Announcing Colin Alexander!

Finally!!! Got a chance to get onto the blog and finally type up the birth story of our newest, precious little boy.

I decided that Thursday, March 24th was pretty much my last day at school. I was so tired. We had just finished a unit on the Renaissance and I had taken them through a week of drawing single-point perspective drawings. My next doctor's appt was on Friday anyway and I wasn't going to be able to take a partial day since my appointment was in the middle of the day. I called my long term sub, told her to plan on coming in on Monday and told the secretary I was going to keep my keys for the weekend so I could come in and get some things taken care of and some housekeeping done. I went home. After dinner and putting Liam to bed, we popped the cork on another bottle of champagne. Awww. Jon discusses with me what kind of induction I'd be willing to have if it comes to that.

Friday, Jon and I both had showers (never go to the Lady Doc without a shower; that's just rude!). We made a list of all the things that should just get packed into the car for our stay in the hospital and for Liam's stay with Nana and Granny. There was a "last minute list" too. I decided to take the Durango down and told him I'd go shopping while I was down there for some odds and ends like cheap magazines and diapers for Yam.

I get to the doc's office and my BP is beautiful 112/79. My weight 208.5 (with clothes on). Doc checks my cervix and says 4cms!!! The heartbeat was a lot stronger than the last visit. She says she wants me to get an induction since we live far away. "How about tomorrow morning? I'm the OB at L&D tomorrow." Wow, okay...ummm...(secretly it would be nice for her to deliver me since she's been my doctor for 2 decades now) but I don't want another pitocin induction. Well, it turns out that L&D had too much scheduled for Saturday morning, but they want me to come in at 8pm that night!!! Okay. I call Jon and my mom to tell them that tonight is the night. Then I did that shopping I was going to do. Liam and Jon arrive around 4pm. We had Chinese food for dinner (just like the night Liam was induced). We wish them good luck with our little Yamster and Jon has me drive to the hospital because he needs to call family and let them know we're on our way.

Checked in at 8. I ask for the midwife side. Got an awesome sassy black momma for my first nurse (with 6 kids of her own). They broke my bag at 9. It took awhile for them to get a good baseline on baby's heartbeat - about an hour. I wasn't having any painful contractions. But then they let me get up and we took a couple laps around the delivery floor and I start having actual contractions; next I sat on the yoga ball for an hour or leaned over it during my contractions. Pain level 3-4. Back in bed for monitoring but baby's shifted so I have to get on my side; this causes the contraction monitor to not pick up anything, but they were a comin'. Within 20 minutes I was spiking pain levels to 7-8 and I could feel those contractions were working on dilating and spreading. Got my epidural at 1am and of course it DIDN'T WORK ON THE RIGHT SIDE just like last time. Ugh. And then they gave me the pit. The nurse anesthetist knew my dad, she used to work with him at Morse Avenue.

After the epidural, they decided to check my progress. "You're at 9cm, and fully stretchy in your cervix, but baby's still at -1 so we're gonna have you labor down. Try to sleep." We turned out the lights, Jon unfolded the reclining bench, and we tried to sleep (of course, they checked me every 30 minutes). Not too much time goes by and then the nurse comes in to check my progress. By the way, the epidural has fully kicked in and I felt like a weeble people from the hips down. "Let's check to see what station you're at." She lifts the blankets and . . . "oh my, we're having a baby."

The midwife slammed her cuppa joe, the nurses barely had enough time to get the table set up and get my legs in the stirrups. I had one spot in my abdomen that I could feel my contractions. I absolutely didn't push at all!!! He came out with the contractions. The midwife kept thanking me for such an easy delivery after the week she'd had even though he did pee on her (I did get a 2nd degree tear because he came out with one hand up at his shoulder). They scrubbed him off and put him on my chest and he crawled right up to the breast! He nursed perfectly for 30 minutes on each side. The nurses did his vaccinations and his heel stick and eye goop while he nursed; he never cried, just winced and went right on nursing. The nurse said she'd never had a baby do the breast crawl or never cry in the 15 years she's been in L&D. Let me just say that compared to Liam's birth, this was so much more of what I wanted, stress free, a little productive pain, medication, easy delivery (I didn't even sweat).

After over an hour, they took him for his vitals and he pooped just before his first bath. Smart guy. Born 1 day early on March 26th 2011 @ 4:29am, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz, stretching 20.5" long, and a head circ. of 14",

here he is . . . Colin Alexander Rogers!!!