Sooooo, I know this has taken me a while to post, but we are obviously going through a huge adjustment right now...lol! Time to ourselves has been very little, and the time we do have, we try to get some good naps in!! So........
Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at 9:23pm we welcomed little Connor James Scarlet into the world. He came in weighing a healthy 7lbs 4oz and measured 21 inches long! We got ourselves a tall skinny one :) If you aren't interested in the long (and I mean LONG) journey to get him here, go ahead and skip the next several paragraphs. :) I realize this is probably more for my record than anything else, but hey, if you wanna' read it, go right ahead! :) It's allllllllllll here!
Friday night Justin and I went to have our last dinner as just "Justin and Brooke" at Outback. They have this new Shrimp EnFuego dish that I absolutely fell in love with! I can't wait to eat it again! Anyway, at about 6:35pm, we headed over to the Women's Center at St. Edwards Hospital. We weren't supposed to be there until 7, so we walked around the parking lot a few times, all the while, the anticipation is just building and building and BUILDING! We were both pretty sure that we would have a baby by 3 or 4pm the next day, and we just couldn't WAIT! So we go in, get checked in, and head to our labor room. They presented me with this beautiful/trendy/stylish hospital gown.....riiiiiiight....those things are UGLY! I mean, come on, if you are there to have a baby, you atleast want a nice outfit right? I think I am going to make a new career out of designing hospital gowns for the labor and delivery unit. :)
I've never been in the hospital before, so this was a TOTALLY new experience! I was hooked up to an IV of saline solution to keep me hydrated since I was restricted ONLY to yummy ice chips from that point on. At about 8:30, the first dose of Cytotec was administered. Cytotec is a tiny pill inserted into the cervix to start the softening the cervix for delivery. After it was administered, I was like, "Ok, here goes nothin'!" Justin and I spent the next few hours watching the NCAA tournament and updating our brackets. At about 12:30-1:00ish, the nurse came back in to administer the second dose. This is it, just 2 doses is all ya get. She told me that the doctor would be coming by at 7am Saturday morning to break my water. I was a little nervous about that, so I asked her if he HAD to break it, or was there a chance it would break on its own. She said it wasn't likely to break on it's own. Hmm...ok.
All night, I felt like I had really really bad gas. TMI, I know...lol. But I was scared that the spicy shrimp I had eaten at Outback was going to make a comeback in a mere few hours as I was pushing the baby out. Come to find out, those "gas pains" were actually contractions. They were very light and very few and far between. Justin and I barely slept Friday night. We were so anxious, so excited, so overwhelmed....we just didn't know what to expect, and for 2 people who like to plan things out, that can be a bit scary. The nurse kept coming in every hour to take my vitals, so that didn't help as far as sleeping either. They offered me an Ambien, but I was afraid it might make me groggy the next day, and I wanted to be wide awake for Saturday's big events!
Saturday morning around 6:15am, the nurse came in to start my Pitocin drip. This was administered to get the contractions going hard and heavy. We expected to see Dr. McClanahan shortly after, but he didn't make it by until about 10am to break my water. Once he did that, I was SURE we would be welcoming our little man into the world sometime in the afternoon. I wasn't progressing very much as fas as dilating. I was still only a 1 at 10am. Bummer....all those contractions, and for what?! Just to STILL be a 1. I was just a little frustrated.
My sweet, sweet girlfriends came to see me around 8 or so. They brought fruit (for after the delivery), Diet Dr. Pepper (mmmmmm!), homemade chocolate covered strawberries, and an AWESOME scrapbook (and I mean AWESOME....beautifully detailed, heartfelt, coolest scrapbook I have EVER seen) of all of our blog entries, pics, and comments from day one. They stayed and visited for a while until Dr. McClanahan came in to break my water. I didn't see them again until after Connor was born. I ended up getting a little Stadol for the pain because it was too early for my epidural. The first shot lasted an hour, the second lasted 30 minutes, and after that, they gave me some Nubain which never kicked in at all.
After the 3 rounds of pain meds and several really hardcore contractions, I was dilated to a "2 almost a 3," as I was told. Dr. McClanahan gave the go ahead for me to have an epidural. YAY!! Now, the epidural was AMAZING, don't get me wrong, but no one ever tells you HOW BAD it hurts when it's administered. This was the ONLY time during my hospital stay where I said 2 naughty words....one started with an "S", and the other, an "F." That oughta' tell ya it was just a tad painful..lol! The relief I felt was instant. Women who do childbirth WITHOUT the epidural are very brave souls (and a little crazy I might add!....strictly my opinion). Speaking of women who do it without epidurals.....Justin and I were just watching some TV, patiently waiting on Connor, when all of the sudden we heard these awful, gut wrenching screams coming from the room next door. At that point, I told Justin that I was done and I was ready to go home...lol! When the nurse came back in, I had her assure me that the woman next door decided to give birth naturally and that there were no drugs involved whatsoever. Anywho, that was the case (thank GOD.....I was truly scared).
