Mason's Arrival

It's been a little hectic so here is the first post about Mason's arrival. I promise not to get too detailed.

After waiting for what seemed like 40 years, not 40 weeks, Mason Marshall made his appearance on Tuesday, September 6th. It was his actual due date (more on that in a bit). He weighed in at 8lbs, 13 oz and was 21.5 inches tall.

Monday I called my parents to let them know to come and help out. I figured if I didn't go into labor Monday night, my Tuesday morning doctor appointment would confirm an induction date this week. I also figured if my parents were here I would quit worrying about having to call a friend in the middle of the night to come over and stay with Miller. That tactic seemed to work because Monday evening, I started having contractions.

I went to bed around 10 thinking Monday night might be the night. I never went to sleep because the contractions did start and came rather quickly. By 1:10am, I thought my water broke (different than last time). My contractions were about 10 minutes apart. I woke Ryan up, packed the rest of my bag and we were out the door before 1:30am. The 3 minute drive to the hospital was perfect. I walked into the emergency room and was up in labor and delivery for monitoring by 1:40 or so.

I was only a centimeter dilated but my contractions were 2 minutes apart. They told me to walk! I thought no way in heck was I going to be able to walk for 2 hours. I was devastated but gave it a try. After 20 minutes and not even 2 laps, I called it quits. I did more time hanging onto the railing in the hallway than actually moving. Ryan knew I was not going to make it so we headed back to the short hallway. I made one trip partially down and told the nurse I was done. She checked me and I was up to 7cm in less than 40 minutes. Time to move me to the delivery room and call the doctor in.

They got me in, blew up a vein (I warned them) but at least this time they had someone else try the second vein and it worked. I told them I wanted drugs. They told me I had to wait for my lab results. My results never came in time. The only nice moment was a 20 minute sedative that gave me a few minutes to rest and just breath through the bigger contractions. It was the stuff that made me loopy last time but at least it passed 20 minutes of time. Shortly after I was already 9cm and they were talking about pushing. What no drugs? Alright, if it's quick I can do it.

Fast forward 2.5 hours from that initial thought of if it's quick, I can do it. I will leave out the gory details of pain related activity. The only thing I will say is that Ryan had to work just as hard as I did this time. He was a huge help (and he might have enjoyed beating me up a little too in a game of tug of war with a towel to get me to push harder). I kept wishing it was over and that they would just pull the little guy out. Then, it was those few seconds of elation when he finally arrived.

He was sunny side up and those 2.5 hours were spent trying to get him to rotate face down. I found out afterwards that position adds an additional pound to the delivery because the baby can't turn its head and stretch to help come out properly. Luckily, no complications. He let out the sweet cry you wait for to know he's ok.

The process was much smoother this time since we knew what to expect and ask for. My nurses were a lot nicer too which was a huge help. I did have the breastfeeding nazi on day 2 but I pretty much ignored her. The other nurses were encouraging but were not overly pro anything. They wanted the baby and mom to be happy and healthy. Here are a few pics.

The happy (and sweaty) family right after delivery.

Mason's first pondering thought pose.



At home chillin' in his new rocker.