A Baby Story

Seeing as how it's been almost a week since we brought Shaan home from the hospital, I figured it was time for me to update everyone on "the baby story." :)

Even though Shaan wasn't due until July 7th, I had a feeling he might be one to arrive early. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a while, and in the week leading up to his arrival, I started having other "pre-labor" symptoms as well. I woke up Thursday morning, and was lying in bed thinking about things I needed to do before he got here since it was my second day off from work, when I felt a strong "pop." I remember actually saying out loud, "Geez, Shaan, that was a big one" thinking he had just kicked the heck out of me, when I realized that "pop" was actually my water breaking. It's funny what I started thinking then - among the "well, here we go - this is it!" feeling, I can't believe all the other things I managed to think of/get done in that next 30 minutes before we left for the hospital.

I called Manu, who had a really big case that day with the head of the surgery department and I remember actually apologizing that my water had broken b/c I felt bad he had to miss the surgery (he was so excited about it!) Of course, he just laughed at me.

I had the clarity of mind to remember I had ordered groceries to be delivered from FreshDirect, and needed to cancel the order b/c we wouldn't be around.

I actually decided I had time to curl/fix my hair as I waited on Manu to get home from the hospital so he could just walk me back across the street.

And, of course, I called my mom and mother-in-law to let them know they probably wanted to book their plane tickets b/c the little man was on his way!

For the first 30 minutes, I didn't really notice much of anything happening, which is why I was able to get some things taken care of, but by the time Manu got home, the contractions had started. From the time we left until the time I made it to the labor and delivery ward of the hospital, had already had 3 contractions (keep in mind we live right across the street from the hospital!) So, when they started coming, they came pretty quick and heightened in intensity pretty quickly as well.

I was actually somewhat undecided on the epidural when we got to the hospital. At first, I was under the impression that this was going to be "no big deal" as my contractions just weren't that bad (I was around 4 centimeters dilated when I got checked at the hospital a little after 9 am). However, that jump from 4-5 centimeters was a big one and the contractions got sooo much worse over the next 2 hours. By 5 cm, I was definitely taking the epidural. Then, I went from 5 - 10 cm in only 45 minutes, but let me just tell you, those 45 minutes were amazing. I could not feel ANYTHING, and I semi-napped watching Wimbledon. The next thing I knew, they were telling me to buzz them as soon as I felt the urge to push b/c I was all the way dilated. But, I couldn't buzz them until I absolutely could not wait any longer as the doctor who would be delivering my baby was across the street making rounds and to quote the nurse "he likes the patients to only push once or twice - he wants them to be absolutely ready."

I'm not sure how you're supposed to know when you're "absolutely ready" if you've never given birth before or can't feel the lower half of your body, but needless to say, we were stuck at 10 cm dilated and doing nothing for the next two hours. My mom actually commented that she was shocked when her plane landed at LaGuardia and she turned it on and didn't have a message that the baby had already arrived.

After a couple of hours of nothing really happening, Manu and I got a scare. We noticed the monitor going bonkers. The baby's heart rate would go from 160 bpm to 80 bpm, then back up and down, and was just really erratic and all over the place. The next thing I knew, the nurses were in the room telling me to get on all fours so they could massage the baby's head to relieve some of the pressure. I had no idea what was going on - the next few minutes were a blur. I knew the baby was in some kind of trouble, but I didn't know why. Literally, in just a few seconds, the doctor was there, and letting me know that the baby's heart rate was dropping because the cord was wrapped around his chest so they had to get him out ASAP. He pulled out a vaccuum, gave me a pep talk about how important it was for me to push him out as quickly as I could, and the next thing I knew, I heard him crying. I literally feel like that phase of the labor happened in about 30 seconds - it was surreal.

The great news is that everything was completely fine when Shaan arrived; he is totally happy and healthy (although a little on the small side - only 5 lbs, 10 ounces), but he was two weeks early as well.

So, that's our "baby story" detailing the big day, and here are a few pics from last Thursday as well!