***I wrote this shortly after Weston's Birth***
On Tuesday, September 28th, we arrived at the hospital around 6:00 pm for the gel to help ripen my cervix. I immediately had my bloody show and the contractions started. They monitored me for about an hour and then let us leave, saying they would see me at 7:30 am the next day for our scheduled induction.
We left and went to Panera for dinner. While waiting for our food, the contractions started getting stronger but not enough to make me miss out on dinner! 
The contractions progressively got worse and were anywhere from 3 to 4 minutes apart by 9:00 pm. My mom, Mike and I decided it was time to try to get some sleep since we figured Wednesday was going to be a long day. I couldn't sleep though and the contractions seemed worse while I was laying down so I decided to get up and take a shower. I showered, dried my hair and put some makeup on to help distract myself. By about 2:30 am, I couldn't take it anymore. My contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart and lasted a minute or more so I woke Mike and said we needed to call and see if we should head in early. The doctor said to come on in!
We stopped at the bank on the way and took our time since we knew it would most likely be a while. When I got there, they admitted me without checking since I was already scheduled to be there in a few short hours. I was just a finger tip dilated and fully effaced at 4:30 am so they told me to try to get some rest but that I would be staying.
I was surprised at how strong the contractions already were but was able to get a bit of sleep here and there. At around 7:00 am the doctor decided to start the pitocin to get things moving. About 9:00 am (things start getting a little foggy at this point) the doctor came in and broke my water. I progressed to 3 cm in about a half an hour. The contractions were pretty strong and there wasn't much of a break in between. Mike had left the room for a bit to call his mom, get some coffee and some fresh air.
Around 10, I was talking to my mom and noticed that Weston's heart rate sounded strange on the monitor. I asked my mom what it was and all of a sudden a nurse (not mine) came in and started having me move from side to side and was moving the monitor around in a bit of a panic. She didn't say anything to me but I knew something was wrong. I started crying but I didn't want to distract her. The next thing I knew, my nurse and 3 others were in the room and they were paging my doctor.
I was terrified but then his heart rate came back up and things calmed down. My doctor told me that it had dropped very low, which I had already assumed, but that he was ok now. He wasn't too concerned at this point and said sometimes these things happen. Mike came back to the room and had missed the whole ordeal so I had to explain what happened because I was still a bit worked up.
Not too long after I started to calm down, the nurse rushed in again, paging the doctor at the same time so I knew it was happening again. Once his heart rate came back up, I knew what was coming because of the way my doctor was looking at me.
We had many conversations about how I really wanted to avoid a c-section but if the baby's health was at risk, I wouldn't question it. As soon as the words left his mouth, I broke down and couldn't stop crying. Mike and my mom were right there to comfort me. The doctor was also very comforting, telling me that everything will be ok and that it is what is best for the baby because he is obviously not doing well in there. I was actually very surprised at how compassionate my doctor was. I had trusted him all through this pregnancy and knew that I had to trust him now.
The next hour was a bit bittersweet. I knew my baby boy was coming soon but I was so heartbroken that I would not be getting the natural birth that I had always dreamed of. I cried a lot and didn't really talk very much because I was terrified. I had never had surgery and was so afraid of what was about to happen.
My c-section got pushed back a bit because of an emergency c-section so I had to wait a little longer than the originally thought. My situation was "urgent" but not "emergent" at this point. What made everything worse was that I was still having very strong contractions and did not have any pain medication. I just kept thinking about how I was going through this pain for nothing now.
I was finally brought into the OR around 12:10 pm. Mike had to wait outside while they did the spinal. Again, I was amazed at my doctor who actually held me still while they did the spinal. I've never heard of a doctor doing that. He also was trying to lighten the mood by dancing and singing which was great. After everything was prepped, they brought Mike in and things got started.
Weston Michael was born at 12:37 pm with the cord wrapped around his neck twice. I am forever grateful that my doctor made the call when he did to go for the section. Weston peed as soon as they pulled him out which caught the doctor off guard and gave everyone a good laugh.
He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I bawled as soon as I got a glimpse of my precious baby boy.
Weston was 8lbs, 6oz. 20.5 inches long and had a big head! He scored a 9 out of 10 on his apgar and was as pink as could be. The doctors are still amazed at his low bilirubin levels, not a trace of jaundice.
Mike was able to record the birth if you are interested in seeing it. It really isn't too graphic but you do see a bit of blood and can see them unwrapping the cord.
I am amazed every day that my son here and am so in love. I have had a really hard time letting the birth go but have been trying hard to remind myself that he is here and is healthy and that is all that matters. We struggled a lot in the beginning with breastfeeding and after many tearful days and nights, we finally got it. He was taking a bottle for a bit and then something just clicked and we haven't used a bottle in over a week.
I worry about my mood and hope that I am just experiencing the normal baby blues but we are keeping an eye on things to make sure they don't get worse. I am also so surprised at how much I miss being pregnant. I really ache to be pregnant again so hopefully that will pass soon.
Some pictures from the day:
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