December 2, 2007
December 2, 2008
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, JEREMIAH LUIS!
I couldn't have asked for a better first birthday for Jeremiah. Every single minute of this special day was as magical and amazing as the place we spent it and as precious as the little boy whose first year of life it was commemorating. At 4:11 p.m., the exact time that Jeremiah entered this world, I started to cry. We were standing in line for the Finding Nemo submarine ride (his favorite ride of the day), and the kind lady standing behind us took a picture for us.
Our very first family portrait
Our family EXACTLY one year later! Complete with our free "Year of a Million Dreams" ears
Our very first family portrait
Our family EXACTLY one year later! Complete with our free "Year of a Million Dreams" earsAnyway, as promised, here is my labor and delivery story, written around a week after I got home from the hospital. More details about Jeremiah's trip to Disneyland and a very picture-heavy post coming probably sometime tomorrow. Thanks for celebrating with us!
Like I mentioned, I believe I started going into labor sometime around 9 on Saturday night (Dec. 1st). I was watching TV with my mother and my contractions weren't getting all that closer together but they were getting stronger and stronger. By the time Louis came home and we were watching "Christmas Vacation" in our room, the pains were getting pretty bad- like I had to use my lamaze breathing for them. Nevertheless, I was able to roll over and go to sleep. Until around 3:30 a.m. I woke Louis up, and we were talking about how the baby might come that day and he helped me try to go back to sleep but it just didn't work. Around 5:00 I decided to take a shower to see if it would help things, and to see if they contractions would go away if I moved around. The shower felt great but the contractions kept coming. So, we began to get ready to leave!
We had to wake up my brother because he was parked behind Louis and we needed his keys. My brother was so out of it that he gave me his watch instead. Then he asked where we were going at that hour and I sarcastically said "Dinner with family and friends! " He was confused so I told him we were going to the hospital. He said "I thought you were going tomorrow! Let me sleep 5 more min. til I have to get up to go to church and I"ll move the car." I told him to get up. He got mad and said I could wait half an hour for him to LEAVE for church! I stormed off upset, figuring we could probably wait. I tried to make our bed, but not even 2 min later a BIG contraction came, I ran into Joe's room, screamed at him "MOVE YOUR CAR NOW!" and he FINALLY got the hint! So it was off to the hospital we went, around 6:30 a.m.
Or, rather, to Vons to pick up some Lunchables for Louis!
We got to Queen of the Valley around 7:00. I was already 3 cm. dilated and 60 percent effaced. I was admitted to my delivery room by 8:00. It takes a while for them to get your paperwork in order (even if you pre-registered), monitor your contracitons for a few min (2-3 min apart!), and get your IV's started. Our nurse Lynette was such a sweetheart! I was rather dissapointed that Dr. Lee was off for the weekend, but Dr. Bohari turned out to be pretty good =) They asked if I wanted my epidural right away and I told them I wanted to wait it out a little longer until I was further into active labor (4-6 cm.) I was progressing at a cm. an hour until around 10:30, which is really quick for a first time birth! I was most comfortable in the rocking chair or on the toilet (don't ask, it just works). When Lynette checked me around 10:30 I was almost 6 cm. I still wanted to tough it out because the contractions weren't nearly as bad as I expected- they DID hurt but it wasn't like I needed to curse or scream or any other stereotypical labor stories. In fact, I had only hit Louis once at that point because he kept going on about his Keebler Elf crackers while I needed to hold him during a contraction. Right after Lynette checked me I got one more BIG contraction and thought "Screw it, why suffer?" So in came Dr. Chu for my epidural.
I was originally horrified of having a needle stuck in my back- but honestly having the IV put in hurt a lot more! It wasn't bad at ALL! He even upped my dosage from 12 to 14 because after 20 min. only my left side was numb. That did the trick! I could barely feel ANYTHING! It was so odd being paralized from the waist down. I could feel a little bit of pressure or movement during my contractions but that was IT. Louis would look at the monitor and tell me that I was having a big big one, where the numbers were at points up to 180, but I couldn't feel them at all! It was pure heaven. We watched TV, Louis took a few naps, I rested. Louis gave me the baby's birthday present, too- a Snoopy stuffed animal from Knotts Berry Farm in rememberance of when we first started going out and Louis used to work there. That made me cry! I was cuddling Snoopy a LOT during the waiting period.
I stayed at 6 cm. til around 3:00. They kept giving me Pitocin to up my contractions because the epidural slows them down, but from aroud 3:00-3:30ish I went from 6 cm. all the way up to 10! I was ready to push at 3:45. I pushed with Lynette for about 15 min I wasn't even sure that I even WAS pushing because I couldn't feel anything, but she assured me that my baby was descending! The Dr. came around 4:00 and my angel was born at 4:11, only needing about 5 pushes. A very fast, painless delivery! My husband watched the whole thing. As for me, my eyes were closed in concentration as I was pushing. I felt the dr. pulling and tugging at my baby a little big, and then felt a HUGE roller-coaster sensation but didn't even realize he was born until he yelled "it's a boy!" I was in such amazement at the gorgeous being that my husband and I created. I started to cry tears of joy for around 5 min. as Louis and I watched Jeremiah get cleaned up. Yes, I let Louis hold the baby first as I collected myself, and I felt that Louis deserved to hold him first since I felt him inside me for nine months. Words can't even begin to describe what I felt the very first time that I held Jeremiah. He was SO small, SO sweet, and SO precious! I still can't believe that this little critter is all mine.
