Thomas Cole has arrived!

Lucky us with Grandmas

Cole arrived at 39 weeks exactly, at 6:13AM on August 3rd.  I had my first contraction at 2:15am on August 2nd, and labored at home until about 3:30pm.  We arrived at the hospital at about 4pm because I had become concerned about my blood pressure, since my feet swelled up suddenly.  Strangely, I never did learn what my bp was, but no one mentioned it so I assume it was fine.  When I was checked the first time, I was 4 centimeters dialated, and they won't check you in until 5 centimeters, so Anna and I walked the halls for two or more hours before being evaluated again.  During that time the contractions became very intense, about three minutes apart, and I was moaning and carrying on.  Anna was a champion cheerleader and distractor.  When we were finally checked again, I don't think that I had progressed, but the midwife checked me in anyway.  I had stated at the first check at about 5pm that I was hoping to go med-free.  When they reconfirmed with me at 10pm I had changed my tune - bring on the epidural!  The anethesiologist met us at the room and I was soon given pain medication.  It took a little while to get it situated correctly, but I had the good fortune of being the only person on the floor that night (weird, right?) so we got tons of attention.  The epidural process scared me a lot, but by then I didn't care and the relief was intense.   I did have a hot spot above my right hip, but eventually that got worked out as well.  The most amazing part for me was that I could still feel the baby engaging and when the time came, pushing.  I'd like to think that if the labor had been shorter I could have hacked the med free birth, but 27 hours of laboring is a lot.  Strangely, I wasn't that aware of time passing.  In retrospect I realize that a 28 hour labor and delivery is long, but at that time it just felt like what I was doing, what was happening, and where I was.  I don't think Anna probably feels that way.

Around midnight the staff became concerned about Cole's heart rate, which had periods of deceleration. They had me laying on my side for much of the night in an attempt to give him better circulation, and towards the end there was certainly conversation happening outside the room about an emergency c-section.  We had a great nurse, Amber, and a female resident, Dr. Thompson, keeping an eye on us, and I think they convinced the attending to give me a chance to push before taking that step.  By the time pushing began I had some sense that these were the stakes, and wasn't sure I would have the energy to push.  The only thing that scared me more than not being able to birth my baby was surgery.  The entire floor of physicians was in the room, all suited up, and the nurse tried to make light of it.  I just asked Anna to tell me when a contraction was coming on because I couldn't tell, I was too tired and at that point, medicated.  She tried to let me know, and I pushed on my side for about 45 minutes, before the head resident gave me a serious look and said "Heather, it's time to push NOW."  At that point they had me on my back and I just shoved the baby out.  Cole cried loud and long!  All in all, pushing took about an hour, and I took second degree tears.  I couldn't believe I had done it.  I was running a low fever, and I think suffering mild shock.  I just held that slippery baby on my chest and went silent with awe.  Anna was an amazing birth partner, and helped us get through.  It turned out that Cole's umbilical cord was around his neck, causing the deceleration, but suffered no ill effects.  His breathing was shallow at first because he was born so quickly, and had a slight fever, but both quickly resolved.  I was so grateful to those female providers that had protected us from c-section and gave me a chance to push, and to the image of my sister, who had primed me to pop that baby out like she had with Bryson.

I was so loopy afterward.  Cole remained on my chest for several hours, and weighed in at 6lbs 10oz. Anna cut the cord, and was able to cuddle him as well.  Mom arrived on the afternoon of the 3rd, and while sad she missed the birth, was there for every major moment after.

I'm sure you've all heard about my slow milk and general hysteria about Cole's weight loss, but it does feel as though we're on the other side now.  He is just the perfect baby.  He has cried only a handful of times, and is adept at letting us know what he needs.  He's now gaining weight at a brisk pace, and we continue to work around his tongue-tie.  Cole is truly the love of our lives.