A Tiger is born!

WARNING: This may be TMI for some of you. I'm describing the birth of my child, so there is some info on here you may not care to read. Just fair warning.

So on Wednesday, October 13, AJ and I woke up VERY early to go to the hospital for me to be induced. I was progressing on my own, but the contractions I was having wouldn't stay regular, and we were on a tight schedule with AJ scheduled to leave on a trip the end of October and my parents only in town for a week. So at 39 weeks and 4 days, that's where we were. Trident Medical Center in Charleston. At 0600.

This is right after we got all registered and signed in downstairs. I forgot to get a last preggo shot when I got induced with Sam, so I wanted to be sure to get one this time! So this is me at 39 wks. 4 days.

OK, before we get to the "good" pics (aka, the ones with the baby!) I'll tell you how the day went.

Got all changed and all, the nurses came in (still the night shift, so they didn't do too much, other than explain when the new shift would be in and what would happen, in general terms.

So about 0700 the new shift came in, introduced themselves, and got things started... meaning paperwork. And needles. The first nurse was very sweet, but not incredible at putting needles in me. She tried a vein on my left forearm first... couldn't get any blood out. Tried a big old vein on my left hand, and ended up blowing it out... in a major way. It's still bruised. NOT cool. And apparently they have a two try limit, so the other nurse came in and put it in my right wrist, which wasn't what I'd call fun, or comfortable, but at least she got it first try! They took a little blood, and then left me hooked up to the IV fluids to get ready for the pitocin when the dr. got there and could check me and get things started. About 0830 they got permission from the Dr. to check me themselves, and I was 3-4 cm. dilated and about 70% effaced. So they started the pit drip. The contractions started almost right away, but of course were very small and not painful, barely noticeable. After a few "bumps" up, they got a little more regular and intense. Several bathroom breaks (LOTS of fluids going in me!) and some boredom and an hour or two, Dr. Molly finally made an appearance. She came in and talked to me a little, and said she'd check me and if Tim was in a "good position" she'd break my water. So she did. It wasn't like with Sam where the contractions got REALLY bad REALLY fast after that... but they did start ramping up a bit... and I started contemplating epidural or no epidural. After much deliberation, I finally decided to try it again. The one I got with Sam didn't really help much, and stopped working at all after an hour or so. NOT cool, so I was unsure whether it was worth it. But since this could possibly be my last pregnancy/labor, I thought it was worth another try.

So I let them know, and they gave me another whole bag of fluids really fast to get ready for the epidural. By this time the contractions were getting really painful, and it seemed like it took forever for the anesthesiologist to get there. Dr. Molly came in and checked me right before the nice man with the drugs got there, and I was 5-6 cm. and 80% effaced.

The anesthesiologist did the epidural with me lying down on my side... MUCH bigger fan of this way than the sitting on the edge of the bed way. Not extremely pleasant process, but once those drugs started working, it was SOO much better that it didn't matter too much. But after enjoying the effects for only about 3 or 4 contractions, I started feeling a LOT of pressure. Thinking it was the full bladder, the nurse quickly put in the catheter and drained it. It didn't help much. So she checked me... I was 9 cm and completely effaced! In about 20 min!! And the pressure was b/c he had moved down to +2 station, which basically meant he was about ready for me to push!

So they paged Dr. Molly... but she was stuck somewhere, and meanwhile, the pressure and pushing urge were almost unbearable. It was BAD! Even with the epidural taking the contraction pain mostly away, it was horrible!! FINALLY, as I started to think I'd have to just start pushing without her, Dr. Molly showed up! I pushed for I think 2 or 3 contractions, and got his head out, and then the doctor told me to stop. STOP??? Are you KIDDING?? I later found out that he had the cord wrapped around his neck and when I pushed, it was pulling it tighter so that she couldn't get it off. EEK!! Not sure if that knowledge would have been better or worse to know at that point. But she pulled it off just fine, and got him all out w/ the next push, and that was that! But OW!!!! I forgot how much it hurts... and I was all shaky from the epidural drugs and from pushing and from NOT pushing, and I was FREEZING! But I had my baby! This was the first time I'd been able to see my baby right after he was born, instead of after they cleaned him up... it was kind of gross, but cool at the same time. With the first two there was meconium in my water, so they had to grab them and take them to get cleaned up right away. It was nice to be able to see him right away.

There he is, seconds after being born! He didn't pink up and cry right away, but once he did start crying, he was REALLY pink!
Here he is getting cleaned up by the nurses while I was being stitched up.
All clean... well, more or less. Oh, and I got to see AJ cut the cord for the first time, too! I mean, he's cut it all three times, but I've never been able to see it b/c they took the baby away from where I was. So that was pretty cool, too!
Isn't he the cutest??
He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Not bad!
Then they gave him back to me to try to get him to nurse... he wouldn't latch on right away, and was pretty upset about it. He'd scream and scream in between tries! He also peed all over me...
Not a happy camper... They eventually took him and bathed him, and when they brought him back about 5 min. later he latched on right away and nursed for a LONG time!
All wrapped up and happy. He really loves being wrapped and snuggled!!

So welcome, Little Timothy Joel "Tiger" Lewton!! Mommy, Daddy, Josh, and Sam love you so much (even if Sam doesn't know it yet...)!! And you've got a lot of other family and friends who love you, too!!

We pray that you'll grow up to be a Godly man, who loves and lives Christ in his life for all to see, and be a loving happy strong courageous man! We love you, little Tiger!