So..uh...I had a baby! I'm quite behind on blogging so here's a long overdue recap of the big day.
Here is the final belly photo taken as I was leaving for the hospital at around 1:00 pm on Friday, July 23rd. This photo was in between contractions that were about 2 minutes apart. I'd been having contractions since Wednesday afternoon but by Friday morning they were very regular and very painful. I also suspected that I'd been leaking amniotic fluid since some time on Thursday but I wasn't entirely sure. We decided to visit the hospital just to check whether my fluid had broken. We thought there was about a 50% chance I'd be sent home.
Nope! Not going home! I was admitted to the hospital after a litmus test of sorts confirmed that my fluid had indeed ruptured. The hospital was full of women having babies and I had to wait for some time in the triage room for a labor and delivery room to open up. Finally, I was moved at about 4 pm. Mike went to get some dinner and when he returned I was sprawled out on a birthing ball in extreme pain. Suddenly, I had a large contraction and my water really broke. At that point all hell broke loose and I went from 3 cm to 8 cm dilated within 20 mins. I was pleading for the anesthesiologist as the nurses prepared the room for delivery. I panicked as I saw the birthing equipment being rushed into the room. The nurses, thinking there was no time for an epidural, assured me that I would be able to deliver the baby without drugs but I wasn't so sure. I had not prepared myself for an unmedicated birth and I was not handling it well. Here's a view of my "off the chart" contractions (bottom graph).
At the 11th hour the epidural was administered and things slowed down. I was able to relax and let my body labor the baby down without pain. I rested, smiled, and praised the field of anesthesiology. 
After letting my body do most of the work (without pain!), it was time to push. I pushed with every contraction for about an hour and at 9:35 Anthony Michael made his entrance into the world. The doctor plopped him on my belly and I was screaming "Oh my God! It's a BOY! It's a BOY!" I was completely shocked. 
He was pretty ticked off. He cried and cried. 
In those first few hours he was actually most happy when Mike was holding him. He stopped crying in his arms. Mike was awesome during the delivery and surprised me the next day with a bouquet of roses! 
At around midnight we walked down to post-partum all aglow and adrenaline fueled. Anthony was taken for his assessment and bath. Mike and I raided the post-partum parent's pantry for ice cream and juice and recapped the night's events as we eagerly awaiting Anthony's return. The lighting was soft and the room was warm and cozy. It was a perfect evening.
The next morning Ava arrived to meet her baby brother whom she calls "Amfony".
On Sunday, as were were about to be discharged, it was discovered that Anthony had an incarcerated inguinal hernia. We were told to go immediately to University Hospital ER to be admitted into the Children's Hospital for possible emergency surgery. This was quite a shock. We had to quickly depart and say goodbye to a very sad Ava who thought we were coming home with her. Once we got to hospital an ultrasound was performed to see if the intestine was being strangulated. It wasn't, thankfully, so the surgery could wait until Monday. Anthony was hooked up to monitors and wires and put in a scary looking metal crib. It was a real challenge to nurse him will all those wires tethered to the monitors. I was glad I at least knew how to nurse and change a diaper and could therefore adapt to the additional challenges. I joked to the nurses several times that I would have had to have been medicated myself had this all be going on with Ava. The surgery happened on Monday afternoon and we were gratefully released on Tuesday around lunchtime. 
Here is the final belly photo taken as I was leaving for the hospital at around 1:00 pm on Friday, July 23rd. This photo was in between contractions that were about 2 minutes apart. I'd been having contractions since Wednesday afternoon but by Friday morning they were very regular and very painful. I also suspected that I'd been leaking amniotic fluid since some time on Thursday but I wasn't entirely sure. We decided to visit the hospital just to check whether my fluid had broken. We thought there was about a 50% chance I'd be sent home.Nope! Not going home! I was admitted to the hospital after a litmus test of sorts confirmed that my fluid had indeed ruptured. The hospital was full of women having babies and I had to wait for some time in the triage room for a labor and delivery room to open up. Finally, I was moved at about 4 pm. Mike went to get some dinner and when he returned I was sprawled out on a birthing ball in extreme pain. Suddenly, I had a large contraction and my water really broke. At that point all hell broke loose and I went from 3 cm to 8 cm dilated within 20 mins. I was pleading for the anesthesiologist as the nurses prepared the room for delivery. I panicked as I saw the birthing equipment being rushed into the room. The nurses, thinking there was no time for an epidural, assured me that I would be able to deliver the baby without drugs but I wasn't so sure. I had not prepared myself for an unmedicated birth and I was not handling it well. Here's a view of my "off the chart" contractions (bottom graph).At the 11th hour the epidural was administered and things slowed down. I was able to relax and let my body labor the baby down without pain. I rested, smiled, and praised the field of anesthesiology. After letting my body do most of the work (without pain!), it was time to push. I pushed with every contraction for about an hour and at 9:35 Anthony Michael made his entrance into the world. The doctor plopped him on my belly and I was screaming "Oh my God! It's a BOY! It's a BOY!" I was completely shocked. He was pretty ticked off. He cried and cried. In those first few hours he was actually most happy when Mike was holding him. He stopped crying in his arms. Mike was awesome during the delivery and surprised me the next day with a bouquet of roses! At around midnight we walked down to post-partum all aglow and adrenaline fueled. Anthony was taken for his assessment and bath. Mike and I raided the post-partum parent's pantry for ice cream and juice and recapped the night's events as we eagerly awaiting Anthony's return. The lighting was soft and the room was warm and cozy. It was a perfect evening.
The next morning Ava arrived to meet her baby brother whom she calls "Amfony".On Sunday, as were were about to be discharged, it was discovered that Anthony had an incarcerated inguinal hernia. We were told to go immediately to University Hospital ER to be admitted into the Children's Hospital for possible emergency surgery. This was quite a shock. We had to quickly depart and say goodbye to a very sad Ava who thought we were coming home with her. Once we got to hospital an ultrasound was performed to see if the intestine was being strangulated. It wasn't, thankfully, so the surgery could wait until Monday. Anthony was hooked up to monitors and wires and put in a scary looking metal crib. It was a real challenge to nurse him will all those wires tethered to the monitors. I was glad I at least knew how to nurse and change a diaper and could therefore adapt to the additional challenges. I joked to the nurses several times that I would have had to have been medicated myself had this all be going on with Ava. The surgery happened on Monday afternoon and we were gratefully released on Tuesday around lunchtime. 
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