Motherhood Has arrived

Wow...I am a mom. I finally am a mom. I grossly underestimated the shock this would impose on my life! Wow! As evidenced by the fact the the little guy is three weeks old today and I a just now getting to posting about having him! What an amazing ride this has been. When I look into his little face, I still can't believe that I had a part in creating him. Seth and I just stare at Matthew sometimes in utter disbelief.

Well, to go back a little bit...

I went into the hospital at 8am on the 8th to be induced. They started the cytotek to thin my cervix out shortly after I arrived. That medication produced only mild period like cramps. I was able to walk around all morning with little difficulty. At noon, the doctor came in and broke my water. That's when the craziness began. I went from comfortable to crying in pain in less than ten minutes. In fact, the doctor came back in shortly after breaking my water and the baby's heartrate had begun to show signs of distress. It had dipped into the sixties with normal ranging from 120-150 BPM. He immediately order Brethine {sp?}, an IV push medication to slow down my labor. The labor had come on so strongly that the baby wasn't able to tolerate it. They also gave me oxygen. It was really scary. But, the medication worked and Matthew's heartrate stabilized. After that, I was nice and comfortable with my newly placed epidural to reach full dilation. The doctor came in to check me at about ten minutes til six and said, "we are having this baby!" I of course was terrified and unsure if I still wanted to go through with it...He assured me that I would be able to do it and rushed out to get his clothes on for the delivery. He came back in and three contractions later, Matthew was born!

He was 7 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long- and he came out screaming!

We went home from the hospital on Tuesday morning. It was so unbelievable to be able to carry a baby out of that place. Seth and I were just beside ourselves.

The first week was a really rough one. I had no idea that recovering from childbirth could be so hard. When I had Mia, she was so little {2.1 pounds} that I didn't need an episiotomy. I wasn't so lucky this time. I was in agony for an entire week. I remember thinking...what have I done? I can't even take care of myself! How am I going to be a mom? I slept, took pain medication and sat on icepacks for a full week before I started to feel better. But amazingly, it got better and it has been totally worth it all.

So, here I am...Matthew is three weeks old and Seth and I can't imagine being without him. Sure, it's a major life change and I do miss sleep-because I get none but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Here are some pictures of him. I will try to post a bit more often than every three weeks, but man...I can't make any promises!