James Kennedy

I'll see how far I get with this post before I get to go and take care of my SON! He's just taking a mini nap for the moment. I wish I could hold him and type, then I wouldn't have to part with him... he feels SO good in my arms. As Patti said in one of her comments, perfectly natural.

So, I was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday the 21st. I was none too thrilled about the idea, but I was excited and going a little nuts (hence Monday night's dancing video). I felt a little weird all day Monday though - but I just assumed it was my anxiousness to have baby. I was very hormonal and emotional all day. Having to take Kitten to the vet was devastating. I went to bed that night thinking, "well, tomorrow I get induced". Maybe I finally relaxed, who knows, because I woke up around 2:30 am with mild contractions. They were just like what I had felt before, except this time they didn't go away right away. They started to become more frequent and a little more uncomfortable - so I woke up Ryan, and we timed them for a while. Once we were convinced it was the real thing, we both showered, packed up and went to the hospital. On the way there, the bumpy highway really started those contractions to fire up - and the pain was all in my back, so it was an unpleasant trip! So, prayers #1, #2 and #3 were answered - labour started on it's own, Ryan was home to drive me, and the roads were good.

On the way to the hospital I prayed for everything and everyone. I prayed that I wouldn't be just one more centimetre dilated, and for the doctors, nurses, baby, me, Ryan... We arrived at the hospital at about 7:00am and they put me in a triage room to be examined. Prayer #4 - I was 5-6 cm dilated! The nurse was a little surprised - as was I! I didn't feel like I could be that far along already! They got us set up in our own private birthing room around 8:00am, hooked me up to an IV, and then it was time to let labour do it's thing. We tried hall walking, but that felt really bad, so it only lasted a short time. Around 9:00 or 10:00am I really started to get uncomfortable, so they started me on laughing gas with a mask I held myself and could use as necessary. I also started doing my breathing, and so we huffed and puffed until about 10:30am. Everything went really fast from that point! My water finally broke on it's own, and then I wanted to PUSH! Ryan kept helping me with the breathing, as did the nurses, and at 11:00am I was ready to started pushing. The Dr. showed up right in time, as I pushed for 18 minutes and James was into the world. I had to have a little snip done, as James' heartrate was going down and he had passed some meconium in utero. And then, our son was in my husband's arms and we just stared at our beautiful blessed. Prayers #5-7 answered, good labour, quick delivery and no epidural. Oh, and prayer #8 - a perfectly healthy baby boy!!!

I don't know what else to say. Everything is going well so far. I got a few hours of sleep last night finally, and today all is well. Breastfeeding is going well. Everything is well. All for now. Baby needs mommy.