Well...he finally made it!! Little Brody Tyler Watson joined our family on February 18, 2010 at 6:02 pm. He weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz and was 19-1/4 inches long. We are sooooo happy to have him with us!!
His arrival was definitely one for the storybooks!! I know I'm behind in blogging so I'll give you a quick recap of the events that lead up to his arrival. At my 38 week appointment (about 2 weeks ago) my dr told me that I was already 3 cm dilated and she was certain that little Brody would be here soon... The week went by and no baby. I had been busy trying to get the house in order though so I was thankful that he was taking his time. At my next appointment I discovered that I was now 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. She gave me the option to go ahead and be induced but I really wanted to try to let my body do its own thing this time. My dr was certain I wouldn't make it another week, but just in case she scheduled an ultrasound for the following week to check on the baby. To everyone's surprise I did make it through the week and that is where the real story begins.
Considering the fact that I knew I was 4 cm dilated I felt really good. I was having contractions often, but they weren't severe and for the most part I felt pretty normal. I was still sleeping great and getting around really well. By Thursday (3 days past my due date) I was ready to throw in the towel and be induced. I didn't feel horrible by any stretch but I was just ready to be done. I was more uncomfortable than comfortable and honestly I think seeing that due date tick by just makes you mentally start getting over being pregnant really fast. I knew my dr was on call for the weekend, so Damon and I decided we wanted to be induced on Saturday. He had appointments lined up on Thursday and Friday, so it would just be easier all around to aim for Saturday. We headed out to the appointment on Thursday morning to get a quick peek at Brody on the inside. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby, but my fluid was low and Brody appeared to be low birth weight (~6.5 lbs) which is an indicator that the placenta is aging. After the ultrasound we headed over to the dr's office still thinking that Saturday would be Brody's birthday....for heaven's sake we didn't even pack the car with our bags! When we met with my dr, she agreed that the news of the ultrasound and timing made it appropriate to get the show on the road and she thought Saturday was a good idea. Of course these plans were made BEFORE she checked me. Much to all of our surprise, I was 6 cm dilated!! She immediately said, the plans had changed and I was to be admitted NOW!! She said it isn't healthy to walk around that dilated for risk of infection and for fear that the delivery would progress too quickly if my water broke. So...I headed to Labor and Delivery and Damon headed to the house to get our bags. I called Mom so she could start the hour drive up from Dunnellon and we were on our way to having a baby. It took Damon a while to get everything rounded up...even though I had it all in one place...but it gave me time to make some calls to friends and family to give them the news. Just after 2pm, Mom and Damon were both with me at the hospital and they started the pitocin to get my contractions going. The dr on call didn't want to break my water right away since it was so low. He wanted to give the baby a little cushion for the the time being. About 2 hours later I was finally starting to get uncomfortable, but not so bad that I couldn't handle it. The dr wasn't planning to break my water until after I got the epidural, so I asked the nurses to check me to see if the intensity of contractions was even working. I had progressed from 6 to 7 cm, so it was working, but at that rate, I wasn't interested in hanging around in pain for a long time. Based on my delivery with Rylee I thought if my water was broken I'd progress quickly, so I decided to go ahead with the epidural and breaking of water so we could get the show on the road. The dr on call was leaving at 8pm and I really wanted him to deliver. It took about half an hour for the anesthesiologist to show up with the drugs and by this time I was thinking I was definitely ready for some pain relief. All went well with the epidural and after waiting patiently for about 20 minutes for the nurse and Damon to discuss real estate and politics they finally hushed it up and told the dr I was ready for him to break my water. Within 10 minutes of him breaking my water I was in severe agony and thought the epidural wasn't taking. The nurse decided to check me and much to our surprise Brody was almost out!! They quickly called the dr back in and 10 minutes (4 pushes) later, Brody was here. It was a whirlwind to say the least. According to the hospital they can't count that my labor truely began until the meds showed a change in my cervix. So from the time they checked me and I had progressed to 7 cm to Brody's arrival was 1 hour 35 minutes!! If Damon hadn't held up the dr breaking my water with all the chatting with the anesthesiologist, I think he would have arrived in less than an hour!! Thankfully I didn't get my wish to go into labor on my own because if I had, I would have never made it to the hospital and the thought of that is terrifying!!
We are home now and doing well! Rylee seems to be adjust better than I thought and we are settling in to our new family. I know the next few weeks and months hold some adjustments for all of us but I feel so blessed to have been given the gift of a son and a daughter. Our family is complete and we are ready to make some memories!
Unfortunately time is scarce and I only had time to upload two pictures of the little man. The one with Damon's hand is to help you see how small he is! I hope to be able to keep up to date on blogging now that life is returning to normal...as much as having a newborn and 3 year old can be called normal! Thanks to everyone for all your prayers along the way!! Don't stop now...I'm sure I still need them in the weeks to come!
You can view the hospital photos by clicking this link. To search you have to enter his DOB 02/18/2010 and city of Gainesville, FL. You'll also need to enter the first 4 letters of our last name (wats) and the password: 23141290657511
http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits
ENJOY!!
