Archer has arrived! (a birth story)

On October 1st our little one decided he had incubated long enough and made his arrival 3 weeks early. I was so convinced that I was going to have a late, big baby that when my water broke at 1:30 a.m. I had somewhat of a panic attack. Being the Virgo that I am, a list of all the things that I wanted to get done before he got here started forming in my mind. Then I just had to breathe, tell myself that there was nothing I could do now and let Dave know we would be parents within 24 hours. His panic attack started shortly thereafter!

(This is the start of a more detailed birth story. You have been forewarned.)

We got to the hospital around 2:15 a.m. and they admitted me about an hour later. We had a huge laboring room that unfortunately looked out over a Wal-Mart. Oh well. Anyway, my contractions weren't starting naturally so they put me on a Pitocin drip at 5:00 a.m. and about an hour later I could feel them building. I was able to lay down and nap during the first 2 hours, but at around 8:30 I had to sit up and start that wonderful Lamaze breathing. Little did I know that sitting at the edge of the bed would be the only laboring position I could tolerate. I tried a rocking chair, balance ball, walking, standing, laying down, etc... Nope, I spent the next 5 hours sitting on the edge of that stupid bed hanging on to the side rail for dear life.

I had not ruled out getting an epidural, but I wanted to dilate to around 4-5 centimeters before I did so. My contractions started to get pretty intense around 11:30 a.m. and my Dr. was going to come check me at 1 p.m. to see where I was at. That was the longest time of my life, but when he came back at 1 I was dilated to over 4 centimeters and I asked for that epidural. It was heaven! I was able to lay down, talk, joke around and in the next 2 hours I dilated from 4 centimeters to 10 and was ready to start pushing at 3:50 p.m.

Pushing is tiring, but it didn't really hurt. Around 6:00 p.m. my Dr. was called in because we were getting close and at 6:16 our little baby boy was born. It is a very weird experience this whole birthing thing. You spend all this time growing a little one inside of you, then you spend hours, sometimes days, trying to get them out of you and then they are just there. I understand now how a woman can still smile after all of that because it all seems so insignificant compared to the little person you get to hold when all is said and done.

Here are the stats and then I will bombard you with pictures of our precious little one!

Archer James R.
born at 6:16 p.m. on October 1, 2009 (3 weeks early)
weight: 6 lbs. 13 oz.
length: 19.5"
head circumference: 14"

(about 2 minutes old)

(one of his more lucid first moments)

(making the Boppy look huge)

(sleeping in his car seat)

(hanging out with Daddy)

(another car seat shot)

(sleeping, well, like a baby)