Please welcome, Curtis Patrick O'Laughlin. Our chunky, little bundle of joy, weighing in at 9lbs 6.6ozs and 20.5 inches long. Born on November 5th, 2010 at 3:31pm.
To quote the dog in the movie, Up, "I just met you, and I love you". Curtis already possesses a personality that is all his own. It is impossible not to compare him to his older brother, as Brock is the only other child I have birthed...and I am calling it now: they are complete opposites. It even starts with the blood, Brock has his father's type, and Curtis has mine. Brock's delivery took 27 hours, Curt's took 7 hours. Brock came out looking like he was 2 weeks old, bright-eyed with very defined features; Curtis arrived with a bruised face, and the cute chub of a newborn. Curtis cannot wait for each feeding, and will stay latched even with his 2 year-old brother jumping in the bed and screaming. While Brock would immediately detach if he heard so much as a whisper in the next room. Despite these differences, I can tell these boys are going to be fast friends.
As for the delivery story, on the night of November 4th, I was about to write a post along these lines:
Now, an easy 7 hour labor and a giant, 9 1/2 pound baby boy later, I realize it absolutely was the right decision! A large part of my hesitation to induce, was the fact that there was no medical reason; I was relying on the ultrasound we got on Tuesday to confirm my humongous baby suspicions, thus providing a good excuse for immediate evacuation. But, as he had been the entire pregnancy on sonogram the baby was measuring in the normal 50th percentile - they estimated 7lbs 13ozs. I must admit, I had my doubts on those measurements. I am telling you, at least once everyday of the 3rd trimester I said, "This baby is huge". I said it at every doctor's appointment, and the doc never refuted the comment. I only gained 26lbs, and was GIANT. Also when I felt my belly, it was ALL baby, he filled that sucker up. Anyway, my point is, supposedly the baby was average sized, thus making it hard for me to use size as the excuse to induct labor. Well, as we now see, if I had let this go on much longer, I'd be having a 10+ pound baby! Not that it's not do-able, many a woman has delivered that and larger, but it can complicate things.
My other hesitation with inducing labor, is the rate of c-section. I have not looked into actual numbers or studies, so I am not sure there is statistical evidence showing that induction increases c-section rate, but I feel, if your body is not ready, then it's not ready. I guess my body was ready. We got checked in and settled around 8am. The nurse got some pitocin started around 9. The doctor broke my water at 10. I got an epidural around Noon. And I pushed a baby out in 6 pushes at 3:31pm.
Seriously, I did not feel a thing. The only "complication" to the labor was trying to keep me conscious. The epidural combined with a 9.5 pound baby lying on my great vessels made my blood pressure plummet. So, I had to try and delivery a baby lying slightly on my right side. With my position combined with the lack of feeling I was not convinced that I was pushing well at all. But after 4 pushes, I was told to absolutely stop until the doctor got in the room. The doctor arrived, gowned up and then Curtis joined the world.
3 comments:
That is really intense. I'm glad everything worked out well. Really glad. Cheers.
You have to add Curtis to the Family photo, below!
I was hoping no one would notice that yet, Leah - thanks for pointing it out. There, done.
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