Garison's Birth Story

Before I forget it, I wanted to write down the events of yesterday - I so wish I would have written things down for Levi & Kara, but that is life. Thanks to social networking, I was able to Twitter the entire day:3:30 AM: Wake up to get ready to go to the hospital

4:20 AM: Mom arrives to watch kids (yes, her day started early too!)

4:40 AM: Head to the hospital (past the doughnut shop where I see the employees getting ready for the day)

5:07 AM: Arrive at the hospital for our 5 AM appointment (yes, we are always late)

5:45 AM: Called back to LDR16 (yes, hospitals are always late too)

Getting ready for the induction - I was 38 weeks, 6 days:
6:00 AM: The IV drama begins...after 4 nurses and several tries, a nurse finally gets my IV in. I've never had problems with nurses finding my veins, but the comment of the day was, "You have very thin skin and "valvey" veins". Unfortunately the IV was put in the vein that I had my IV in for the version which must have been inflamed. The IV plagues me the entire day and was literally the only uncomfortable thing for me to deal with.

6:30 AM: I finally find out via an ultrasound that Garison is head down - I was so nervous all morning and it took forever (or so it seemed) for them to bring the u/s machine in.

7:15 AM: Dr. Callison comes in to break my water, but is unsuccessful. The pitocin is started to move baby down.

8:15 AM: Dr. Callison comes back and successfully breaks my water. I'm 4 cm and Garison has moved down.

10:30 AM: Contractions are coming about every 3 minutes, but I don't feel a thing. The nurse is pretty surprised, while I keep reading my book. Despite the lack of pain, I go ahead and get the epidural so that I don't miss the anesthesiologist on his lunch break. I literally almost have words with the anesthesiologist. While he is working on me, he is quizzing the nursing student on all these medical things. I feel everything, scream in pain, but he keeps talking the entire time...never stopping to ask if I'm OK - only to tell me not to move. It is ridiculously unprofessional and I will be commenting on it for my exit survey.

10:45 AM: Take a good 2 hour nap after only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before. It was wonderful!!

1:15 PM: I'm at 7 cm and feeling great - I heart epidurals!
1:40 PM: Progress to 10 cm after just a few minutes. Ready to push, but my doctor is in surgery - Could I wait?? Pitocin turned off and my legs stay shut :)

1:57 PM: My doctor runs in and I start pushing immediately. Garison is face up, but they are able to turn him face down. This slows me down a few minutes.

2:02 PM: Garison is born!
My guesstimate weight was 8 lbs, 8 oz and Garet guessed 8 lbs, 4 oz. He is only 8 lbs, 2 oz which is fine with me!
2:15 PM: I get to hold Garison, but have a difficult time due to my inflamed IV arm

First photo with parents:
2:30 PM: My dad gets to come in and meet Garison (John) - his namesake. He has to leave at 3:00 for a business trip, so Garison made it just in time! Three generations:
Meeting Nana & Granddaddy - Fuzzy #8!
Aunt Kelly came down to welcome Garison in to the world - we were so thankful she made the trip!
3:15 PM: Garison & Garet head to the nursery for the first bath. I'm left in the LDR all alone for 30 minutes - It was very weird after everything that had just happened. I watch an "Everybody Loves Raymond" rerun.
5:30 PM: After spending 12 hours in a LDR, I move upstairs. They were at capacity and didn't have a room for us immediately.

6:30 PM: Levi & Kara get to meet Garison for the first time. It is about the greatest thing I see all day - they are fascinated by their new little brother.
Getting gifts from the baby :). Amazingly, Garison had time to get them gifts in his short life ;):
Kara loved her baby doll and Dora "big sister" book, but is attached to my water cup all night:
7:15 PM: Grandma finally gets to hold Garison after keeping Levi & Kara all day (thanks mom!). The kids give Garison the build-a-bear they made him (more on that later).

9:00 PM: Head to bed after a long, but full day. I experienced hardly any pain and was quite comfortable (a benefit, my doctor tells me, of having more and more children :). I think I'll stop here.