Introducing Preston Hayes

I can't believe that it's now been almost 2 weeks since little Preston arrived.  I'm having difficulty adding pictures to this blog posting but I'll at least post the details of his birth since I've had this on my mind every day since then.

This pregnancy was definitely not as easy as my pregnancy with Chase, I think I've made that clear.  I was so uncomfortable and tired and just ready to have him.  However, something happened the week before Preston was born.  Mentally I began preparing myself for the possibility of going past my due date and having to be induced and was therefore so much more at peace with the waiting process.  I went in for my 39 1/2 week doctor's appointment on Monday, January 7th and was about 2 cm dialated and maybe 50 or 60 % effaced.  Nothing to really get excited over.  They told me that they'd scheduled the induction for the following week on January 17th.  I left feeling pretty good about everything.  I only had 2 days left of work until my maternity leave would start and I had projects, cleaning and nesting to do to occupy my time.  I was all set.

So I got home from the appointment, ate dinner and then began noticing that I was having very regular Braxton-Hicks contractions, about every 10 minutes or so.  They began to get more uncomfortable so I laid down, drank a bottle of water (to see if that would stop them) and let Matt take over bath and bedtime with Chase.  The water and rest did not stop the contractions and we started getting nervous.  That night I could not sleep much at all, between the excitement that this was the real thing and being uncomfortable with the contractions.  Around 6am I called the OB pager number to let them know what was going on.  The midwife on call told me to wait until the contractions got more intense and then call back.  So Matt got Chase up and ready for Leslie's, picked us up some coffee and breakfast and I just waited.  Around 10:30 we were ready so they told us to come on in.  We got to a room around 11:30, found out I was 4 cm dialated and my contractions were about 4 min. apart.  We were going to be admitted!  Matt and I let out a cheer (we were afraid they'd tell us to go home and come back.  again, trying to prepare for the worst case scenario) and got excited.  I could not believe that this was really happening...and happening the natural way, without an induction, BEFORE my due date!

We were moved into a labor and delivery room and began to get settled in.  We had an absolute horrible hospital experience with Chase and this was already looking better.  Our L&D room was like a penthouse suite in comparison to the one we had at Durham Regional.  Our room had huge windows overlooking the front of the hospital.

My contractions continued to intensify so I asked for an epidural a couple of hours later.  We enjoyed an afternoon and evening of our family visiting and then around midnight it was time to push.  42 minutes later, on January 9th, our sweet little Preston Hayes was born,weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces.  I got to hold him immediately (unlike with Chase's birth) and everything about him is perfect.  We are completely in-love and could not have asked for a better labor and delivery experience.

Pictures to follow...