CMB part I

After weeks of planning and preparation, our new baby took us completely by surprise. We had been told about 3 million times that first babies are usually late and the due date was more of a suggestion than anything. So, I had left a good chunk of cleaning and organizing of the nursery for another day. I figured with a due date of November 12th, I had plenty of time for those last minute details.
On Saturday the 24th (37 weeks, 2 days), I got an email from one of my fellow residents whose wife was due 11 days after me. She had gone into labor at 36 weeks and the baby was born without any problems. He sent me a message asking how I was doing, and my reply was "start the pitocin any time please". Ha ha, funny Jen.
As Darren and I were just lying down to go to bed that night, my water broke. Having not wet my pants in about 25 or so years, this came as a very odd experience. I think I told Darren in the least panicky voice I could that it was time to go have a baby. Another part of me is so accustomed to staying cool under pressure from years of trauma work that I calmly walked into HUP's ER with my soaking wet sweats on and told them I was in labor. By the way, no one mentioned that when your water breaks, it's not a one time deal. It's a little more every few minutes. Awkward.


We got to the L&D floor around midnight. I was 4cm dilated and everything was moving right along. Another bonus with having your water break on its own is that they give you a 24 hour window; no prolonged labor allowed. I was having contractions every 3 or 4 minutes with very little discomfort, and we got an epidural placed around 2am (wait, what's with the "we" voice here? I didn't see any catheters in Darren's back).

Darren and I played cards and watched movies and just waited for nature to run its course. And, we waited. And waited some more. Through the 15 hours between arriving and 3 pm, I was stuck at 5-6 cm dilated. More pitocin? didn't work. Tincture of time? No go. My favorite idea? Go down on the epidural to see if I needed to be in more pain for things to work. Stupid idea, and again, no progression. This kiddo was stuck. (you are allowed to not progress before 4 cm, but it's not a good idea between 5-7). Around 3pm, we decided that that it was too dangerous to allow things to not continue, and we elected to go ahead with c-section. Two quick reasons I was not totally happy with this: one, I wanted to go au naturale, and two, it was right in the middle of the Steelers-Vikings game.
I got wisked off to the OR, where I was given a bolus through the epidural for pain control. Having never had a single narcotic in my system and not having slept in 2 days, I was completely knocked out. I couldn't stay awake the majority of the time we were in the OR. I remember the baby being born and seeing him the first time, but I was so zonked I couldn't really enjoy it.

I remember crying when I first saw my perfect baby boy but it was a really muted experience. When the drapes were taken off in the OR, I was moved to the stretcher back to my room. I was so numb I couldn't move my right arm to hold the baby, so he just went along for the ride on top of me.


The rest of the night was spent trying to feed him and just get used to the idea that this was my son. My parents and mother in law took turns holding him and taking tons of pictures. I passed out for good around 11. More story to follow!

Calvin Michael
3:32pm October 25
7lb, 3oz

36 weeks

Ooh boy, here I was coasting along with the pregnancy, patting myself on the back for the awesome job I was doing, and then I hit 33 weeks. At 32 weeks, 6 days, I was hitting the gym, operating like a champ, and avoiding any semblance of whining. At 33 weeks, 0 days, my abdomen pushed its way up into my thorax and my little dream pregnancy became that third trimester nightmare of diminished lung capacity, fatigue, and inability to sleep more than 2 straight hours. Not every day is bad, but I definitely am no longer comfortable on a regular basis. I've also gotten a few of the "hey, are you having twins?" comments. Geez, I'm not that big yet.
While mommy may be cranky, baby is doing great. He's got his head down crushing my bladder and his little butt is nice and cozy with my rib cage. My weight gain is appropriate, blood pressure in the normal range, and his heartbeat is jumping along at about 120.
We've got some stuff packed for the hospital, but I'm still stalling packing some things while I'm still using them. Our labor room bag includes such essentials as extra contacts, toothpaste, a deck of cards, and Finding Nemo (it's like watching an aquarium with witty dialogue). My project is coming along nicely, although a lot more work than I estimated.
Here's the only pic of Darren and I taken in the last 4 months. We just never seem to get our picture taken together.

How is this fair?

From a recent catalog in the mail:
Male version:

Female version: