Monday, July 26, 2010

Baby Story

Okay 2.5 weeks later I'm finding time to tell you the birth story of Charlie so here goes....

I've been having false contractions for something like 4 weeks before Charlie was born.  I would have some pain but it never progressed to anything close to 5 minutes apart and wasn't debilitating pain so I never hit the threshold to go to the hospital.  About 3 weeks before my due date I had started to dilate and at the office visit prior to admission I was already at a 5!  For this reason I was testing every single old wives tale for going into labor (long walks, putting the breast  pump on, sex, etc.).  Nothing worked!

The night of Thursday, July 8 I was just feeling overall gross and had some contractions which didn't progress so I went to bed around midnight.  I woke up at 2am with pain and by 2:45 I woke the husband to tell him to get in the shower as they were about 10 minutes apart.  By the time he got out of the shower and we got in the car (with mom and dad sleeping on the couch so we didn't have to haul Launa out of bed) they were right at 5 minutes apart and we left the house around 3:15 a.m.  In just a couple of minutes they were coming every 2 minutes and getting stronger by the second.  We arrived at the hospital around 3:30 a.m., were quickly rushed to a room without the preliminaries that we had with Launa since I was screaming in pain.  I was quick to let the nurse know that I was at least a 5 and would like checked ASAP so I could get an epidural ASAP.  She checked me and I was at an 8 already and then informed me that I was too far to get any sort of pain medication!  That's when the tears started and the pain seemed the heighten.  It wasn't long before I started pushing (they tried to hold me off for the doctor to get there as she was downtown delivering babies).  After a few short pushes (which seemed like hours at the time) we were holding our baby boy at 4:40 a.m.!! 



Charles Griffin Waugh
8 lbs 3 oz; 21 inches long
Full of black hair just like his big sister was!

Looking back I am grateful for no epidural.  I feel great and am recovered a whole lot faster than I was with Launa.  I would gladly take one hour of painful pushing than several hours and an epidural. 

Big Sister was VERY excited to come to the hospital to meet the baby.  Because we didn't know the sex ahead of time she didn't know before she came into the room either.  For the entire pregnancy she has been saying she won't accept anything but a baby girl so we did our best to prepare for a boy.  When she came in and saw him she said "Mom!  She looks like a boy!"  And I told her she is a boy and she said "Well can I hold him?"  She wasn't upset as we had anticipated since she was set on a sister.  She is a great helper and constantly wants to hold him.  I'm glad we waited and spaced them apart now as I can only imagine how "helpful" she would be any younger than 3 years old. 

Charlie is a good baby.  He definitely loves to eat (he's up to 8 lbs 11 oz as of his 2 week appointment) and sleeps like a log.  I'm enjoying my summer off and getting as much sun as possible!

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