What a ride!!!

Wow... that's all I have to say. I haven't had much time since my last post to update my Bloomin' Babies fans... remember me - Glow Bud???? :)

**DISCLAIMER** - this post may be long!!! Last I wrote I was still up in the air as to what route we were going to take in meeting little Baby GB.

Well, I was still pretty indecisive up until the last day but we scheduled the induction for the night of the 28th. In the meantime I did all I would with the old wives tales they suggest to induce labor: nightly walks, sexy time, spicy foods, eating pineapple, castor oil.... ok no... just kidding!

No such luck.

So Mr. GB and I took advantage of our last night "alone" together and went out Sat night to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and we had a blast. We didn't really talk about the baby much but just enjoyed each others company. Then we came home and just watched a movie, it was very nice. Sunday came and we just spent all day around the house. Not really doing much but trying to keep busy and get stuff done and be as prepared as possible. It was a weird feeling that day knowing we'd be parents in less than 24 hours!!! Around 7:30pm we packed up our bags in the car and headed off to the hospital.

We checked in and the wasted no time getting things going, we were escorted within minutes to room 2040 (Mr. GB's baseball and football jersey numbers from high school!!!). They got me into my gown and hooked up to the monitors for my contractions and for Baby GB's heartbeat - surprisingly I was already contracting pretty regularly and I was dilated to 1cm and 40% effaced... progress and all on my own!!! Then the nurse put in the 1st round of Cervadil, gave me an Ambien and told me to "get some rest." Ya right. The Cervadil was doing its job... All night my contractions were about 2-5 minutes apart and getting consistently stronger. I didn't sleep a wink. Mr. GB on the other hand slept for hours on the couch, waking a few times to see how I was and what he could do. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything but to wait.

Around 9am, our new nurse came in to meet us and to start me on Pitocin and Penicillin (because I tested positive for Group B Strep) and shortly after Dr. C stopped in to see how I was. At that time I was dilated to 3cm (I can't recall how effaced I was?!) - more progress though. Thank goodness! The nurses kept asking me to judge my pain on a scale of 1-10... I kept thinking... well, I don't know how bad this is going to get!!! So I think I kept underestimating and telling them 4 or 5... when now I look back I should have been saying 7 or 8.

Within an hour I was in so much pain from the contractions that I was already considering getting the epidural but wanted to hold out as long as possible. I think it was around 11am I finally caved and asked for it and within 15 minutes the anesthesiologist was up in my room getting it all started. Mr. GB was a rock holding my hands while they worked and within 3 contractions they were finished and I was laying back starting to feel the effects of it.

I don't care what anyone says... the epidural was FABULOUS! :)

After that my mom and sister came in and I could actually hold a conversation and we'd watch the contractions on the monitor and I couldn't feel a thing! Around 1pm Dr. C came in to check me again and to her (and my!) surprise I was dilated to 7cm! At that point she broke my water and that's when I got REALLY nervous cause she said we'd have our boy in the next few hours! Those next few hours were kind of a blur, we didn't do much except hang out in my room watching TV and chatting.

Around 3:30pm I was checked again and the nurse let me know she was going to call Dr. C and let her know that I was fully dilated to 10cm and it was time to start pushing... eeeek! I was really worried about Mr. GB cause he told me from the beginning that he didn't think he'd be able to watch or even help hold my leg. Well, that went out the window cause the nurse didn't give him a chance to decline and by 30 minutes in he was watching the whole thing. I also had said I didn't want anyone in the room except Mr. GB and the nurses while I was pushing but that went out the window as well when my mom poked her head in mid-push to see how I was... so I told her and my sister to come on in! So... all you girls on my favorite message board - there you have it... YOU WERE RIGHT! :)

For the next two hours Mr. GB, my mom and my nurse coached me as I pushed and slowly started to feel my epidural wear off. There was a point right before Dr. C came in that I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do it. And once she got there everything was a blur cause I was so worn out and in so much pain. I remember her telling me that she'd need to do an episiotomy and that I'd need to push with all I had the next few pushes because Baby GB's heart rate had dropped and we needed to get him out. Two pushes later and Baby GB was here at 5:49pm - 6 lbs 14 oz - 18 1/2 inches. Dr. C asked if either Mr. GB or my mom wanted to cut the cord - neither wanted to, so as soon as she did it they took Baby GB over the the warmer to check him out since his heart rate had dropped so low right before delivery. Mr. GB was right by his side and I remember thinking he looked so proud!

He came over to me and gave me the BIGGEST hug and told me how proud he was of me and how great I did. Oh and that he loved me of course :)

For the next 1/2 hour as Dr. C stitched me up, all I could do is lay there and shake from the adrenaline. I FINALLY got to hold my sweet little boy as they told me that his breathing was very erratic and that he took in a lot of fluid during delivery so they would need to take him upstairs to the NICU for monitoring for a few hours. So after only a few minutes with him, off he went with Mr. GB. I don't think I really knew what was going on at that point cause I was so out of it because I didn't cry, which is really unlike me.

In the meantime, they moved me to another room where we'd spend the night to get settled and wait for Mr. GB to come back with my little boy. After about an hour Mr. GB came to our new room and said he was going to bring me food and then we'd go up to see our little man because he wasn't going to be spending the night with us - he was on oxygen and would need to be monitored for the night.

Once we got upstairs he was sleeping so peaceful but I got to hold him and the nurse tried to help me nurse him - he wasn't too interested though and we needed some sleep as well so we went back down to our room to do our best to again "get some rest." I think Mr. GB set his alarm to go back up and see him around 3am but was back in bed shortly after.

The next morning, the nurses came in to check me and remove my IV's so I could be more mobile. I took a shower and ate some breakfast and then headed up to see my baby again. This time we met with the doctor who was taking care of Baby GB - he informed us that his chest x-ray had shown possible signs of infection and that they started him on antibiotics through an IV. We wouldn't know for 3 days the outcome but likely the NICU would be his home for 5-7 days... possibly 10-14 days. :(

I spent that whole day between my room and the NICU and I also met with a lactation specialist who hooked me up with a hospital grade pump to hopefully help bring in my milk and to supplement what Baby GB was getting through his IV. While I was spending time with him I was clueless as to what I needed to be doing. The nurses filtered in and out in 12 hour shifts and some seemed to take charge while others just let me do my thing - which was hard as there were 3 monitors hooked to him at all times beeping and just being in the way of holding my sweet boy.

The next day I was discharged from the hospital and I have to say that was the HARDEST day of my life. Going home alone. Alone without my baby that had been with me 24/7 for the last 9 months. Also, Mr. GB had to go back to work to get his mind off things and my mom and my sister hit the road to go back home since they couldn't do much in the way of helping me out my first week with baby. So, for the next week, it was back and forth from our house to the hospital. I tried to spend as much time as possible with him and Mr. GB would go back with me every night after work to see our little man. It was so hard to leave him every night but the hospital had a policy that you could not sleep by his bedside :(

I think it must have been about mid-week that we got the news that Baby GB would be able to come home with us on Easter Sunday. It was an awesome homecoming and we are so happy to be settling in.

It only took me a week to get this birth story done! haha **woot**woot** I'm sure I missed a ton but that's the gist of it... Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll still be able to blog through Bloomin' Babies but I can't promise how much I'll be around. I've got a few things left in me before I throw in the towel but I have to say blogging for BB has been a great experience for me and I'm so glad to have been given the opportunity to do so!!!