Brandon's Puppy

Matthew's Birth...

...was quite an experience. After the false alarm on Monday, I knew Matthew's arrival would be soon, I just didn't know it would be SO soon. I awoke on Tuesday morning around 7AM with mild contractions, and told Eric to take Brandon to school because they were hitting me every five minutes and I didn't want to drive the six blocks to the school. While he was gone, I called the hospital and spoke to the nurse that monitored me the day before. She said that she could not tell me not to go, but that they were extremely busy and if I could still tolerate the contractions, to wait a while. We had breakfast, and I tried to sleep off the contractions with a little nap on the couch, but by 9:30, I told Eric "I'm getting dressed, and we're going". A very wise decision on my part, as you will soon see.
We passed by my sister's house to drop off Brandon's things (she lives about ten blocks away), and arrived at the hospital at about 10:30AM. By 11, I was in a labor and delivery room with a fetal monitor, and the contractions sped up to every 3-4 minutes. The midwife on duty accessed me at about 12:30, and at this point I was 6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. The contractions were no longer just uncomfortable, they were painful. Blood was drawn, and an IV was inserted into my wrist. Once the blood results were ready, the anesthesiologist was to be called to administer the epidural, and I was to be given penicillin because my GBS reading was positive. At about 1 PM, the midwife tells me that the doctor on-call (which happens to be my friend Marilu's boss, quite a plus!!) is on his way because my doctor was on-call at the other campus and can't make it. "GREAT! He missed Brandon's delivery, and now he's missing this one too", I thought. Turns out he wouldn't have made it anyway...by the time the doctor accessed me, I had dilated to 9 cm. Most of you know what this means: Too.late. for. an. epidural. That thought hardly had time to settle because by the time the doctor finished his accessment, I felt the urge to push. My water hadn't broken, so the doctor burst the sac and saw that Matthew was RIGHT THERE. He and the nurses scattered all over the room getting the necessary items for the delivery, and even quarreled about someone not calling the Neonatologist, a concern stemming from the lack of penicillin prior to delivery. Eric almost didn't make it to see his son come into this world because when we were informed I was 6 cm, he had gone down to the car to get our bags. This give you an idea how quickly I progressed. Eric walked in, dropped the bags, and grabbed the video camera. I never imagined I was going to deliver without drugs, but there I was, pushing him out, He was out in three or four pushes, and now, in retrospect, I can say that the worse part of the whole thing is the pain of the contractions. The lack of anesthesia allowed me to actually feel the contractions, as opposed to being told when to push, and I could also feel that I was actually pushing. Brandon's (active) labor took 45 minutes because I could not feel what I was doing.
Matthew entered this world at 1:27PM. Just imagine: if I hadn't left my house at 10, I probably would have had him here at home!
He was checked, cleaned and wrapped, and they handed him to me for about half an hour before he was to go to the nursery for a four-hour observation. He was only 3 ounces heavier and just a quarter inch bigger than Brandon was at birth, but he just didn't seem as tiny to me.
When they took him away, it seemed to surreal. After so many months of planning and waiting, he was here.

So there you go, a recap of our exciting Tuesday afternoon, during which we became a family of four.