James has been born!

I was scheduled to be induced on Sunday night but when I went in they found out that I was a bit more dilated than they thought (only 3cm) but too much for the procedure they wanted to do (to ready me for the Pitocin induction). Rather than spend the night and wait for the induction on Monday morning, Jim and I chose to go home to sleep in our own bed. (They had warned us that if we stayed, they would still have to monitor my vital signs every 2-3 hours, waking us up often.)

We arrived at the hospital on Monday at 6am for the induction. They immediately started me on the Pitocin IV and I started my first contractions at approximately 7:15am. They were tolerable but felt like bad cramping for a long time. I chose to have a light medicine to "take the edge off" rather than the full epidural. I did choose the epidural later when I was at 6 1/2 cm dilation at about 2:45/3:00. I guess I progressed pretty fast because they were amazed that I had a high pain tolerance for that dilation. An hour later I was 8 cm, and then very soon after that the contractions were near unbearable. That's when they discovered he was very close to being born- the contractions I was feeling were actually James making his way down. Well, I pushed for about half an hour, total. It was an hour process though because we had to stop pushing and wait for the doctor- who hadn't arrived yet! It was very frustrating but everything turned out well.

James was born at 5:52, weighing 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 1/4 inches long. He cried immediately but doesn't cry often- just when he's hungry or his diaper is being changed. He's a very quiet, sweet baby. Right now he's sleeping 3-4 hours, waking up just enough to have a diaper change, a feeding attempt, a small bottle, and a few minutes to gaze at us with his beautiful, dark steel blue/gray eyes. (He has Jim's eyes- long eyelashes too! They may change to brown?)

The only challenge is breastfeeding but that's something that will work itself out, I hope.

We are very happy and content to spend this time with James. Jim is doing great as a new Dad. Its so sweet to hear Jim explaining things to James and telling him that he loves him. I caught a moment like this with the camera and its in the Baby Album. I think I'm doing well with James too. Right now it just seems like we're getting used to the routine and pattern of sleep, diaper, eat, repeat. It is a good time :)

Thank you for reading this!