7.24.2011

Our Ship Comes In

And aboard it was a wee swarthy pirate named Wesley! Here's some pics of his birth and....aftermath? afterglow? I dunno.

We were admitted around 1pm on 7/9. I'd been having contractions 5 minutes apart since about 4am that weren't getting stronger so we decided to head in and get checked out.

Turns out I was in early labor, and the frequency of the contractions (which were 2 minutes apart by the time I was admitted) was due to dehydration. (S'riously, I don't know how I could have drank anymore. I was downing gallons of water each day and peeing like every 4 minutes) Dehydration made getting a viable IV in very...um....interesting. 8 sticks and a resident (2 very skilled nurses having been unable to get a vein) later, I had my saline drip. All my boo-boos:

After a few hours and slow dilating (only between 3 and 4cms by now), my OB decided to break my water. That made things much more....interesting, pain-wise:
There's a bit of a gap in photos here, as I had grown black bat wings and was ready to disembowel anyone bold enough to snap one. Here's where Mom and Gavin were truly awesome, being supportive and helpful and just getting me through it by any means necessary (including some ill-conceived comedy routines).
I opted for the epidural after about 5 hours of !crazy! pain only got me to 5 lousy centimeters dilation. Once the epi was done I was so giddy I could dance (ya know, but for the fact that my lower body was asleep). My contractions still hurt but were totally bearable and I felt so much more relaxed....Only 2 hours later I was at 10 cms and ready to rumble. My AMAZING OB suggested we try pushing, and about 15 minutes later...



Mom telling it on the mountain:

That Ashley can take a picture:

Aunt Joy the next day:

Our little man-child:

It was a truly wonderful, beautiful birth and I was so happy and honored to share it with Gavin, Mom, and Ashley. Thank you guys so much for your love and for being part of an unforgettable night. And Wesley, I love you so so so much and am so happy to have you here with us on dry land.

7.05.2011

Americana

Well, still pregnant with our boy Wes. But my wise husband suggested that instead of sitting around housebound staring at my belly we throw a BBQ for some of our awesome friends. It was quite simply a perfect 4th. You go, America!


The man in the above pic is a vegetarian, except on the off times when his girlfriend gets grass-fed family raised beef from her family's farm. And then all bets are off....
And to cap it all off, some benevolent soul lit fireworks practically in our backyard!