Tad Awe!

Well, he's finally here: Thomas Steven Caldwell, and we're calling him Tad. So the title of this post can be read "ta dah", if you like. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz, stretched out to 22" and has all the expected bits and pieces. He's really quite wonderful. His systems are working well, he sleeps well, and nursing is going well. I hate to think too much about how easy he is for fear of jinxing myself, but he's pretty easy.

And now, if you're interested, are all the details. Background: I've been a patient at the Nurse Midwifery practice at our local big box hospital. A CNM (certified nurse midwife) is a nurse practitioner with special training. This practice operates from the hospital. After doing some reading, I decided to try for a natural birth using the Bradley Method.

Alright. He was due the 16th. On the 26th I had dozed off in bed (around 4:30 pm) and woke up convinced I was wetting the bed. I ran to the bathroom where I realized my water had broken. Then I was frantic. I called Steve and he came home. I was having contractions and we timed a few, they were about ten minutes apart. I called the midwife, she told me to come in when labor picked up, or to call at ten. I called at ten with contractions seven minutes apart and she said to come in when I felt closer.

I decided to try to get some sleep and I did, which means my labor wasn't progressing. One of the midwives called me at ten am on the 27th and told me to come to labor and delivery. I was dilated clear to a one. Wow. Eighteen hours and I was at 1 cm (you need about 10 cm to push out a baby). This was a problem because your chances of becoming infected go up the longer your water is broken. 24 hours is kind of the limit for a lot of health care providers. We decided to start pitocin, a medicine that gives you strong, intense contractions.

The midwife warned me that my body wasn't prepared for how intense the contractions would be, but I wanted to try as naturally as I could. They put in the pitocin and Oh, My, Stars. Those are contractions! Suddenly every two minutes apart, sometimes one minute apart, sometimes coupling (double peaking), and just ripping through my body. After six hours of crying and shouting she checked me again and I was at a 4, so depressing. I decided to try some fentinol (sp?). It was alright. The contractions were still just as strong, but I could relax in-between, when there was an in-between. I figured if I could feel that decent, why not just go all the way. I called in the anesthesiologist for an epidural.

It was a great epidural. Not every one is like this was. The doctor was outside my door when I requested it, so it was fast. He was done in less than five minutes and I could still feel and move my legs. I could feel my contractions, but they weren't ripping through me. For the next four hours Steve and I dozed and watched TV. I only wish I could have eaten.

After those four hours she checked me and I was ready to push! I pushed for about forty-five minutes (though it only seemed like ten) and my baby was born! Right away he was on my chest and nursing. It was amazing. Steve helped weigh him and stared at him while the wonderful midwife worked on me. I delivered the placenta (which is worth taking a look at. We didn't keep it, but we did think it was cool.) I'd torn pretty deeply and that took some sewing. The midwife worked like a surgeon. I didn't watch, but Steve said she was amazing. I ended up running a fever at the end, so I started a round of antibiotics and then they carted me to recovery.

I was nervous I'd be disappointed in myself for not fulfilling my natural birth plan, but I'm not. I would have loved for it to go that way, but it didn't. The Bradley classes we took were well worth the money. Becoming more aware of our options and my capabilities as a woman were huge advantages. I'm happy Tad came out before he started a fever also (a risk with water breaking and labor not starting) and I feel like both midwives we worked with listened to me and helped me with whatever I was choosing right then. The really hard part was deciding if I wanted an epidural right in the thick of things. I wish I had thought about that earlier. The contractions were so intense right then that I'm not sure I was really thinking.

Tad is an amazing baby and Steve is an amazing dad (big surprise). Toby is a great big brother. The first day was a little difficult, but now he's just bored with the baby. He will, of course, lick him whenever given a chance.