For those of you who didn’t get my updates, here is the story.

Mama’s water broke at about 2:00 am or so July 11. Labor started after that. We went to the hospital about 5:30 am… Contractions were sporadic…groups of 2’s and 3’s…never really regular. Mama labored until around 2:00 pm…(all back labor)… I have never ‘seen’ pain that excruciating. Pain so bad you can’t talk… pain so bad, you can’t move… and here she was, could not lay down because the pain in her back was too great and she couldn’t change positions, couldn’t sit down because of the pain in her hind quarters…

So…we labored standing…we must have walked a mile or 2 in the hospital ward….walking 10 feet, stopping and gripping the wall while I pushed very hard on her lower back…No massaging, no rubbing her feet… just DIRECT PRESSURE on her lower back, 2-3 times every 4-5 minutes. At this point after her 12th hour of back labor, she could no longer stand because her whole body was shaking, she was wearing nothing but a hospital gown and was freezing, didn’t want a blanket because contractions made her so hot and sweaty, and the contractions were getting so bad that her only connection to the rest of the world was INTENSE PAIN. The only answer I could ever get from her was, “PUSH…OWWWW…DOWN!! or just tears of agony. The Doctor came in and told us that after her 12 hours of labor, she was only 80% effaced and 4 cm (out of 10cm) dilated. Not even half way.

At that point she reached her breaking point and opted for an epidural. After the epidural was administered, things gradually became more sane. She was able to lie in bed and the pain became mild pressure. She was able to hold a conversation, she slept a bit… let me get something to eat and go to the bathroom… At this point she progressed much quicker. She went from 4 cm to 10 cm dilation in 4 hours with a little help from Pitocin.

At about 6:00 pm (16 hours into labor) She began pushing, and about 7:30 or so, Jonny was born. He weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 22 inches long.

Jonny is doing well, good lungs and good heart. He has a bit of a minor gap in the back of his palette (cleft) and may need surgery to correct it. As a result of the gap, his first spit up was through his nose and may have also travelled through the sinus cavity to his ears. He had a little fluid in his left ear and had trouble hearing out of it. His chin is slightly recessed and they say there is still a slight hygroma in his head so they are ordering a chromosomal test. The ultrasounds and initial blood tests were all negative so I’m not too worried about it (although we never opted for an amnio).

Mama is doing well, slowly recovering. Dropping water-weight like crazy. We took turns sleeping last night and are both exhausted. I am taking the time to update you now while Mama and Jonny sleep. I will try to keep you updated as we progress. Thanks for everyone who has called and texted and sent their blessings.

-Jason