Alexander is here!

Wow, it took me a long time to be able to sit with the computer for a few minutes to get this blog up! We've had an interesting week, but I am so happy to share with you all that Alexander Jay Sykes came into the world on May 21st at 1:08pm. He has brown hair and blue eyes (for the moment) weighed in at 8 lbs even, and 21 inches. He has ten fingers and ten toes, the most amazing ears, and looks exactly like Nate and I if you mushed us together into a little human. I can't wait to see how he looks in a few months!

We knew Xander was on his way last weekend, I was having to most regular and unending contractions that I knew could no longer be classified as braxton-hicks. To help things along Nate and I went for several walks around the neighborhood with Inca. Nate was a nervous Daddy to be, constantly wondering if we should go the hospital to be checked even though I wasn't experiencing any pain yet. I told him I would know when things were moving along and we should go to the hospital. I had no idea how right I was going to be.

Monday morning I woke groaning in pain at 5:45 am. Clearly this was something different. Interestingly, Nate reached over and rubbed my back until I was quiet again. He never really woke up, but he was a big help. After the pain subsided I made my way to the bathroom to see what was up. In a matter of minutes that horrible, eye-opening, body racking pain returned and I knew that I was really in labor. I got Nate up, but there seemed to barely be any time between contractions. Nate started timing them, they were nearly two minutes long and about five minutes apart. I wasn't waiting around the full hour, we were going to the hospital ASAP! Knowing my water had not yet broken I had put on a heavy pad and had Nate line the passenger seat with towels. Good thing, because it broke about half way there. Somehow, and for some reason I held it in for the most part until we got to the hospital. I was in so much pain on the way there that I unbuckled myself, turned around in the seat, and got down on the floor board so I could lean forward and moan. When we got to the hospital I was in middle of another contraction and as I tried to get out of the car I ended up letting my water go, but again, somehow the pad I was wearing was enough to contain the deluge.

When we got into triage, there was only one other couple in there, and she didn't even look like she was in any pain. I really hated her at that moment. And then I was afraid if I screamed the way I really wanted to I would scare not only her, but all the poor nurses and attendants working in the room. I kind of wish I had some video of those few minutes, I was afraid I was going to throw-up everywhere, so they had given me a trash can, but I ended up using it as a leaning device. on the floor, on my knees. I was really surprised by how intense the pain was, and how insane my mind was. I kept having these urges to change position, but each one was more painful than the last.

They finally brought us back into a triage room where I felt free to moan and groan much louder, which was a good thing since it was hurting more and more, and never seemed to end. My back hurt constantly. They made me undress which is when more of my water went everywhere during a contraction, but again somehow seemed to stay contained to the hospital pad they had laid on the floor underneath me since I was refusing to lay down. For whatever reason laying down was the last thing I wanted to do. Standing and leaning was all that was acceptable, but the nurse told be they wouldn't admit me without an exam, and an exam meant laying down. So, down I went, and I think this was the last time Nate would feel his hand until the epidural drip started much, much later. Surprisingly, they confirmed I was both in labor and my water had broken. Duh. I was already four centimeters and moving along quickly. Now I just had to wait for a bed upstairs, and then the anesthesiologist would be there with my pain relief.

It felt like forever. It felt like I wouldn't make it there in one piece. It felt like my body was trying to rip itself in two and I had absolutely no control over it. We got upstairs and I was quickly becoming that woman your mother always told you about, the one you see in the movies, the one who yells at everyone and thinks every question is the stupidest thing she has ever heard. I snapped at the nurse, I yelled at Nate. The only people I liked were the anesthesiologists, and I snapped at them too. I really can't remember, but I think I had been in labor a little over two hours when the epidural kicked in. Despite how bad the pain was, I still wanted to have as much control over my delivery as possible, so I had gotten a low-dose of the epidural. I could still freely move my legs and feel when I was touched, but the intense pain was gone, replaced by a milder, manageable pain.

I labored for a few hours this way, feeling decent. I was checked again and had progressed to seven centimeters and we knew it wouldn't be much longer since I was moving along so rapidly, even with the epidural in place. Unfortunately, with such a light dose of the epidural, as Xander moved down into position that horrific pain returned. I don't even want to think what it would have felt like with no relief at all. That is something that is beyond horrible. I'll spare you the really gritty details, but I was moved into different positions trying to get Xander to turn into the correct position for delivery, and this hour of waiting to dialate the last half a centimeter was just plain horrible. And it only got worse once I felt the need to push. I knew if they told me to wait any longer than the two or three contractions I had already waited that I was going to push him out on my own. It took twenty minutes, three contractions, and ten pushes to get him out into the world. There is no greater relief than the moment the shoulders are free and the baby, along with all of the fluid still left behind, gush out. I couldn't help but fight through the exhaustion and desire to blackout, to look up at my screaming son and count his fingers, toes, and boy parts.

When I finally got to hold him I cried. He is just perfect. I still can't believe he is sitting here next to me on a blanket watching me type, sucking on his fingers, and being so alert.

The first couple of days were hard to get through because he didn't want to be set down, and we didn't want to set him down. We were so tired! And it was a process getting down breast feeding, but we are both pros at it now. I understand now why they say breast feeding is good for the baby's development, it was a lot of work for him to learn how to do it!

After a few more days Xander taught us that he knows we need to sleep at night, and started sleeping for three and four hour stretches at night. Over three feedings, Nate and I are averaging anywhere from six to eight hours of sleep. I have the most amazing child, ever.

Unfortunately, all was not as easy as I had hoped. For the first couple days at home I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and finally found out why when I passed a gauze sponge. During my delivery my doctor had gotten called away before finishing up with me and in the confusion accidentally left one behind. This meant I needed to get back to the hospital to be checked out. Turns out it was the only thing left behind and I have no signs of infection, unfortunately it also showed my blood pressure was sky-rocketing out of control. I checked back into the hospital on Saturday to start a regimen of blood pressure medicine and I needed to be monitored while they found the correct dosage. This was not fun, the first dose was too little, the second dose was too much (with lovely side-effects), but on Monday morning we got to go home and resume our new normal lives. I am stuck on meds for the month, but hopefully I will return to normal on my own once my body adjusts to all its been through.

Xander is doing great. At his pediatrician visit this morning they told us he is looking healthy and great, he has gained back his birth weight, plus two ounces. At the moment, he is an amazingly well-behaved light of my life! I am so happy, so at peace, so overwhelmed, there is no way to adequately describe my life right now, and that is nothing less than amazing!