Mama's Birth Story

Our little boy is happily sleeping on this 3rd day of life. Sleeping has been one of his favorite activities so far. He'll go for 5-6 hours at a time! We're having success with nursing, and I'm feeling better each hour. I know that some of you are curious for details about the birth, so here goes!

Monday 2/2/09
I came in for my weekly checkup with the doctor at 8am. I was a bit early, so Tom and I took a walk along the beach in front of the hospital. When we met with the doctor, he noticed my blood pressure was a bit high, so sent me to get an ultrasound downstairs to make sure everything was okay with the baby. The ultrasound showed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his head and that the amniotic fluid was a little low. For these reasons, the doctor told us that we would be meeting our baby that very day! He induced me around 11:30am and I began getting contractions right away. The contractions came pretty forcefully and were very intense. I labored in hopes of a vaginal birth for about 4 hours. At that point, I was not dilating fast enough to safely continue. The doctor recommended that we have a cesarean section and we agreed that it was the best option for us all.

I was then sent into the operating room where I was given an epidural and they began. Tom watched the surgery and birth from the window. He offered thumbs up for encouragement and was able to hear the first cries of Ezekiel at 4:30pm. I saw him briefly as the doctors took our little guy out to get weighed, measured, and all that good stuff. The surgery took about 45 minutes more, so Tom ran back and forth between the nursery and the operating room window, sending love to us both.

I was taken back to our hospital room to let the epidural wear off. Our room is extremely nice with a window and small balcony overlooking the Caribbean. After about 2 hours, I could feel my feet enough to move to my bed and meet my son. Tom and I enjoyed a few quiet hours with Ezekiel together as a new little family. We then began to call our families and spread the good news.

While it was not our "plan" to have a c-section, the doctor said afterward that it would've been necessary even if I had labored for a couple more hours. Recovery from the surgery is a little difficult, with lots of tenderness and aches, but I'm feeling much better today. I was able to eat some cereal this morning, and I've been walking a bit in the hallways. We'll be here for 4 days total and we're very comfortable in our room. Our whole family has beds right in the room, and we've enjoyed opening the door and getting some fresh sea air circulating from time to time.
Ezekiel has been a good eater, although he likes to have a whole bunch of food at one time (for almost 2 hours each feeding) and then sleeping for 4-6 hours afterwards. We're happy and comfortable. Thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes and love- we're doing great!