Sullivan Alexander Martin

Well, I guess I was correct in assuming I wouldn't make it much longer! I spent most of Saturday cooking and working on baby's stocking. Daniel and I decided to take a walk that afternoon, and I noticed that my bladder was maybe leaking. We completed our walk and I noticed even more little gushes when I'd move around. I immediately called my doula to ask if she thought my water was breaking or if I was just have bladder issues. She recommended I lay down and jiggle my belly to see what happens. Well, doing that confirmed it was definitely my water breaking! Let the excitement begin! We did some last minute packing, took showers, ate some Newk's and headed towards Tupelo around 7 pm. I was having some contractions about 4 minutes apart, but nothing too painful. The clock starts when your water breaks, and let's be honest, I was a little anxious, so off we went! When we reached the hospital I was still only at 2 cm, but they admitted me! The doctor was fine with letting me see how things would progress naturally, but planned to start pitocin at 1:30 am if I wasn't in active labor by then. Thankfully that wasn't a problem for me! The fast birthing genes of my mother and sister kicked in! By 11 pm my contractions definitely starting hurting and coming closer together. The next two hours are sort of a blur! I labored stading up leaning over the bed or on my giant yoga ball with my head leaning on the bed. We tried getting in the bed to labor, but that was NOT an option for me! So much more painful when I was in the bed, so that lasted 1 contraction! Corinne, Mom, and Daniel all helped rub my back and talked me through the contractions. When the nurses came at 1 ish to check my progress and to see if pitocin would be necessary, she was shocked to find I was at 8 cm. So shocked she actually went to get another nurse to check me! That nurse determined I was actually at 10 cm! My doctor quickly arrived and the pushing began! It took 3 rounds of pushing to get little Sullivan out. Each round consists of taking a deep breath and pushing for 10 seconds 3 times and then resting before the next round of pushing. So really it took only 90 seconds of pushing to get him here! I was totally like in another world at this point. I focused on the nurse and Corinne telling me when to breath and when not to push, etc. Thanks to their wonderful help, I was able to bring Sullivan into the world very easily and with no drugs, no episiotomy, and no tearing! It was exactly the birth experience I hoped to have! No doubt it is the hardest and most painful thing I've ever done, but absolutely worth it! It is totally true that when you reach the poing in labor that you start doubting yourself and your ability to do it without drugs that you are almost done! As I climbed on the bed to lay down to push I said 'I'm insane', and just a few short minutes later he was here! Such an amazing experience! My accounting of the birth is very fuzzy, so I have to rely on Corinne and Mom and Daniel to give me the details. He was born at 2 am on the dot on November 8, 2009. He weighed 6lbs 8 ozs and was 17 inches long. We both were doing so great, they let us go home on Monday afternoon. I feel really good. My insides feel a little sore and my breasts are definitely feeling the milk! My milk came in on Monday afternoon as well, which is great for fattening our little guy up!

So, on to the fun stuff! We are so absolutely in love with our son! He's perfect in every way! We are learning how to breastfeed and making great progress on this front! It's a little harder for early babies to figure it out, but he's doing great! We go back to Tupelo today to see how his bilirubin levels are, etc. I will continue to keep you updated on our progress. I know this post is sort of a random jumble, but it's about all my brain can manage at the moment! I think i hear someone wanting to eat!