He has finally arrived and what an amazing experience! It's so nice to be able to say HE and CRAWFORD instead of Baby Opitz. As of today, Crawford is 12 days old and doing great. He is such a good baby!!! Matt and I are so in love with this little person and getting to know his personality has been so fun! I'll get to a few of his favorites after I touch on the birth experience.
Little Crawford was measuring ahead and Dr. Wiley decided that we could go ahead and induce. We went to Harris Hospital at 7pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011 to be induced. We checked in with all of our 10 packed bags and got situated in our room, #2 I believe. Cervadil was applied to my cervix since it was very "stubborn," with hopes that it would soften the cervix for the next day when we would induce with Pitocin. Cervadil sent me into consistent contractions and the pain was enough for me to withstand an Ambien to get me to sleep, so we pulled the Cervadil and prayed that my cervix would soften on its own. The nurse gave me a mild pain reliever and some meds for nausea and I fell asleep for the night.
At 8am the next morning, we got things started by starting me on Pitocin. I will just say that the process here was no laughing matter; the pain was intense. A new nurse came on shift which saddened me because I liked the previous nurse so much more. The new one had a poor bedside manner and was very "matter of fact" about everything. C'mon people, giving birth is a painful process and having good natured people around makes the experience! Anyway, the nurse sent me into a tailspin of loopy dreams and cloudiness when she pushed too many cc's of pain killer through and IV. At that point I couldn't tell you which way was up or down. They kept asking me if I wanted the epidural, which I had always planned on, but the meds made me so confused I kept declining, which, in hindsight, was a silly thing to do. Finally I accepted the Epidural. Again, very painful receiving this and I will spare the details that my husband watched me cry through.
On the other hand, the Epidural did take away all the pain! It was a miracle and I can't imagine going through that without one. I was finally comfortable and got some sleep. Contractions started getting stronger and things were sstarting to progress. I was in labor for such a long time that the epidural started to wear off, so I got three Bolis's in the epidural (I believe this is a top-off), obviously at different times. While the Epidural stayed in tact and kept me pain-free from the chest down, I had a bad reaction to each Bolis which made my upper body tense up. My shoulders and back were in knots, very tight knots that didn't allow me to lift my neck. Matt and my sister in law, Jana, who is a delivery nurse, helped me keep my neck and head steady as the time to push quickly approached.
It took me a long time to dialate from a one to a six, like, 24 hours long. But it only took two hours to get from a 6 to a 10. Yes, the nurse took two hours to check me for any progress... I had to sk her to check me. And good thing because I was ready to roll! I told the nurse about the pressure I was feeling down below and she told me I would need to "Labor Down" for an hour. HA! I told her to get the Doctor immediately because I was going to start pushing. I was actually trying to hold him in while Dr. Wiley came from the other hopsital where another patient was in labor. Once I started pushing, it was easy breezy. That might have been the easiest part of the entire birth process. After forty-five minutes of pushing, the relief of pressure was so great. On Monday at 12:05 AM, our little boy was born!
I thought I only wanted two children, in fear that the birth process would be too much to handle more than this. But after my experience, even with the long and painful labor, I could do it again in a heartbeat. Now I'm thinking, maybe thre children... :)
Matt was so excited when he said "IT'S A BOY!! IT'S A BOY!! What's his name mom?" To which I answered Matthew Crawford Opitz, he looks just like his daddy!
When they placed him on my chest right after he was born, I fell in love right away. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, knowing that our baby is finally here. He is perfect, blonde hair and blue eyes. Crawford and I looked at eachother for a solid five minutes, eyes locked. My heart was and is so full. He brings so much love and happiness to my life everyday!
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