Sorry for the delay on the birth post. You would think having a baby that pretty much sleeps all of the time would be an excuse enough to write on the old blog, but unfortunately, it's an excuse to pack, clean, do my umpteenth load of laundry, or sleep. Little guy has finally passed out for the moment, so here goes the abbreviated version.
We went to the hospital at 12:30 am on Friday, July 30th. My contractions were mild most of the night, and I got a little bit of sleep. At 9:00 am my doctor came in and broke my water and my contractions got a lot stronger. After about an hour I asked for an epidural, which hurt like hell going in but turned my 9-pain-scale contractions into zilch pain scale. Little did I know I would have about 12 more hours of labor to go. I was dilating uber-slow but finally, at about 6:30 p.m., I was a ten and could start pushing. Every time I would push everyone would yell "good good, great, perfect," but after an hour, he was still in the exact same place. Everyone could see his head, but he was still pretty far up there. Cannon was facing "sunny-side up" which means his head wasn't in a good position to be pushed through my pelvis. No amount of turning or twisting was getting him to move. Every time I laid on anything besides my back, his little heart rate would drop too low. My doctor told me to keep pushing for awhile longer and well see where we got. An hour later, Cannon was still in the exact same position. I was devastated and tired. I asked her if there was anyway we could just pull him out, since we could see him. She told me that it could hurt him, because he was still so far up, and that (prepare yourself) she would pretty much be giving me a vaginal cesarean and that it was going to "tear my bottom up." After explaining this she told me I could keep pushing or we could do a cesarean and it was up to me. After hearing the vaginal cesarean comment, I was scared, but done. I told her I wanted the c-section, that I was ready for him to get out. I was upset about it, but there is a certain point where you just want to be finished and see that little baby. The anesthesiologist came in to give me a spinal block, and teach me the true meaning of a 10 on the pain scale. I ended up instantly getting what is called a spinal headache. I can definitely say this is the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. I was hysterical and sobbing and can't even remember much of the surgery except for David telling me to breath and me telling him I didn't want to EVER do this again (much to the protest of everyone in the room). My doctor also kept telling me that as soon as the baby was out, she was going to give me "the best margarita I've ever had in an IV." Cannon came out at 8:45 p.m. with extensive tugging and in went the margarita. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20.5 in. long. After about 5 minutes I felt a lot better and could get a look at my little guy. His apgar score was a 9, but he was kind beat up from getting stuck in my pelvis. He had a black eye, fat lip, and bruised forehead. My doctor told me I made the right decision, that he was NOT coming out. David went with Cannon and I got wheeled off to recovery where I had a bad case of the shakes that lasted well into the night. At about 11 pm I got to go to the mother/baby room and nurse and hold him. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but truly truly worth it.
It's been twelve days and Cannon is the sweetest, most adorable kid a mom could ask for. He eats ferociously every 2-3 hours but sleeps like a log. I think he has my nose and the rest is all his daddy. I honestly have never been so happy.
As most of you know, things have never been so crazy in the Carpenter household. David found out he got a full time visual arts teaching position at Pulaski Tech on July 28th and Cannon was born on the 30th. David started work on Monday and Melinda has been staying with me and helping me take care of the baby and recover from surgery. My mom comes down on Sunday and I head up to Little Rock on the 22nd or 23rd. We are staying with David's parents for a few months and trying to buy a house. I'm going to miss everyone here, but can't wait to finally be in Arkansas again. Things could not have worked out better for us. We are so blessed.
P.S. Ashur sent us a card, and it said "Welcome to the world, Cannon. Isn't it awkward". Touche, Ashur, Touche.
