Baby! Baby!

Originally posted on MEGOagain

I am embarrassed to see that it has been one month since my last post. I could once again list my excuses:

• Still haven't found an option to Live Writer (ahem...haven't attempted again to set up the two solutions suggested to me after my last post!)
• Up until August 11, I was tired due to pregnancy
• After August 11, I was tired due to new baby

Or I could admit defeat for August, and hope for a better fall of blogging. If it makes my faithful readers feel any better I have been neglectful of Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook as well. I have no idea what my real friends are up to on Facebook, or my social media friends are doing and writing about on Twitter and FriendFeed.  So, I will aim to do better this fall. I normally attempt to write to Blogs -  this one MEGOAgain dedicated to work, marketing, social media and general business; and Okbabybear a blog about my family. I am not sure I will have time to keep up both, so you may see a few joint posts (like this one!) - I hope that they won't bore anyone.

So baby is here.  And below is the story of his arrival, and of course some pictures!

My first son was determined to beat his due date, and arrived three days early, in what I thought was a quick labour. My second son, apparently was willing to wait until his due date but wanted to one-up his older brother by coming into the world at a super-fast speed.

The week prior to Zachary's birth I went for walks, ate spicy foods, did some gardening (this worked with Owen!) - anything to move things along. Two days before my due date the doc said I was 2-3 cm dilated, and I could go into labour the next day or stay that way for a week! Great.

So his due date- August 10 passed with no arrival. At around 12:45 I had my first contraction. The first three were 9 minutes apart, and lasted only 30 seconds.  No need to rush to the hospital. Generally they don't want to see you until they are five minutes apart and last a minute. So we called my in-laws so that they could start heading over to watch Owen (they had a bit of a drive in the middle of the night!). Within an hour my contractions had gone from 9 minutes apart, to 8 minutes apart, to 7 minutes apart, to five minutes apart. We called a friend to come over since my husbands parents would still be a couple hours. At 2:17 (according to my Tweet I logged in on the drive to the hospital) we were on our way to the hospital. During the short drive I had three contractions, including one at the door to Emergency.

Signed in to stay at hospital. Oddly at this point the contractions all but stop.  That is until the Doctor visits, at which point I have a contraction that is literally off the chart.  8 cm dilated.

Can someone get me an Epidural? Morphine? Something?

The nurse tells me it is likely too late. I will need to start pushing soon, and they won't have time to do some blood work and get the doctor in the room to administer. Anyone, who knows me - knows I had very serious plans to have the Epidural. I dislike pain, and my first birth was a breeze due to the wonderful Epidural.

4 am. Time to push. At this point I won't continue any details. Needless to say I never want to go through that again. Unbelievable pain. Felt like it went on forever! However, if you look at the below picture at the time on the wall - you will see that it couldn't have lasted long. (yes, that is right the clock should read 4:17, Zachary was born at 4:16)

 

These wonderful birth photos were taken by my friend, who also happens to be a fantastic photographer - www.digitalheirlooms.ca. Yes, I had a someone taking pictures at the birth other than my husband. I had never thought of having a photographer at an event like this, but when Karina showed some beautiful examples - I thought it would be a wonderful keepsake.  Having gone through one birth, I knew how easy it was to forget what had gone on, the memory of your first look at your baby disappears (just as you easily forget the pain...). It turned out that having another mom at the birth was a bonus in itself! Husbands are wonderful - mine makes a terrific coach, "breathe, remember you need to breathe" "ok hold your breath and push!" - but another mom shares your experience.

So here is Zachary.

And this, was my first son at the same age: