Baby J is Here!!

So, apparently, there really isn't a science to when babies arrive. Just ask the doctor who ASSURED me on Friday afternoon the it would be a while . . .
After my appointment, I had plans to have dinner with my dad and Wendy. I decided to walk around the mall and see if I could find any comfy clothes to pack in my hospital bag since it was going to be a while before dinner. I noticed while I was wandering around that I was having some mild cramps, low in my abdomen. Since the doc had done an internal exam, that didn't seem so strange. I think at some point during dinner, I even commented to Wendy that was crampy. It didn't hurt, really, but it was something.

When I got home, I did my usual hanging out on the couch/playing on the internet/watching TV thing and the cramps got more and more uncomfortable. I looked up "contractions" and "labor" in all my pregnancy books, but what I was feeling really didn't seem to fit the description, so I figured it was just related to the exam. I went to bed around 11 when Sal got home from work and was able to sleep fairly well until about 3 am. At that point, I was feeling super uncomfortable and restless, so I decided to go out to the living room so I wouldn't wake Sal.

When I got out to the living room, I laid on the couch for a while and listened to the neighbors have a VERY loud party while watching TV. The "cramping" was definitely getting worse at that point. On one of many trips to the bathroom, I discovered I was also having some bleeding. I pulled out my labor instructions from the doc and decided I should probably call. When I explained my symptoms, the on call doctor assured me that I was NOT having contractions. Since she has more experience with the whole thing than I do, I decided to believe her.

I think I ended up falling asleep some time that morning, for a few hours. I had been planning to go to my cousin Mia's birthday party later that day, so I called Dani and Rob to pick me up. Sal thought it was weird that I still wanted to go even though I was feeling super crappy, but I figured it was better than staying home alone all afternoon. Dani and Rob picked me up around 1 and by that time, I was practically doubled over in pain every time I had a "cramp". When we got to Aunt Jacque's a bit later, it was even worse. A couple of people came up to me right away and wanted to touch my belly. I was having none of that.

In fact, it was only about an hour before I went to hide in my cousin Billi's bedroom. Wendy came in to check on me periodically, but I still wasn't convinced that this was it. At some point, I decided I needed to have something to eat. Right after I served myself some food, I had a contraction that literally had me in tears. I went down the hall (didn't want any of the little ones seeing me that way) and cried in the bathroom. That's when Wendy decided we needed to go to the hospital. If I wasn't in labor, there was definitely something wrong.

I think Sal called during all this and Wendy told him we would keep him posted about what happened at the hospital. We hopped in the truck and headed down south. I called the doctor (a different on-call doc) and told her what was going on with me. This doc was also not convinced that I was in labor, but said I should go ahead and come in.

When we got there, the nurse also wasn't convinced I was in labor, but she went through all the motions of getting me checked out and was super sweet about the whole thing. When a contraction finally hit, she looked at me and said, "THAT looks like labor to me." I was dilated 1 cm.. After about an hour (or maybe two?), I was dilated three centimeters and and they gave me something to take the edge off the pain in preparation for the epidural. Then we were transferred to a room.

Sal got there shortly before the epidural and then things seemed to really fast from then on. This part is all a little foggy, but I know that there were quite a few people in the waiting room next door. I took a few short naps while we waited for my body to do its thing. Some time around 1 am, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to 9 cm. She went to check in with the doctor who said we needed to wait a while because Baby J was still really high up and it wouldn't make sense to start pushing for a while.

At about 2:30, I finally couldn't take it anymore (the epidural had worn off), so Sal went to get the nurse. She came back in and went over the pushing technique with us and we practiced while we waited for the doctor to come. At about 2:45, we started pushing for real. For the most part, I think I did okay, but there were a couple of times when I was ready to give up. It was definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The doctor ended up having to do a bit of adjusting, because the baby's shoulder had gotten in the way. Once that was fixed, we were on our way. Joseph Henry Ferrara entered the world at 3:22 am on November 16. At that exact moment, his mother told the doctor she could no longer push and was giving up. I'm such a wuss, but I did it.

When they held him up for me to see, I couldn't do anything but cry. The whole process is so amazing. I carried that baby around with me for 38 weeks and suddenly he was his very own person, living outside of my body. And Sal was awesome through the whole thing. He was so super supportive and did a great job of keeping the people posted on the happenings in the labor room. He should get a medal. Or something.