Chris, Stella and I were anxiously awaiting Nathaniel's arrival. Stella was growing tired of pointing at my belly and exclaiming, "There's a baby in there!" He was due on 4/14, and we were three days past the due date, without any progress in weeks. I woke early Sunday morning, and decided to read in bed for a while. As I stood up to make myself some toast, my water broke. All over the place- just like in the movies. This is exactly how my labor with Stella began as well! It was obvious that there was meconium in the fluid, so Chris and I called Grandma Lundgren to come over to watch Stella. We kissed them both and we were off to the hospital! Chris was very calm, and since this was our second time we were able to enjoy the excitement! However, once checked in and waiting a few hours, my contractions had yet to begin. There are hazards to having meconium in the fluid; and we were anxious to meet our boy. We agreed to starting pictocin to get the ball rolling.
The contractions on pictocin were immediately horrible, and I plan to remind Nate of this every time he whines about taking out the garbage. The doc came to check me after a couple of hours and nada. I decided to not be a martyr and to request the drugs to which I was entitled. I believe I may have been the first patient to a virgin anesthesiologist. He dug around in my spine a bit, and just when I thought I'd faint, he was in. Unfortunately, I was only numbed from mid-thigh to toe. After my failed epidural, the anesthesiologist came in and double-dosed me. Success! My body was uselessly dead from the waist down, but I was relaxed enough to progress to completion. When it came time to push I only had to push three seconds for Nate to crown! Two pushes later and he was here! Apparently, I am a born breeder. Stella was an easy push as well. This time, however, I got to look down and see the little dude enter the world. It was pretty cool.
Because of the meconium, the neonatal team swooped Nate away just after Daddy cut the cord (which took him two tries because he was holding the camera in his good hand). The doctors were nervous that Nate would aspirate some of the meconium and had to clean him out. There was a massive amount of people in that room. I nearly held my breath waiting for his first cry, and cried myself as he shrieked his first little man holler. After a thorough check and cleaning, he was bundled up and brought over for his first nuzzle with Mommy.
Nathaniel Christopher was born on April 17th, 2011 at 5:36 pm. He was 20 inches and a wonderful 9 pounds, 1.7 ounces. Naturally, we immediately adored him. He is a wonderful baby, and rarely cries outside of his regular "witching hour" from 8:00 to 9:00 pm. He quickly outgrew the majority of is wardrobe and prefers to poop without a diaper on. He loves watching his big sister, and has awesomely beautiful hands and eyes. He is exactly what we needed to round out our family and we are enormously blessed.
