It's a boy! Graham Michael arrived at 6:03 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2013.
Weighing in at 9 lbs. even and 21.5 inches long, he is not petite. But he's still a peanut. So before I overdose this Blog with more pictures of of our handsome little guy, here's a rundown of how Graham came into the world.
On Friday, March 8 we were 39 weeks, so of course we took our weekly picture.
I didn't feel any different on this day and Aaron and I actually enjoyed a date night at Mezzaluna in downtown Fargo.
We're glad we enjoyed a night out at another fancy pants restaurant since that's not going to happen again for awhile. And the funny thing about Friday night was that we actually ran into Dr. Dangerfield at the restaurant. We stopped and said hi to him and he gave me a hug which must have been a sign to Graham that it was OK to arrive because at 4:45 a.m. that
night/the next morning, my water broke!
There was no question that's what it was but we still called the Family Birth Center to confirm we should come in. We'd had a small false alarm the night before so our bags were 100% packed and in the car which was nice. We hit the road for the hospital giddy, nervous, excited and shocked. I really wasn't expecting Baby to come early or for my water to break, so we were surprised to be on our way.
So by 5:00 a.m. we were checked into the hospital and excited to think our Baby would be here so soon. I had visions of a 7:00 p.m. baby on March 9. Boy was I wrong. What I learned is that when your water breaks the doctors will get the baby out within 24 hours regardless. But I wasn't contracting or dilated at all, so we were in for a long day/night.
They started me on Petocin (a 4 letter word in my dictionary now) so I started feeling contractions and was dliated to 1 cm by about 9:00 a.m. But that's as far as my body would take me on contractions alone. Ugh. The contractions got stronger and every time they checked me I was eager to hear of my progress ... which continued to come back as zero, nada, nothing. This was of course mentally, physically and emotionally defeating. I was willing to have intense contractions if they were getting me somewhere. But when the nurse kept saying 1 cm, I was disappointed and drained. From about 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. was the worst. But at 5:30 p.m. they put in a "foley bulb" to help get things moving along. I had never heard of a foley bulb before and was definitely nervous to experience it. The doctor (Dr. McCann) explained it all to us and it sounded painful (catheter goes into cervix, fills with saline fluid and is gradually pulled out in order to more "mechanically" dilate the cervix), but it turned out it wasn't any worse than any contractions, it gave me a break from the Petocin (which I needed!) and, well, it worked! The bulb came out at 7:30 on its own which meant I had gone from 1 cm to 4 cm!! This was huge progress! And it opened up the door for an epidural which I had been wanting for awhile at this point. But I put it off for a bit longer to stay mobile and try to keep some momentum going. This part was easy as they were starting me again on Petocin but at a much smaller dose so contractions felt manageable and we were able to walk the halls for a bit longer.
At 10:00 p.m. we gave in to the epidural and it was awesome. I was lucky that it worked well for me and once it kicked in, we were both able to rest which was much needed. They laid me on my side and put a "peanut ball" between my legs in order to open up my hips and help with dilating. Again, it worked! By 4:00 a.m. I was dilated to a 9 which was quickly followed by the full 10 cm (and I was pretty much sleeping through that part - I take that as my reward for earlier activities. So much pain earlier for no gain. Then sleeping my way through 6 cm dilation...I'll take it!).
So by 5:15 a.m. the room was filling with doctors and nursery staff and I was gearing up to push. I pushed for only 45 minutes, which, again, I'll take after nearly 24 hours of labor. Graham arrived at 6:03 a.m. Aaron was the one to tell me it was a boy, his words being, "Pretty sure it's Graham Michael." (we had worried Aaron wouldn't necessarily be able to tell boy or girl right away, but he was confident we had a healthy little boy after taking one look!). Aaron cut the cord and I got to snuggle Graham skin to skin right away and for about an hour and a half which was much longer than I expected them to let me hold him. It was awesome and I'm so thankful for that experience.
Proud Mama
Proud Daddy
At 7:30 a.m. they took Graham to the nursery to check him over some more and Aaron and I slept, which was much needed. We woke up around 9:30 and the grandparents arrived about 10:30 to meet the little guy.
Aaron did a great job keeping grandparents in the loop throughout the whole process. I even talked to both my mom and dad while in labor which was nice. On both calls I talked for a little bit until another disturbing contraction demanded my attention and Aaron had to fill in. But with how long everything drew out, we definitely had some worried parents, at least by the next morning when they still hadn't heard the final arrival news. Now that all is said and done, I can appreciate that we were able to have a natural delivery. Not until after Graham was born did I learn how high the probability of a c-section was in my case. When the water breaks with no dilation started, the nurse told me there was a 95% chance of 24 hours of labor with a c-section finale. Uff-da! At least the labor was "worth it" and got us where we wanted to be in the end. I credit the doctor and nurses for having a few tricks up their sleeves to get us there - foley bulb and peanut ball were the ticket!
Before getting moved to our post partum room, Aunt Chelsey came to visit
Then Uncle Derek and Aunt Tina got to meet Graham over Facetime
Family of three
On Sunday night we had a few more visitors:
Jared Hardy
Tom Fleming
Robyn Ullrich
Then on Monday a few more visitors got to meet Graham:
Great Grandpa Bob
Four Generations: Great Grandpa Bob, Grandma Sue, daddy Aaron and son Graham
Jill Piela
Kristen Hintermeyer
Amber DeKrey
Brian Gilbertson and Bridget Heiter
Jerry and Melinda Steen
And of course I didn't snag a picture of everyone like I planned. Erin Welle and Ryan, Jeanine and Addison Larson also visited on Monday night.
Aaron had to ref a basketball game on Monday at 3:00 and then go to class so visitors kept us company while he was away. But while he was there, he was learning all about swaddling and diapering which was very helpful. I was so focused on feeding and resting that it was good dad was learning how to do those essential things!
On Tuesday morning Dr. Dangerfield was on rounds so we got to see him which was nice. Then after rounding up all the stuff in our room, it was time to get the little guy ready to go home.
He wasn't thrilled with the idea of getting dressed...
It was kind of weird to see him in such bright colors for the first time. It was a far cry from the "straight jacket" he sported during his hospital stay.
Getting ready...
All bundled up and ready for the car ride home.
So that's the story of Graham's arrival and venture home. Stay tuned for more pictures from Graham's first week at home!
