He's finally here!

....and he's so worth it!



The doctors had told me that since we were scheduled to be induced Thursday morning at 7:30, I should call at 5:30 to be sure that there hasn't been an overload of women who have gone into labor naturally and taken all the rooms. My doctor had said that this wasn't usually a problem and they didn't anticipate Wednesday night being a big labor night, but you just never know. Jason and I fell asleep pretty easily, surprisingly, but about 3:00 I was up and at 'em. I couldn't sleep any longer for waiting for the clock to change. Sure enough, 5:30 rolled around and I called the number I was given and - you guessed it! Every single labor and delivery room was full. So, they asked me to call back at 10 to see where things stood then. I was so disappointed - but looking back on it, it was probably a good thing because I went back to bed and was able to sleep another 3 hours or so. So, around 10:00 I called again....and again, all the rooms were filled. The nurse I was talking to said that as soon as they had some women discharged, they would start calling the people on their "induction list". I had not even considered that they might have a list of people getting induced, but she assured me that I was number 1. She also asked for me to keep in mind that since I live about an hour away from the hospital, if they do call and someone walks in in active labor, they will have to put that person in the room before me. So, at about 11:30, Mom, Jason and I decided to head on over towards Fayetteville so that when they did call we'd be very close and could get their quicker than if we were in Newnan.

We had lunch at Taco Mac in Peachtree City and shopped around at Smith and Davis. It was nerve-wrecking because a lot of people who knew I was being induced didn't know that we had been delayed so people kept calling to check on me and everytime the phone would ring I would jump thinking, "this is it!" 2 very long hours later, we were debating on whether this was even going to happen that day and they called! We were just passing the hospital on our way to Fayetteville so we quickly turned in and practically ran into Labor and Delivery. (yes, I was running! I was SO ready!)

By the time we got checked in and I got changed into my new little outfit, it was 2:00 and they immediately started the pitocin. I'd heard that pitocin was a doozie, so I was prepared for the pain. Luckily, the practice of doctors that I see are VERY liberal about an epidural. Their thoughts are that if you are in pain they will give it to you. Unlike other offices that want you to be so many centimeters along or if you've gotten too dilated they won't give it to you. So, by about 8:00 I had gotten to about 5 centimeters and felt like the pain was beginning to get intolerable.

I want to stop right here and say how impressed I was with our medical care. We could not have asked for better nurses! The one in particular that was with us for the duration of labor, her name was Reneer, was amazing! She was 19 weeks pregnant herself and dealing with lots of nausea. Bless her heart for working through it - all night long and having to deal with me! I honestly think that she is why God wanted me to wait to come in at a later time than when we had originally planned. The hospital doesn't like to have the husband hold the wife up during an epidural because they've had so many pass out, but this little 5'2'' pregnant girl wrapped her strong arms around me and let me hold onto her as they inserted my epidural. She was an angel! Poor Jason had to just sit on the couch and watch and was a really good sport by not losing his dinner. This was around 8:00p.m. Shortly after, Doctor Turner came in to break my water (which was a breeze since I couldn't feel a THING!) She felt sure that by doing this, it would kick-start things into gear and we would have a baby by 4:00ish or so.

My Dad came around 9 with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and the cutest balloon I've ever seen! The balloon sings a song when it is jostled that brought a little smile to my face. Also, he'd bought a "congratulations" card and had written "from your hospital buddies" on the inside. Everyone in the waiting room had signed it. It was so sweet because I was able to see who all was anxiously awaiting our little one and it reminded me of the terrific support system we had during these trying hours.

Around 10:00, the doctor asked for all visitors to leave the room so Jason and I could try to get a little rest while we waited for me to dilate enough to start pushing. YEAH RIGHT! rest? with the machines making all kinds of crazy noises and them checking my cervix every 30 mins we knew we were in for a long night. Apparently, when I sleep - I sleep hard, too, because the monitors were showing that as soon as I fell asleep my heart rate would begin to drop which would in turn cause nathan's heart rate to drop so all the nurses would come rushing in to wake me. Poor Jason didn't sleep at all for worrying about us. I was so exhausted, though, that I was trying to take little cat naps and it was so nice to wake up and see my husband standing beside me. Just knowing that he was there watching out for us was such a relief! Around midnight, all of our hospital buddies left except for Mom and Rebecca. They were so sweet to tough it out with us in those uncomfortable waiting room chairs just waiting for little Nathan to get here.

At around 4:00, they checked my cervix again and I had gotten my bloody show. I was a full 8 cm and the doctor felt like it wouldn't be long before it was time to push. It was at this point that they inserted an internal monitor for my contractions and one that they placed on Nathan's head to monitor his heart rate. The monitor that they used for my contractions rubbed against his face which is why in his pictures he has a little mark on his forehead. Poor guy! So, Jason went out to get my mom and sister. They came in and everyone was so sweet to give me words of encouragement of how to get through this. Everyone kept saying, "it won't be long now!" haha! Little did we know, I still had 7 1/2 hours to go!!