Half an hour later we brought in the relatves. Nobody got to hold him til the next day though because he had to be rushed up to the nursery to begin his shower and shots.
Like I mentioned, I believe I started going into labor sometime around 9 on Saturday night (Dec. 1st). I was watching TV with my mother and my contractions weren't getting all that closer together but they were getting stronger and stronger. By the time Louis came home and we were watching "Christmas Vacation" in our room, the pains were getting pretty bad- like I had to use my lamaze breathing for them. Nevertheless, I was able to roll over and go to sleep. Until around 3:30 a.m. I woke Louis up, and we were talking about how the baby might come that day and he helped me try to go back to sleep but it just didn't work. Around 5:00 I decided to take a shower to see if it would help things, and to see if they contractions would go away if I moved around. The shower felt great but the contractions kept coming. So, we began to get ready to leave!
We had to wake up my brother because he was parked behind Louis and we needed his keys. My brother was so out of it that he gave me his watch instead. Then he asked where we were going at that hour and I sarcastically said "Dinner with family and friends! " He was confused so I told him we were going to the hospital. He said "I thought you were going tomorrow! Let me sleep 5 more min. til I have to get up to go to church and I"ll move the car." I told him to get up. He got mad and said I could wait half an hour for him to LEAVE for church! I stormed off upset, figuring we could probably wait. I tried to make our bed, but not even 2 min later a BIG contraction came, I ran into Joe's room, screamed at him "MOVE YOUR CAR NOW!" and he FINALLY got the hint! So it was off to the hospital we went, around 6:30 a.m.
Or, rather, to Vons to pick up some Lunchables for Louis!
We got to Queen of the Valley around 7:00. I was already 3 cm. dilated and 60 percent effaced. I was admitted to my delivery room by 8:00. It takes a while for them to get your paperwork in order (even if you pre-registered), monitor your contracitons for a few min (2-3 min apart!), and get your IV's started. Our nurse Lynette was such a sweetheart! I was rather dissapointed that Dr. Lee was off for the weekend, but Dr. Bohari turned out to be pretty good =) They asked if I wanted my epidural right away and I told them I wanted to wait it out a little longer until I was further into active labor (4-6 cm.) I was progressing at a cm. an hour until around 10:30, which is really quick for a first time birth! I was most comfortable in the rocking chair or on the toilet (don't ask, it just works). When Lynette checked me around 10:30 I was almost 6 cm. I still wanted to tough it out because the contractions weren't nearly as bad as I expected- they DID hurt but it wasn't like I needed to curse or scream or any other stereotypical labor stories. In fact, I had only hit Louis once at that point because he kept going on about his Keebler Elf crackers while I needed to hold him during a contraction. Right after Lynette checked me I got one more BIG contraction and thought "Screw it, why suffer?" So in came Dr. Chu for my epidural.
I was originally horrified of having a needle stuck in my back- but honestly having the IV put in hurt a lot more! It wasn't bad at ALL! He even upped my dosage from 12 to 14 because after 20 min. only my left side was numb. That did the trick! I could barely feel ANYTHING! It was so odd being paralized from the waist down. I could feel a little bit of pressure or movement during my contractions but that was IT. Louis would look at the monitor and tell me that I was having a big big one, where the numbers were at points up to 180, but I couldn't feel them at all! It was pure heaven. We watched TV, Louis took a few naps, I rested. Louis gave me the baby's birthday present, too- a Snoopy stuffed animal from Knotts Berry Farm in rememberance of when we first started going out and Louis used to work there. That made me cry! I was cuddling Snoopy a LOT during the waiting period.
I stayed at 6 cm. til around 3:00. They kept giving me Pitocin to up my contractions because the epidural slows them down, but from aroud 3:00-3:30ish I went from 6 cm. all the way up to 10! I was ready to push at 3:45. I pushed with Lynette for about 15 min I wasn't even sure that I even WAS pushing because I couldn't feel anything, but she assured me that my baby was descending! The Dr. came around 4:00 and my angel was born at 4:11, only needing about 5 pushes. A very fast, painless delivery! My husband watched the whole thing. As for me, my eyes were closed in concentration as I was pushing. I felt the dr. pulling and tugging at my baby a little big, and then felt a HUGE roller-coaster sensation but didn't even realize he was born until he yelled "it's a boy!" I was in such amazement at the gorgeous being that my husband and I created. I started to cry tears of joy for around 5 min. as Louis and I watched Jeremiah get cleaned up. Yes, I let Louis hold the baby first as I collected myself, and I felt that Louis deserved to hold him first since I felt him inside me for nine months. Words can't even begin to describe what I felt the very first time that I held Jeremiah. He was SO small, SO sweet, and SO precious! I still can't believe that this little critter is all mine.
Half an hour later we brought in the relatves. Nobody got to hold him til the next day though because he had to be rushed up to the nursery to begin his shower and shots.
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1 comment:
Happy Birthday Jeremiah!!! Erin, I have loved re-experiencing your journey through the end of your pregnancy. How blessed you are. Glad you had a blast at D-land. We are going on the 18th for Lucas's 2nd birthday. Thanks for sharing all the goodness in your life.
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