James' Birth Story

Jimmy and I went to the hospital at 9:00 PM on Tuesday, July 14th to begin our induction. After checking in and getting settled into the room, I was hooked up to an IV and to the external fetal and contraction monitors. At about 10:00 PM they gave me the first round of gel to begin to soften my cervix. When we checked in, I was dilated to about 2 centimeters and was still thick. I was given another dose of the gel three hours later at 1:00 AM, I had dilated a little more to 3-4 centimeters, yea for progress. I was supposed to receive another round of gel at 4:00 AM, but the nurse on call was in a delivery so I wasn't seen again until a new nurse came on the clock at about 6:45 AM. By then I was at 3 cm so they started the pitocin drip. I began to feel stronger contractions pretty much immediately. They were strong, but still relatively irregular.

An hour later at 8:00 AM, I was at almost 4 centimeters and the Dr. broke my water. The contractions immediately became worse and the Dr. told me I could request the epidural at any time. I was able to hold out for about another hour, but requested the epidural around 8:45. The anesthesiologist took a little while, but I had the epidural by 9:30 and was feeling much better. As soon as I was given the epidural I was put on oxygen. The nurse said it was just how the anesthesiologist preferred to do things, it was fine with me, but I didn't like the plastic smell. I was able to cat nap for a few hours and enjoyed my company. Jimmy's Dad and stepmom had come by to keep us entertained and we all just hung out for a bit.

At about 11:30, Jimmy and his Dad decided to venture out to get lunch nearby. The hospital food wasn't appetizing for them... The nurse came in to check me at a little past 12:45 and said I was at 9 centimeters. No one was expecting that, especially not me! Jimmy's stepmom immediately called Jimmy and his Dad and told them to get back here (they'd been gone almost an hour and a half). As I was being checked, the nurse had lost the babies heartbeat on the monitor from having me shift sides and all of a sudden three nurses ran into the room. Everything was fine, but it freaked everyone out a bit. The nurse propped me up in bed a bit to try to help him wiggle a bit further down the birth canal before we started to bear down. At about 2:00 she checked me again and I was at a full 10 centimeters. She had me prop up even more and turn on my left side to try to get him down lower. She came in about 20 minutes later to shift me to my right side, but every time we tried to have me lay on my right side his heart rate would drop, so we stuck to the left.

At 3:15 it was finally time to push! The nurse and Jimmy were the only ones in the room and he was thrown head first in to the action which he totally wasn't expecting. He was holding my leg and although he swore he would never watch, he ended up having a front row seat and couldn't seem to help himself. He kept looking and telling me the progress, he was an awesome cheerleader. After about 20 minutes of bearing down, the Dr. finally came in and got prepped. It was game time and my epidural had started to wear off. GREAT! I couldn't feel major pain, but the pressure was unbelievable. His heartbeat would drop drastically with every push and the Dr. and nurse would stop and watch the monitor to make sure it would come back up. It always did, but I was seriously freaked that at any moment they were going to yank me into the OR for an emergency c-section.

The Dr. told me that the cord may be around his neck or that the cord may be getting cramped in the birth canal so we needed to make the next few pushes really count and get him out ASAP. That was all the motivation I needed. I pushed like crazy and at 4:02 PM on Wednesday, July 15th, our little James Scott Labita was born. He was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. With all the stress at the end of the delivery, he had ingested some meconium and had to have his lungs suctioned out. They let me hold him for a few minutes, but had to take him back to the nursery to keep an eye on his lungs and watch for any congestion from the meconium. They brought him back within about half an hour and said he looked perfect!

We were in the hospital until Friday afternoon and when we checked out he was down to 7 pounds 15 ounces. As of our first pediatrician visit on Monday, 7/20 he is back up to his birth weight at 8 pounds 5 ounces and is doing absolutely perfect! Breastfeeding was a bit rocky in the beginning while we both got the hang of it, but now he eats like a champ and the Dr. said he will be gaining about an ounce a day.

We have to go in tomorrow for his circumcision. With the stress from delivery, the Dr. preferred to wait until about a week to make sure he was in good health before putting him under any more stress. I prepared for a fussy baby for the next few days and I know I'm going to cry with him tomorrow. Wish us luck.

We are so absolutely and completely in love.

I'm having some issues with blogger, but will upload some more pics as soon as I can. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers, we are truly blessed with this amazing little boy!