Katie & Matthew: One Month

We made it through our first month as parents. We are sleep deprived, all of our clothes have some sort of baby fluid on them, we are astonished at how many diapers a newborn can go through in a day, and still adjusting to our new roles as parents...but we are absolutely in love with our baby boy and can't imagine our world without him. Here are the highlights of Connor's birth and his first month:

Above: 40 weeks pregnant and a few days before Connor's arrival. I had several episodes of strong contractions and more than once we mere minutes away from heading to the birthing center only to be disappointed (or secretly relieved) when they stopped cold. We had a week of false all samta before it was finally time.

We could not have asked for a place to have our baby. I stayed in one large and comfortabe room for both labor/delivery and recovery. All the rooms at the birthing center are designed to look and feel like a bedroom and have the medical monitors, machines and gadgets are thoughtfully hidden behind wood cabinet doors. The lighting is soft and windows let in just right amount of natural light and fresh air. When I hit transition the room magically transformed into a labor suite. The monitors came out, the lights were turned up and the bed pieces were instantly pulled apart and repostioned to make a birthing bed. It was really quite an impressive transformation.

I had planned on having a natural birth without any pain meds. I spent the first few hours in a whirlpool tub to ease the pain of the contractions. My midwife and nursing staff were amazing and they skillfully coached me through every step of the labor process. After several hours of pushing our little boy was still stuck at 2 inches from crowning and I was in a state of physical and mental exhaustion. At this point my midwife suggested an epidural and hour of rest. Matthew and I decided it was in the best option for both myself and our little boy, who at that point needed his mother to rest and gain back a little strength. The epidural was put in place, I was allowed to sleep for an hour and then I was instructed to start pushing again. At several points our baby's heart heart dropped dangerously low and so the attending OBGYN was called in. Thankfully she and my midwife really wanted to avoid using the vacuum or a c-sectio unless absolutely necessary. They coached me through some rough and scary moments while keeping a very close eye on his heartrate. Hearing his heartrate dip down on the monitor was terrifying but it also triggered my instinctive need to protect him, which at that point meant following the OBGYN's instructions to push long and hard. Finally Connor made his debut and was immediately put into my shaky but very thankful arms.