Alexander John Deiderich--he's here!

Yep, Alex has finally made his appearance.

Here's the short story. He arrived on Friday November 20th at 6:24 pm. I was 37 weeks, 5 days pregnant which made him 16 days early, and 11 days before his scheduled c-section. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces (which is pretty big for his gestational age despite being very average for a full-term baby), and was 19 1/4" long with a 13 3/8" head. Aunt Sheila pointed out that at 6:24 pm Japan time, it was 4:24 am Ohio time, and Jackson was born at 4:24 pm. I think that's pretty cool!

So here's the whole story. I woke up at 0530 having contractions. They lasted until 0700 when I got out of bed, but they weren't regular. They got as close together as 4 minutes, but some where as far apart as 10 minutes. I was going to call the clinic when I got up, but then they stopped, so I didn't bother. They started up again around 0930, but were still pretty far apart and died out at around 1015. Then more contractions around 1045, and at 1110 I decided maybe I'd better pay close attention to how far apart they were. I timed them for 2 hours (which included a 10 minute walk to a restaurant for lunch, eating, then walking home). They were still inconsistent, but I called L&D anyways. I was told pretty much what I expected. "Wait until they're at regular intervals to come in." By 1415, they'd all been 4-5 minutes, so I knew it was time to get ready to go. I called Mike's work and told them to send him home. I was a little embarrassed since we'd just had a false alarm the day before and I didn't want them to think I was just trying to get him out of work. There was an exercise going on where they practice what to do if the base gets attacked, so I was getting him out of more than just normal work. I didn't want to be the wife who cried labor! Than at 1430 I called L&D and told them my contractions were 5 min apart for an hour and they told me they'd get a room ready for me. Then I finished packing my hospital bag and Jackson's bag for the sitter's house.

Mike got home from work around 1515, and while he was showering and changing, I walked Jackson over to Trysta's and dropped off him, his stuff, and Mike's keys (so she'd have a car with a carseat in it). We left for the hospital around 1530 and after driving through Burger King for Mike (who hadn't eaten basically all day), got to the hospital at 1545. They hooked me up to the monitor to watch Alex's heart rate and my contractions, and after 20 minutes, the doctor came and checked me. She said, "Yep, you're progressing, so we're going to go ahead and do it today." It wouldn't have been enough to admit me if we were planning a normal birth, but it was obvious I was in labor so there was no reason to not go ahead with the c-section. We were trying to avoid full on labor. That was at 1616.

Then everything started happening pretty quickly. Mike went back to the car to get my bag and pillow (which I didn't want to bring in the first time in case they sent me home) and the nurses and techs started getting me prepped for surgery. Hep lock in, catheter in, bed moved from non-stress test check-in room to LDRP (labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum) room, forms filled out and signed, jewelry off, etc. Then we got the talk from the anesthesiologist about risks of a spinal, what to expect, blah blah blah. Around 1800 they wheeled me to the O.R. and did my spinal. The dr. checked me then and I was 5cm dilated.

******Side note. Getting to 5cm with Alex was a totally different experience than getting to 5cm with Jackson. With Jackson I was on pitocin and thought I was going to die every time I had a contraction. With Alex I was still talking through my contractions and while they did hurt, I wouldn't have been asking for drugs yet if it'd been a regular delivery. In fact, I might've still been laboring at home. Major difference for sure!!!**********

Then they brought Mike back all dressed in scrubs and started cutting. They had to use the vacuum to guide Alex's head out the small incision they made. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I did have to be given Zofran at one point (anti-nausea med) but that was totally minor. Alex came out screaming bloody murder. And kept screaming the whole time he was in the OR. They cleaned him up and then took him and Mike back to the room while they finished sewing me up. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9, and they said they pretty much never give anyone a 10. And at first I thought he looked like my baby pictures, but I've recinded that thought. He looks like Jackson. Other than the full head of hair that Alex has vs. the NO hair until he was 1 1/2 that Jackson had, they could be twins.

I was back in the room by 1855 and Alex was still screaming. Well, actually Mike had gotten him calmed down from screaming and wailing to just crying really loudly. Once the nurses did what they had to do with me (about 5 minutes), Mike gave me Alex and I started nursing him. Then he was happy. He nursed easily right away and had a normal feeding session (20 min on each side). Then he was zonked. Guess it was pretty tiring for him. I tried to wake him up at 9 and 10 to feed him, but he wanted no part of that. He finally ate again around midnight.

Trysta brought Jackson to visit and he stayed for about 30 minutes before Mike took him home and put him to bed. He wasn't quite sure what to think, and I don't think he understands that the Baby Alex that was in Mommy's belly is the same Baby Alex that is in the bassinet. But I'm sure he'll figure it out.

Jackson visited all morning on Saturday and left at nap time. He spent some time getting in Alex's face or cuddling with me while I held him, but still kind of standoffish. Plus we had lots of other visitors, too. Also on Saturday when we were sure all of the anesthesia was completely worn off, I could safely say I can no longer feel my stent at all, which is pretty good news. (Still no definite plans on when that is coming out but I could care less now that it isn't making me miserable.)

We got discharged on Sunday afternoon. Alex has a little jaundice so we have to take him back to get labs drawn on Monday, but the doctor expects him to be fine. Of course there's the birth certificate, passport, social security card, etc. paperwork to do, too. We're very happy to be home, and everyone is perfectly healthy. I'm in a little more pain than I remember with Jackson, but I'm taking it easy. It's nothing unbearable, and I'm much happier now than I was 3 days ago. I'd rather be in pain that I can manage with Motrin and a little Percocet than have constant misery from the stent!

I know everyone is anxious for pictures, and I posted them on Facebook here. You should be able to see them with that link even if you don't have Facebook. And it's bedtime now (way past it probably!). I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to come, so keep an eye out for them.