A birth story.

So I've been MIA for a while. And things have happened in my absence...a LOT of things. Just glance over to the picture on the right hand side of this blog. ;-)

The babe was born this past July. And, like his kuya before him, he came with fight in him. But he has filled our lives like I never imagined. I can't tell you what it means to me to see my two sons together. My heart swells with pride and tears fill my eyes. Of course, I am filled with the wonderful hormones of a post partum nature, but still...the mamas out there get me. :P

I guess I owe this blog a birth story. So here goes...

During the first week of July, 2008, I was the crabbiest person I can ever remember being. Remember, I was DONE with being pregnant about 4 or 5 months prior – so you can imagine how I was at 39 weeks. M had the bright idea to start his paternity leave a week before baby was born, so that left us alone together for almost an entire week. We almost killed each other. I swear, it was the stuff that marriage is made of.

Thing of it was, the plan was for a 39-week induction. But the hospital I was to deliver at has a policy of not scheduling inductions unless the mama is over 41 weeks. The OB can call every shift, though, to inquire about bed availability and see if you can get in…it’s like some highly snooty restaurant where the only things on the menu are excruciating pain and epidurals. Anyway, every day that week was an effort in futility, and having never been induced before, I didn’t realize what an emotional roller coaster it was going to be. It’s like I woke up every day to get my game face on…only to realize the game was cancelled. UGH. Finally, though, on Saturday morning, the heavens opened and so did the L&D ward. ALLELUIA!

I went in around 2:00pm and they very leisurely broke my water and started me on a pitocin drip. Interestingly enough, they told me I could have my epidural at any time…weird, because I thought I had to go through some labor before they’d give me an epi, right? Um, apparently not. But for some insane reason, I opted to hold off for a bit. Well, contractions started hard and fast – but they were tolerable. I wasn't sure if they were tolerable because I had grown to tolerate them (i.e. I was stronger) or because compared to the last time, wherein I was unmedicated for much of my labor and ALL of my delivery, these contractions paled in comparison. The contraction monitor had some pretty large spikes in it, though, so the nurse came back and asked me several times if I wasn’t sure I wanted my epidural sooner rather than later. After about an hour, I relented to the drugs, they gave me an epi and I QUICKLY progressed. Anyway, at about 7:00pm I started pushing. Eeesh. Forgot how hard that was. It took some work to get the babe out because he was turned this way and that (he came out, apparently, with his head to the side – ear up). The babe was born an hour and 15 minutes later. Remembering that I pushed with the kid for 3 hours (with no epidural – AY!) the OB commented as I was pushing, “Geez, mama, your boys make you work!” No shit.

Get this – the babe weighed and measured the EXACT same as the kid…7 lbs, 10 ounces and 20.5 inches long.

The post partum stay in the hospital was VERY different this time around. We were at a different hospital, sure, but the combination of M and me being second-time parents (and thus, the teensiest bit more relaxed) and the babe being a newborn who REALLY liked to sleep just made it easier. Good thing too, because I was nursing a VERY bruised tailbone this time around. With the kid, I felt achy all over and all beat up because of the nature of the delivery and a class III tear. While, I felt better overall with the babe's delivery, he kept hitting against my “protruding coccyx” and gave me some good bruising. Dude, a bruised tailbone HURTS and takes a LONG time to heal.

But all in all, I can't complain one bit. The babe is absolutely beautiful and our family feels so much more complete. And let me tell you, the kid is absolutely ENAMORED with his baby brother. He can't get enough of him. It's really quite cute. From the moment he was born, kuya absolutely watched over him. I have to tear them apart. Let's see how long this lasts. ;-)