It was about 6:30 that Dr. Turner felt like Nathan's head was finally in a position where we could start pushing. I had dilated to the full 10 cm and was completely effaced. We were very hopeful that he would be delivered before her shift ended at 7:30 and I felt ready to do this. She wanted to turn the epidural down, though, so I could feel the pressure and would know better when to push. We probably pushed for about 45 mins when she alerted us that her shift would be ending and Dr. Ralsten would be taking over. We were a little weary about this as we had felt so comfortable with Dr. Turner, but trusted that Ralsten would advise us to do what we needed to in order to get Nathan here safely - our ultimate goal.

It seems to me, though, that someone had some miscommunication because I suddenly began feeling like they hadn't just turned my epidural down, but had turned it off! I could feel everything!! Not only was I completely exhuasted (I'm talking, falling asleep between pushes - exhausted), but the back labor I'd had a few weeks ago was back with full force. I can't describe the pain other than to say that it felt like I had broken my back and it was literally in 2 separate parts. My favorite little nurse Remeer had also changed shifts and our new nurse Polly had come in at the wrong time. Unfortunately, I probably took a lot of my frustrations out on her. Although, I probably took them out on everybody in that room. All I remember was seeing black and using cuss words that I don't use very often. Luckily, I have a very understanding family. Dr. Ralsten came in and suggested getting an epidural "boost" and that we take a 30 minute break. I know that I was still in a lot of pain, but it definitely took the edge off. I was able to fall asleep and tried to rest up for the next set of pushes that I knew were coming.

I just want to say how sweet my husband was through all of this. I had been nervous about how he would react to me being in pain and how his patience would hold up with not having much sleep. Boy, was I crazy. Not only did he not sleep a wink for being worried about Nathan and I
but, he stood right by my side and held my hand through all the pain. Several times I got sick and he was there in a flash holding the little bowl and wiping the hair back off of my face. He'd rinse the bowl out and bring it back to me without even making a face. While I was pushing, he counted and helped give me the support I needed to make the decision to go ahead with a c-section even though I wanted so badly to do this naturally. He could not have been better and just knowing that he was by my side helped me through it. I'm so in love with him and even more so now that we've been through this together.

So, around 10:00am on Friday morning, we tried pushing again. Nathan was just not coming past my pubic bone. Dr. Ralsten felt like my pushes were strong and what I would normally need, but for some reason, it just wasn't working to get him past that crucial point, so by 10:30 we had decided to do a cesarean. They took me out of the room and into the OR while Jason suited up in his little outfit. I honestly don't remember much of this because I was so tired that I think I slept through most of it. I remember being so concerned that Jason wasn't in the room yet, but they brought him in just as they were getting started. I'm not sure if it was the medication, nerves, or what exactly, but for some reason I was shaking uncontrollably. Poor Jason was so worried. He kept saying, "just hold onto my hands - it's going to be okay." I couldn't see anything of course and remember asking him to let me know when they had started. He was like, "baby - they started a long time ago." ha! Good thing I couldn't feel any of it. The worst part of the cesarean to me is not being able to immediately hold the baby after it's born. They showed him to me for a brief second and then whisked him off to the nursery. Jason went with him and I fell fast asleep as they stitched me up and took me to recovery.

Our little boy, Nathan James Dewberry, was born at 11:46 in the morning on September 5, 2008. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 13.6 oz and was 19 3/4 in. long. When the doctors were pulling him out of my stomach, I remember hearing them say, "No wonder you couldn't get him past your pubic bone! Look at that head!" haha. He's definitely a Dewberry because his graddaddy, daddy and brother all sport handsome heads that are a little on the larger side. Also, he was face up which is why I was having such terrible back labor and why he got the little scratch on the front of his face. If he had been face down, he wouldn't have gotten it. He has a FULL set of dark hair which accounts for all the heartburn I'd been having. It's funny because as a baby, Jason had a full head of blonde hair. I didn't have much hair at all, but was born with dark hair that turned blonde. Looks like little Nathan is a perfect blend of the two of us. :)

By 2:30 we had been moved into post-partum and were able to start getting to know our little one. We were so tired that we definitely went to bed super early! Nathan has been breast-feeding like a champ and has passed every test with flying colors. He's absolutely perfect and we are so excited to have been blessed with him. He's so sweet and even as I sit here with an incision all the way across my belly and not able to move hardly without feeling pain, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to be able to hold him in my arms. I feel like he's been apart of my life all of my life, but I'm just now getting the chance to meet him. We will be taking him home tomorrow, Monday, morning and can't wait for him to see his sweet little house and what all we have for him in it. I wish there were a way to keep him this little forever. I'll write more when I get a chance which will probably be less frequently now that my little buddy is here. :)