Welcome Nicholas!

On April 16th, Jamie and I dropped Ryan off with our neighbors and headed to Salem Hospital to be induced. I really had no idea what to expect with an induction, since my water broke with Ryan. By 8:30 a.m., I was hooked up to the pitocin and an IV and the waiting started!

Contractions started an hour or so later and by 11:30, I was having very intense, very painful and very LONG contractions! I had all back labor with Ryan, so these contractions were much easier and I was able to breathe through most of them until they got really big. Seriously, they seemed like they were never going to end and after the second one I asked for the epidural. The doctor was in about 2 minutes later to do the epidural--which was painful, especially since I was having another monster contraction while they were doing it!

After the epidural, I was able to relax and I started getting really bored! I read my entire book, watched TV and by 2:30, when the doctor checked me, I was between 2 and 3 centimeters dilated--exactly where I was when I checked in! That was REALLY discouraging and the doctor decided to crank up the pitocin. After that, things started moving along a little bit faster.

My parents and in-laws showed up at some point and Ryan even came to visit. He was very wary of the whole thing and refused to come say hi to me. Everyone went to get some dinner--and I was left to starve and have more contractions. By the time they all got back, things had progressed even further and I was getting really shaky. My doctor came in and told us it was time to push!

I pushed through about 5 contractions--about 15 minutes, and baby was here! Nicholas Michael arrived at 7:39 p.m., weighing 9 lbs, 1 oz and measuring 21 inches long.

Welcome to our family Nicholas, we are so excited that you are here!!