The Story of Jack

Well, somehow, I find myself with a few moments of extra time this morning. We're home from the hospital, Joe, Maggie & Harry are at school, Charlie is off to Tiny Tigers, and John and Jack and I are sitting around in our pajamas, enjoying a quiet morning. Thanks again to both Kate and Melissa for toting all my kids around with them...it's really nice to not have to get everyone in the car right now.

So, the story of Jack...

I went to the hospital early Saturday morning to be induced. I've been induced three other times, and have always had good experiences. I knew I was facing a long day, but I was looking forward to meeting my new baby. I got checked in, and then the Dr. Yin broke my water. My nurse was Wendy, which was a great surprise. (Wendy is friend of ours from church for those of you who don't know her). I was all settled in and just waiting (I find that's the biggest part of being induced)....we started the pitocin at about 11:00, and then called for the epidural at about noon. I've had four epidurals and never had a problem, but this time the doctor hit some fluid, so he had to take put it in again a bit lower. Sometimes this happens, and I guess it can change the effectiveness of the eipidural. It can also cause spinal headaches....which I know from experience are pretty painful. (I had a spinal tap in college which resulted in a three-week long spinal headache) Luckily, I don't seem to have gotten the headache, but my epidural was certainly different than any I've ever had. At 3:00, I was only dilated to four centimeters, and I was starting to feel the epidural effects in my arm. Joe decided to go and get the kids from his parents and take them home for a little break, since it seemed like we were going to have some time. I decided to have the epidural turned off for a while, since it seemed like we were going to have some time. I started to feel the contractions again, but they weren't too bad. I was checked again at 5:15, and was still only at about 6 centimeters. The doctor went to get some dinner and Joe was home feeding the kids. At about 5:45, the contractions started to get worse and come faster...I was in the room by myself, and kept telling myself I should call and get the epidural turned back on. I told myself I'd wait until 6:10, then I'd call for Wendy, which I did. She came in, and I told her I thought it was time (to be honest, I don't think I was very coherent at this point, but luckily she figured it out!) Joe called at about that same time to check in, but I couldn't even talk, the contrtactions were coming so quickly. I guess he figured out that he needed to get there fast, so he got all the kids in the car and rushed over. Wendy called Dr. Yin, who was luckily still at the hospital.

Anyway, long story short, Jack was born at about 6:25, after about 5 minutes of pushing. Joe and the kids all arrived at about 6:35. I felt a bit bad about them missing everything, but at the time, there was no way I was waiting for anyone or anything!

Here are a few pictures of the first hour....

Jack and I stayed in the hospital until yesterday, and are glad to be home. Everyone is doing well...Jack of course sleeps all day and crys all night, but that's not too surprising. Joe is taking a few days off from work, and we're just trying to relax and recover.

P.S. The weather is unseasonably warm right now...I'm talking 86 degrees today. So, I'll always remember bringing my January Jack home from the hospital in just a onesie!