Rewind

So, it's been a while! For good reason, though! I had my last OB appointment on Monday, December 8th. The baby still hadn't dropped so I wasn't dilated at all, still. Tony and I went to Lowe's that night on the recommendation of the nurse to buy a rocking chair. She said it would force the baby's head against the cervix to help dilation. Of course, as soon as Tony got the chair together and glued and all, I rocked a few times and randomly started VERY regular contractions. Waste of a chair, but it's nice now to rock the little guy in. I wasn't really sure if they were contractions, though, because I hadn't REALLY felt them like that before- but it was just the back pain. At regular increments.

So by then it was around midnight and I said I wanted to shower in case if they WERE labor pains because I knew a shower would be a long time coming if I were to have the baby. ANYWAY, we ended up heading to the hospital right before 3 AM the next day. It turns out I had dilated a little, and my contractions were every 3 minutes or so apart. They went ahead and admitted me into the hospital and my doctor came by around 8:30 before his clinic. He broke my water and shortly after they starting me on pitocin because the baby still hadn't dropped at all.

To make a long and painful story short, I hit my limit around noon and got the epidural (even though I was only dilated to a three, the pitocin had made my contractions so hard and strong I could hardly breathe through them and at less than two minutes apart I hardly had time to recoup before the next one started). Wow- I seriously do NOT know how anyone ever made it through labor without one. I was definitely meant to be born at this day of age. The doctor started saying that there may be a possibility of c-section, and the chances increased during the day as I dilated up to an 8 or so and the baby still hadn't dropped, I had a fever that was getting worse by the hour, and the baby's heart rate was drastically dropping to dangerous levels with each contraction. He finally made the decision around 6:45 or so to go in and get him out. I was really upset, but knew it was most important for us both to be safe when all was said and done.

(This picture is me getting the shot that would stop my contractions before going into surgery. Didn't even feel it.)

Little Mason Duke was born at 7:33 pm December 9th, 2008. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. That part of the c-section was fine, but when they started stitching me back up something went wrong with the anesthetic and I could feel EVERYTHING they were doing. They kept on trying to get more drugs to me (at 4-5 times the normal dosages) but it never helped. Awful. It took a couple days for my blood pressure to go back to normal due to the high level of pain and stress my body had been under. Luckily, I can't remember much, especially now almost four weeks later.

I would do it all a hundred times over, though. Mason is so adorable and fun (ok, and tiring and gross and VERY demanding, but he's so cute it's hard not to overlook those parts) and it's amazing how sweet such a little person can seem. Tony and I are so happy and lucky to have him here, safe and sound.