Week 39

Baby is 7 lbs 9 oz

Welcome to the world, Harrison!

Harrison Michael Hall made his debut on January 30th, 2015 at 5:20 AM after 30 hours of labor.  He was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 inches long.  We fell in love with him instantly and filled a very large piece of our hearts we didn't know we were missing.  

Early labor started on Wednesday, the 28th.  I went to work and for the first time in weeks had some energy and felt well.  I came home, cleaned the kitchen, and forced myself to take a quick nap, which was odd since it was my favorite pregnancy perk.  We went to bed around 9:00 PM and I woke up around 11:00 PM with some pain.  I started timing the contractions and when they did not go away by 1:00 AM, I woke up Mike.  We walked around the house, continued to time the contractions, and finally decided to go to the hospital even though they weren't exactly 5 minutes apart.  We got to the hospital around 3:30 AM and I was checked for dilation.  I was at 1 cm.  The previous day I had been .5cm at my doctor's appointment.  I was checked an hour or so later, and I had not dilated any further and was sent home and told that my contractions would most likely go away.  We were starving and disappointed, so we swung by McDonald's on the way home around 6:00 AM to eat an egg mcmuffin and our feelings.  

We both stayed home from work that day just in case. I tried to go back to sleep, but the pain kept getting worse.  We timed the contractions again, but they were still sporadic- between 3-8 minutes apart.  We took a walk around the neighborhood and I kept having to stop to deal with the pain, but I was afraid to call the doctor for another false alarm so we waited.  Around noon, I started texting all my friends with babies and describing my symptoms- finally, one of them said that her contractions never got to be exactly five minutes apart and it was worth calling to check out since the pain was excruciating.  We went to my OB around 2:00 PM and I was at 3 cm and was admitted to the hospital.  I was suddenly terrified.  I thought that I was going to be sent home again and I felt so unprepared.  We walked over to the hospital and got checked into our room.  As soon as I finished the paperwork, met my nurse,  changed into a gown, and recieved an IV I was offered the epidural, which I graciously accepted.  The contraction pain stopped instantly and although I was still uncomfortable and scared it was one less pain to worry about.  The next time I was checked for dilation I was at 4 cm and things were looking good.  I was in good spirits and the pain was minimal, but then I stalled out.  I was checked every hour and had stopped dilating.  I was put on pitocin to speed up my contractions, but they started coming in pairs, which means that the baby might not be able to fit through my pelvis and we would wait a few more hours, but a C-section might be the end result.  This terrified me, and the nurses could clearly see that was not the birth experience I wanted, so they decided to speed things up by working their magic down there and getting me to 6 cm.  We waited again, and again, and I was still not progressing on my own.  The C-section was addressed again and I was getting more anxious by the minute.  Harrison's heart rate was dropping every now and then and I started to accept the fact that this never ending labor would most likely result in a C-section.  But then an angel (one of my nurses) came into my room and stated that we were going to have this baby vaginally and she would make it happen.  She worked her magic again and I was at 9cm.  We pushed lightly off and on for a little while until I got to 10 cm.  It was time to push, but after a few contractions and an upgraded dose of drugs to my epidural line my legs no longer worked and I couldn't feel what or when to push.  We took another break and when I started to feel the need to push again we called the nurses back in and it was finally time.  

I pushed and pushed and when I was about to quit they offered me the mirror.  At first I declined, and then when I started to cry from the pain and frustration they offered it to me again for motivation.  At that point I was willing to do anything because my next step was to overdose myself on epidural drugs and call it a day.  I felt like I had been pushing for hours, but it was only about twenty or thirty minutes of the hardest work-out of my life.  Seeing him make progress was all I needed and a few minutes later he was in my arms and my tears turned into sobs of pure joy and love.  I have never felt so much love for anyone and holding him in that moment was the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Soon after, Mike cut his cord and then he was weighed, measured, cleaned off, and handed back to me.  All I could do was cry because I had never seen anything so beautiful.  Time flew from that point on and we were moved to our post-delivery room.  

Once in our post-delivery room everything was a blur.  People were constantly in and out, I couldn't sleep because I was afraid he would stop breathing, I hurt all over, and I still could not believe that we made something so perfect.  Watching Mike with our child has made me fall deeper in love and I know that I am lucky to have him as my husband and father to our son.  

After what seemed like a year long hospital stay, we were discharged on Sunday around 11:00 AM and we ran out of there as fast as my post labor body would allow.  Someone let us bring a human baby home and words cannot describe how lucky we feel to have him here.  We love you little man, more than you'll ever know.  

Here are some pictures from Harrison's arrival into the world!