I have been remiss in posting on here due to my busy schedule. Work was super busy before I went out on PTO due to the fact that both the Controller and CFO of Triad left for other jobs, leaving me as the most senior person in the Operations department. I had to train my replacement (who I have no faith in and can't stand) and the new Controller of the company. I was ready to leave - I am so glad I was pregnant and due when I was!
My doctor's appointments leading up to Levi's birth weren't promising - I never showed any signs of going into labor. So on July 5th, when I still had no signs of going into labor anytime soon, my doctor scheduled me to be induced the following morning, July 6th, at 5 am. Basically, there was no point in waiting another week to see if he would come out on his own - if he didn't within another week, I would have been induced anyway as the risk of losing the baby increases the longer you go past the due date. So Justin and I arrived bright and early to get checked into the hospital. By 6:30 am, the Pitocin had been started into my IV. Much to my surprise also, was the fact that I was apparently having contractions 3-5 minutes apart for 60 - 90 seconds each, but I never felt them. As the morning wore on, my parents showed up and Justin's Mom arrived. Hannah arrived after lunch. Everything was going fine all morning - I started dilating and the contractions weren't too bad but Levi still wasn't coming down. Around 1:30 the doctor came in and broke my water - Levi finally dropped a little bit, but within an hour had gone back up. Also, the contractions had become much more intense and after having my water broken (it hurt), I opted for an epidural. The anesthesiologist gave me my epidural around 2:30 and I was about 4-5 cm dilated. From here on out, progression was slow. The nurses kept trying to change my position to get Levi to drop but he wasn't having it. Every time I was turned to my side, his heart rate would drop drastically when I had a contraction. After a scary call around 6:30 in which they thought his umbilical cord might be wrapped around his neck, we had a feeling a C-Section was in our future. Also, my epidural was wearing off on my left side in the back so I was really uncomfortable. Finally, a little after 9:00 pm, after no progression for 3 hours (I was 7 cm dilated but he still hadn't dropped at all), the doctor made the call for a C-Section. At 9:38 pm, Levi was born. And I'm not going to lie, the C-Section HURT. Next time, I want a spinal or just knock me out completely; I want more than just an epidural. The rest of the night was very long. I finally got to see him at about 1:30 am and breastfed him for the first time. I didn't get too much rest that night and after having been up since 4:00 am the previous morning, 15 hours of labor, and major surgery, I was exhausted. The rest of our stay was just getting used to having a baby, trying to get around, and having tons of visitors. We were discharged Friday at about 3:30 or so - less than 48 hours after having him.
The last 10 days have been crazy learning what Levi likes (being held constantly and the football hold for breastfeeding) and dislikes (being put down). He is absolutely adorable - but I might be a little biased. I would post pictures but I need to find our camera cable! He is perfectly content in his Baby Bjorn as I write this, but it's about time for a feeding....
