The Birth

So much to catch up on! I'm sorry it has taken us so long - as anyone who's been through this before knows, times flies by with a newborn! Because I don't want to forget how it all happened and some of you are wondering, I'll describe the birth in some detail, and so if you are a bit sqeemish, you might want to skip this part. Here's where it all started...
We went into the hospital Sunday at 3pm to start the induction. They hooked me up on a fetal monitor and saw that I was already having contractions! I guess I mistook them for being the baby moving around. They weren't exactly regular, but what a relief to know that I was actually making progress. Then I got the Cervadyl, which is supposed to get me ready to dilate, and Erik and I tucked in for what we thought was going to be a calm night. After about 1 hour of sleep, my contractions really started to pick up and become regular - about 4-6 minutes apart - and I definitely felt those! However, I didn't feel much in my belly - it was all in my back. So, Erik didn't get much sleep that night either, as he was a very diligent back rubber. Around 7am, the doctor came in to check on me, and I was finally 1 whole centimeter dilated! (hint a bit of sarcasm here) Anyway, he broke my water, hoping that that would progress things, and they started me on pitocin, which is supposed to increase the severity of the contractions to help with dilation. That's when I took Lamaze breathing to a whole new level! There were not enough "shhssh shhssh heee heee's" in me to keep my head from spinning, so I quickly started screaming out for the epidural. The epidural man is my new best friend!!
I soon got to the point where the contractions were heating up, but thanks to my new BFF, I just felt a little pressure. We were excited to see our progress, but my body just wouldn't cooperate. We tried to up the pitocin a couple of times to convince this baby to start its journey, but instead, the baby's heartrate would start to drop. So we backed off the drugs, and by 1pm, I was only 2cm dilated. It was time to talk c-section. As soon as the good doc said it was time, Erik and I quickly agreed there was no sense in putting our baby through unnecessary stress, and we said the magic word.
Apparently saying the word "c-section" is the key to getting every hospital employee to run to your attention. On top of the nurses, doctors, and techs, I wouldn't be surprised if the janitor and lunchlady also made appearances. It was a whirlwind. My ER episode officially began, and I started calling Erik my George Clooney. Within 20 minutes, we were prepped and wheeled down the hall to the OR. I had about 5 seconds to cry and freak out, and the next thing I knew, my BFF (remember that epidural guy?!!), was poking at me to make sure I was numb. I told him, yes, I was quite tingle-ly, but I could still feel him poking at me. He said that was normal - I should be able to feel the pressure, just no pain. WHAT?!!! No one ever told me about this. I thought I was supposed to feel nothing. It was time to start Lamaze breathing again - not to get through contractions, but to get through my freaking out! Dr. Brandner started the procedure, and unless you've been through it, I'm not sure my description will do it justice. But I felt an enormous relief of pressure when he pulled the baby out, followed by the strangest feeling of someone's hands vigorously "massaging" my guts back into place. The doctor did explain that he would be "massaging" my uterus to help it to contract back down (something that would happen more naturally with a vaginal delivery). But if I didn't know any better, I would have thought the doc was trying to knead a loaf of bread in my belly! At the same time, Erik and the nurses were all describing what was going on with the baby - apparently he peed all over the nurses - the plumbing works! Gunnar let out a few cries, and I was an emotional mess. Unfortuantely my temperature dropped, leaving me shaking and scared to try to hold my baby, but they braced him in bed with me so we could travel the halls together back to our room.
As I worked on warming up, Erik got to hold Gunnar "skin-to-skin" - the bonding process that's encouraged just after birth - and Gunnar was sucking his hand so loudly that the nurses outside our room could hear it! At first, we thought Gunnar was giving his dad a huge hickey, but apparently he was giving himself one.
It was official - Erik and I were now the proud parents of an amazing baby boy.