Amazing...

Our son has made his debut! Dumisani Charles Mason was born this past Saturday just a few minutes before 4 AM. He was 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20" long.

For those of you who want more graphic details than that, keep reading. The rest of you can stop here and continue to "ooh" and "ahh" over the pictures.

After laboring at home since Thursday evening, we finally decided to head to the hospital Friday night around 9 PM. We probably could've waited a little longer, but didn't want to make any crazy trips in the middle of the night, especially with arranging care for Cadence. My folks came over and took her to the sitter for the night and we headed off of to Fresno. My contractions were only about 6 minutes apart at the point, but I was pretty sure this was going somewhere this time. For the past few weeks I would get regular contractions that would then just fizzle out with time. These just had a different feel to them. At the hospital I was however disappointed to learn at first I was only dilated to a 3, which is where I had been Wed. at my weekly exam. I had thought for sure in the past couple days more had happened with all the contractions I was getting. So after an hour of walking around labor and delivery in a hospital gown and socks, they checked my progress and the doctor so kindly confirmed I was indeed pregnant, and also in labor! Yeah! In that hour I had dilated to between a 4 and a 5 and was 70% effaced.

I was officially admitted and put in a birthing room where we were joined by my folks. After being monitored for a little while for baby's health, I was given the ok to walk some more. Eric and I then made the rounds again around labor and delivery for a while longer and came back for more monitoring as asked. My brother and his girlfriend showed up too at some point to see me in all my glory, but were wise and left before things really got interesting after midnight. Meanwhile my contractions were making some progress, getting stronger and closer together. Eric and went for another walk, but after about 15 minutes of this, I was done. I had to pee, I was tired, and the contractions were definitely picking up in intensity. After being checked once again, I learned I was only dilated to a 5 and now 80% effaced. (Groan). I still had halfway to go when it came to dilating. This was probably around 2 AM or so and I made the decision to try some drugs.

With Cadence I was induced so my entire labor was managed by drugs of some kind. It began with Pitocin to manage the contractions, and I elected to have both IV drugs and then a birth spinal as the labor intensified. I remembered when I did get drugs during labor with Cadence, they put me to sleep, which was a great way to pass the time. So sleep was really what I was after when I decided to try the first round of drugs this time.

The nurse gladly gave me a shot in my IV of some sort of narcotic, which she explained the first dose would be the best at taking a the edge off, and subsequent doses would not be as effective, but were available. The drugs hit pretty fast and I was basically flying high, except for the fact that the contractions were still coming hard and fast, and not much "edge" was being taken off. I was pretty disoriented and sleepy when not having a contraction, and then doing my best to get through the pain when it hit. After a few minutes of this, I decided the epidural sounded great. The nurse started pumping fluids into me through my IV. Before giving the epi, two bags of fluid had to be drained into my veins, so with each contraction, I just stared at that little bag dripping it's way into my body to see how much longer the wait would be for true relief to come.

So while my parents watched on, I was in a considerable amount of pain, and Eric was there to hold me through it as I cried and groaned. Let's face it, it was around 3 in the morning, I was exhausted, I was in pain, I just couldn't find a focal point other than that stinking bag hanging on my IV. At some point between contractions, I decided I needed to get up to pee. As I stood up to make my way to the bathroom, another contraction hit, stopping me, and the nurse came in saying she wanted to check my progress again and asked me to lay down. Laying flat on my back to be examined was the last thing I wanted to do at that point. But as I attempted to stand and make my way to the bathroom, I noticed an usually strong pressure like I had to do a lot more than just pee. My parents shuffled out of the room as I laid back down to submit to an exam and through the drug induced fog I heard the nurse proclaim, "oh, you're ready to go, with the next contraction you can start pushing". Say what?! She also said something about the bad news being the epi wouldn't be coming....yeah, I sort of figured as much at that point.

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur. As the nurse gave me instructions on how and when to push, I tried my best to understand though the fatigue and drug stupor. What I do remember is the nurse making several phone calls asking for more people and a cart and the doctor, the room quickly becoming more crowded as the team arrived, and the nurse bringing a squat bar for me to use (which was so awesome to have). My bag of waters broke with my first push and made a pretty good mess as it shot out all over the floor (at least it missed the nurse, mostly). Eric says it was probably about 10 minutes from the time I started pushing until the time our son was born. I will trust him on this one because my sense of time at that point was pretty gone. I do remember getting a sense of focus and even peace at some point during this period, and then being able to push when I needed to. People have asked what the pain was like during this part. I have to say, it wasn't bad, mild even. I actually am really glad I was able to feel what was happening at this point, to feel the actual delivery happen. That may sound strange, but it's something I will probably never forget. So with one last big gush of fluid and a tremendous sense of relief (sort of like I had just had the biggest bowel movement of my life), my son was born and I was holding him.

Meanwhile my poor parents were in the waiting room at first thinking I was just getting another exam and the epidural. They started to get a clue though as they saw all these people rushing to the room, and then eventually heard the first cries of their grandson. They said the hospital played lullaby music over the intercom when he was born.

My recovery has been awesome...other than being tired from lack of sleep, I am feeling pretty well. I did not have tearing or need an episiotomy with this delivery. My body perfectly accommodated the process, just as it was designed to do. My son is pretty sleepy at this point in his life, doesn't miss one of his dozen or so meals, and is content for the most part, unless getting a bath or a change of clothes, which makes him feel cold. He does spit up more than Cadence ever did, but nothing we can't deal with.

Cadence is fascinated by her baby brother, but also having to make some big adjustments in her little world. Last night she had a pretty big emotional meltdown. We are trying to be wise and sensitive to her needs as we all make room in our lives for baby brother. May the journey continue....