Happy 8 Weeks, Lucas!

How does a little baby celebrate his 8-week birthday?

By taking a mid-day nap on a sheepskin rug, of course!

6 Weeks

The Birth Story-the quick and nice version

I love reading other people's birth stories and watching all those baby shows on TV. Now that I have experienced it myself, I thought I would share with you a short and nice version of what happened to me. I say short and nice because some details are a little too personal to put out there on the www and I don't want to scare off any readers who have not yet had a baby and plan to have one in the future :).

For a week or so before I went into labor, I just felt different. Lucas was moving differently, I was having aches and pains that I had not had previously, and I thought my bump looked different. Mom and Dad arrived on Tuesday morning, December 1st, I went to a coffee meet up and yoga on Wednesday and then on Thursday morning (the 3rd) at 6:38am, I felt a little cramp and thought "OK, now THAT feels different!" I thought it might be a contraction so I noted the time and went back to sleep. Twelve minutes later, another pain...and again twelve more minutes later. I decided to wake up Edgar and say those two words we've been waiting for for the past nine months... "It's time!" He called the hospital, who told us to come on in. I showered, and of course did my hair and make up...have to look good in all those photographs that are bound to happen! Our taxi driver manuevered through London's rush hour traffic and we arrived at The Portland around 9am. I got settled into my delivery suite, had a little monitoring done to ensure I was indeed in labor, and then I began the long, long process of waiting for things to change and progress.

All the normal things happened throughout the day. I managed to breath through my contractions until around 2pm, when I decided it was time for the epidural. My doctor had been in to check on me an hour before and said I would have the epidural within the next hour. I still felt I was coping fine at that time, but he was right! I don't know why I question this man...he is never wrong about anything with me. I had a mobile epidural which meant I could still walk around, bounce on my fitball, and basically be active enough to help the labor progress instead of being completely numb and confined to bed.

Around 7pm the doctor reappeared and decided to break my water, and wow, it was like a raging river! 11pm was go time. Mr. Spence-Jones came into the room in proper scrubs instead of his usual dress shirt and tie and said it was time to push! I gave Mom and Dad a kiss goodbye and sent them to my postnatal room to wait for the good news. This is where things got interesting and where I will make it short and sweet. Thirty minutes in, it was decided I would need the help of forceps and, and WOOWWEE...so glad I had the epidural is all I can say...he arrived a few minutes later at 11:48pm, twelve minutes shy of Edgar's birthday on December 4th! Some complications developed with me while he was being delivered that involved a trip to the operating room, a subsequent blood transfusion and 3 1/2 day hospital stay. But the end result was that Lucas was healthy, I would heal, and now we are a happy family of three...EdVon+1.

I loved pregnancy. Despite 20 weeks of morning sickness and all the unglamorous things that go along with it, I enjoyed experiencing this miracle. Labor was also great and I would do it again in a heartbeat, provided an epidural was available. I hope for a better delivery and postpartum period next time and my doctor has promised me it will not be as traumatic the second time around. I trust him...remember, he's never been wrong about me before. Although, I am not anxious for a repeat performance any time soon, so we will all just have to enjoy and spoil Lucas in the meantime.