Jameson's Story

Well our little Jameson made his entrance into our world on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Now that I've got the time I thought I would write his story.

My last appointment was Friday, the 8th and I learned I was 70% effaced but hadn't started to dilate yet. Saturday we were supposed to take maternity pictures but the weather was super bad so we rescheduled for Tuesday and the hubs and I had a date day (our last unbeknownst to us as just hubby and wife). I was taking a shower and started to feel Braxton Hicks contractions so after I got out I walked outside to our Arizona room and told the hubby that I had a feeling Jameson was going to come early--like Tuesday or Wednesday. The rest of the weekend passed without much excitement and then Monday arrived. My Braxton Hicks contractions were getting a little more intense and I started to have some back pain which I attributed to the contractions. I left work early and came home, took some Tylenol and got in bed. When the hubs came home he rubbed my back but that didn't do a whole lot to alleviate the pain. I had the worst time trying to sleep. I kept tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position and then finally at 4:00 in the morning I was woken up with a sharp stabbing pain in my back. I was able to dose back off and when my alarm went off I was still having pains. My shower didn't help and I got out crying and told the hubby that "There's no way I can do this for another 2 weeks". I wrote on my facebook about the pain and went off to work.

The pain and what I thought were Braxton Hicks continued throughout the morning getting progressively worse. The advice from my coworkers was to start timing them but they were so all over the place--some were 10 minutes, some were 5, some were 7 and when you're busy trying to teach your 1st graders you don't really have time to time things. So lunch finally rolled around and with the pain getting worse so they sent me on my way. I didn't have a chance to say bye to my kiddos which makes me sad but I'll be seeing them soon. I grabbed my stuff from my room waddled to my car around the building and off I went to my Dr.'s office. I called the hubs and told him I was leaving work and heading to the Dr. he told me to call him with any news. I got to my Dr.'s office explained the situation and they sent me straight to the hospital. I'm freaking out by this point because 1. I'm by myself. 2. Am I really about to have this baby? 3. I don't even have a bag packed.

I get to the hospital and get admitted and get whisked away to the Labor and Delivery unit and I get put in Triage where they check me and sure enough I had dilated to 2.5-3 centimeters and take my blood pressure which was high. Side note, one of my nurses is the parent of a student I had my first year. Funny small towns. Anyway, I asked them if I needed to call my hubby and they said they were going to check my blood pressure a few more times and then go from there. So they check my blood pressure a few more times and it wasn't going down so they said, "Time to call your husband, we're admitting you for delivery." This is when I really start to freak out. I call Robert and let him know and he starts his process of getting out of work, filling out his leave papers and getting to the hospital.

I get to my room at 1:30 and there's a ton of nurses coming in and out and asking me a ton of questions. My mother in law was the first person to show up which was a relief but also made it very real that, "Yes, we are in fact going to have a baby today". I'm trying to get a hold of my parents and find out where my hubby is all the while dealing with what I now know are real contractions. In comes my Dr. and says that because my blood pressure is so high he's going to break my water to speed up the process. That is the weirdest feeling to have all of this fluid come gushing out of you. Sorry for the visual but it's true. Before he breaks my water I ask my mother in law to call the hubs (I'm sure she could tell how panicky I was getting). She calls him and soon after the water breaking he was there. I wanted an epidural so in came the doctor for that and that is so not a fun process but made the rest of my labor so much better. The nurses kept coming in and checking me and by 3 or so I was up to 5 centimeters so things were moving fast. My mom was stuck in a meeting at work and my dad was trying to get her out they eventually made it. By 4:00 the nurses had come back in, checked me and let me know that it was time to start pushing. My mom and the hubs stayed in the room with me and at 4:08 we were pushing. It was such a surreal moment and process. It felt like I was in a dream and would be waking up any moment. Pushing is the hardest part. With the epidural it took away all the pain but I could still feel the pressure from Jameson making his way down. There were a few moments where I didn't think he was ever going to come out but at 5:08 he was there. He came out screaming and cried for about 20 minutes. He was so beautiful. As hard as it was, I would do it again for him. They took him and put him under the warmers and cleaned him up and in all of this the Dr. is sewing me up (I had a tiny tear on the inside) and talking to the intern who was there and I remembered to ask if he had all of his fingers and toes and yes he did. =) The hubby also gave him his first bath and the grandparents took about a thousand pictures that first day.

I can't believe how fast my labor went and neither could any of the nurses. We ended up spending 2 days in the hospital because of my blood pressure and boy were those some days. The first night was crazy...between being hooked up to an IV, having to pee every other hour, having a newborn in the room and the hubs I don't think any of us got much sleep that first night. The second day Jameson got his Hep B. shot and circumcised which apparently he slept through. We also had a ton of visitors which in hindsight was way too much for this new mommy who had no sleep. The 2nd night I had a melt down and called the hubby who had been gone for about 3 hours at home getting things done asking him to come back because Jameson just wanted to eat and my nipples hurt so bad I couldn't do it anymore and I was a bad mom because I couldn't. The hubby seemed to get back in no time and made me get in bed and sleep. I woke up about an hour later and the hubs was still up with Jameson so we took him to the nursery and asked if they could take him for a little bit. Of course they did, the hubs said later they seemed surprised to see Jameson since he had been with us the entire time after he was born. But getting those 3 hours of sleep was so needed!

We were finally able to go home the next day around 1. And since then we've been trying to get a routine and work on the breast feeding...which is becoming more successful each day.

Tomorrow Jameson will be 1 week old already. How is that possible? How is it possible for time to be moving so fast now? But he's the cutest baby ever (I promise) and we are just so in love with him. We're those crazy parents who take pictures of him every day! Seriously between us and the 4 grandparents he probably has about 1,000 pictures. Sick! Anyway...here are some pictures of our beautiful baby boy!

Our last picture without baby.

My first time holding Jameson.

The hubby's first time holding Jameson.

Jameson born on April 12, 2011 at 5:08pm. 7lbs and 19in.