the contractions were off the charts, but I wasn't feeling a thing. The nurse asked me how I was weathering a contraction, and I asked "What contraction?" Epidurals rock! And to think I wanted to go without any pain medication at all...

Then came the bad news: the baby's heart rate was plummeting. Next thing I know they're throwing scrubs at Tom and telling me that we need an emergency C-section. I barely had time to worry. Conner was born shortly thereafter while the anesthesiologist was making small talk with me about the thickness of my glasses lenses. Conner's cord was wrapped around his neck and somewhere along the line he'd managed to tie a true knot in it -- no wonder his heart rate dropped once he started feeling the contractions! I heard him wail and I knew he was ok. But, if I needed any reassurance, his Apgars were 9 and 9 -- of course the baby of a test publisher would test well!

After some rocky recovery from the C-section, we're now home and doing fine -- although we're rather sleep deprived these days. So call before you stop by to visit. :o)