Alexander's Entrance

I have been meaning to write this post all week. It has rolled around in my head and taken many shapes. So now with Alexander one week old and snuggled up on my chest and my two older "boys" wrestling in the living room, I will write the entrance of Sir Alexander into our world.
It will probably sound uneventful here in these words but if you have ever had a child or attended a labor/delivery or adopted a child, you know that it is not uneventful to you. It is your story. Of your child.
So it began on Valentine's Day morning. The only day I told this baby growing inside of me it couldn't be born. Well "he" had other plans. The contractions started around 8:30 am and were very mild, 15 minutes apart. I called Joe after this went on for an hour.
"honey, I am having contractions. They are 15 min apart so I will see if they develop into anything. Just so you know."
Now I knew these weren't Braxton Hicks. But with 10 days to go I just wasn't sure if they would progress.
Well they didn't.
They started stretching further apart to every 20-25 minutes. I was becoming disappointed. Joe too. I emailed him with an update.
However, I did start to lose the mucous plug with some bloody show. After a quick reference on the www I discovered this could happen days or even weeks before labor. Ugh!
I was feeling a lot of preessure and had to pee every 15 minutes.
Around 2 pm I put Nicholas down for nap and continued to let the contractions roll when they so desired. I laid down for my own nap thinking it could be a long night ahead.
Well I couldn't sleep. Are you serious? I might be having a baby.
The contractions began to pick up around 3 pm. They were 10-15 minutes apart and growing in strength. But totally manageable. I called Joe around 4pm encouraging him not to be late tonight. He said he was leaving very soon and would call from the car.
At 4:15, I redialed my husband.
He answered with a " i'm leaving soon."
I answered with a "you need to leave now."
It would take him 30 min plus to get home.
Contractions kept flowing. Now coming 7-10 minutes apart.
Nicholas woke up. Joe rushed in the door to find: me and Nicholas chillin' on the couch watching tv.
The contractions were manageable, coming 7-8 minutes apart.
I called my dr around 5:30 pm. Telling her they were averaging 6 minutes apart. She didn't seem concerned and said if they were manageable then stay home and call the on call dr later when needed.
Joe's parents were on their way from MA to stay with Nicholas. I took a shower. Joe and Nicholas ate supper. We were getting ready but doing good.
By the time joe's parents arrived after 7 pm I was ready to go to the hospital and have my epidural. That was the plan. I don't like pain. I did not want to be a hero.
The contractions were 5 min apart. We called the on call dr to say we were coming in. He seemed a little more "ready". So we left the house at 8 pm. It is a 30-40 min drive to the hospital.
About half way there the contractions came 2 minutes apart. Yikes! They hurt.
We made it to the hospital. 8:30 pm. A nurse brought me in with a wheelchair. She said get in the gown and she'd check dilation. She gave us our first verbal lashing for waiting. Second baby and all.
She checked. I was soft and 8-9 cm. What?!?
Nurse rushed out to get the team. A hord of people flooded the room preparing pans and instruments and the dr in his gown and goggles and cap.
They were starting the IV in my arm, no time to find the vein in my hand.
It was while all this was happening that I realized I would be receiving no pain meds. The contractions were still coming on strong, mind you. I think I may have squeezed some blood out of Joe's hand. My head just kept saying, "I can't do this. No meds? Oh my gosh!"
my dr rushes in. I was relieved to see her. I like her. It took her 2.5 min to get to the hospital. She had just moved. Otherwise her 12 min drive might have made her late.
Contraction coming. I wanted to push. I said so. She checked, 10 cm! Okay, next one push.
Contraction came on ( I think I was clawing my husband's chest at this time) and I pushed. I could feel the baby's head enter the birth canal. Weird. Okay stop pushing. Breathe, relax.
Here comes another one. Push! Baby slides a bit further.
Water has not broke. Dr comes in with a hook to break my water.
Another contraction. Push! With the membranes out of the way I could really feel baby just right there, ready to pop out. I just kept pushing. I wanted baby out. Then pop! Baby's head came out. Checked for cord. All good. Push, and out slid my new baby. It is quite a feeling. It was now 9:14 pm. Only 45 min after arriving at the hospital.
I hear Joe say, "it's a boy". My new baby boy was then placed on my chest and Joe and I just stared at him. He was here. Finally, here. And I had done it. I birthed this son with no drugs. I will wear my badge of honor, thank you very much.
The nurse asked his name. And funny enough, we didn't know. We had picked a girl and boy name probably in the second month of pregnancy and it never changed...until. Until I threw a curve ball on Saturday saying I didn't know if I liked Alexander. So I thought and came up with another name. So now we had two boys names. And we had a little baby boy in need of a name.
It only took a few minutes and I just started talking to my son and out came Alexander. I immediately looked at Joe and said, it's Alexander. Alexander Thomas.
This is how Alexander came into the world. And this is his story as much as mine.