Soooooo, I hung out for a few more hours having major contractions (atleast that's what they told me.....I didn't feel a thing!) At about 6:30pm, Dr. M came in and informed me that I was STILL not quite a 3, and that he would be back in a couple hours to see how I was, and if I hadn't progressed, we needed to rethink how this baby was going to come out. Fine by me.....I just wanted to get Connor here safe and sound, no matter how he came into this world. 2 hours later, no progress.....SO, we decided that it was time for a C-section.
There was a flurry of people in and out of my room as I was prepared for surgery. One lady even had to come in and shave my....yeah....WEIRD LOL! I had not eaten in about 27 hours, so I had really bad indigestion (I got that alot when I was hungry during my pregnancy). They gave me some kind of NASTY drink to neutralize the acid in my stomach so that I wouldn't get sick during the surgery. Hmmmmm, little did they know.......
As I was wheeled down the hall and into the operating room, I started to feel nauseous. The operating room was really cold, so I thought that would make me feel better....nooooo such luck. I told the nurse I felt like I was going to be sick. She couldn't find anything for me to puke in, so she brought over a hamper of linens. Hope they weren't clean...lol! Anyway, after that lovely episode, they put me on the operating table, turned on some Brian Adams (atleast that was the last song I remember lol), and got me all ready to deliver little Connor. Because of the nausea, I was given something in my IV that made me very, VERY sleepy. I was so afraid I was going to sleep through the delivery. I fought hard to stay awake!
Justin was dressed in an all white "space suit" and got to sit beside me during the surgery. At one point I heard Dr. McClanahan ask Justin if he wanted to see what was going on. I was surprised to hear Justin, "sure!" Dr. M told me that I was going to feel a lot of pressure. All of the sudden, I felt the weirdest sensation...there was a TON of pressure, and the table was shaking. Next thing I hear is Dr. McClanahan saying "Hi Daddy!." (Justin later told me that when Dr. M pulled Connor out, he laid him on my legs and flopped his little arm back and forth as if he was waving...lol) All the sudden I heard Connor cry......Oh my gosh.....it was amazing. The Dr. told me that he had lots of hair, curly hair....I wanted to see him SO BAD! Finally....FINALLY, the put our little bundle of joy in front of me, and my heart melted, I was in love. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.....wow.
They took Connor away to the nursery, and Justin went with him. After that, I was stitched up and sent off to recovery (Recovery is a little cubical with a curtain....fancy huh? lol!) I could NOT stop shivering! I was trying to talk to the nurse, but I am sure I sounded like a complete idiot...lol. I kept biting the sides of my tongue because I was shivering so hard. Mom and Dad came to see me in recovery, and Justin came and fed me an entire cup of ice chips. I was SO SO SO thirsty, but all I was allowed to have was stupid ice chips. I swear, I don't want to see another freaking ice chip for a long long time. When that's all you get to eat or drink for almost 30 hours, you just can't pretend they are some sort of other food anymore...lol. That only works for the first few hours. I was craving sprite SO BAD. I couldn't wait to get out of the recovery cubical, chug a sprite, and SEE MY BABY!!!!
Justin had taken each of our parents to see Connor in the nursery, and he had called my closest friends to come see us. I was wheeled out of recovery and into my own room. Finally, FINALLY, they brought my baby to me. It was so wonderful holding him for the first time. I couldn't believe how tiny he was! (and still is!!) He was already ready to eat....just like a boy! I immediately started nursing, which went very well, and still is. The rest of the evening was spent with close friends and family. Around 1:30am, it was just me, Justin, and Connor; our new little family. It was awesome. I just sat in my bed and soaked it all in.
The next few days brought many visitors (Sunday especially....we had 18 adults and 6 kids!). The support and love was absolutely heartwarming. We appreciate everyone who came to visit, both in the hospital and once we got home.
Connor is doing so well. He is now 2 weeks old! (I can't believe it!) He had a little bit of Jaundice in the beginning, and had to be placed on a home phototherapy bed. I cried and CRIED when they brought that contraption out!! Mostly because I had just had a baby and my hormone levels were obviously out of whack, but also because they said we had to leave him in there all day and only get him out for feedings and diaper changes......we had a lot of feedings and diaper changes over those 3 days...lol. But now, he is healthy and growing like a weed! We feel so blessed to have this new addition in our lives, and wouldn't change a single thing. It's really true what they say, "Having a baby changes EVERYTHING!"
We could not be MORE EXCITED that Connor James Scarlet will be entering this world on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 (that is, if all goes well.....please continue to pray for us!) We went to the doctor on Wednesday for a final ultrasound to determine the baby's weight and position. He is head down (great!), and weighs, get this, and whopping 8lbs 5 oz!!! When the ultrasound tech said that, I said, "Are you serious?!" I was 6lbs 7oz, and Justin was a little over 7lbs......sooooooo, I was expecting a baby that weighed NO MORE than 7 or 7 1/2 lbs. Needless to say, I was SHOCKED! But hey, he's a healthy baby boy, so I couldn't ask for anything better! The doctor gave us a couple of options: either wait it out and see if he comes on his own this weekend (meaning, he will continue to get even BIGGER!), or go ahead and induce this weekend! We obviously chose to induce. This is my first time to have a baby, so I am not really wanting to have a 10lb-er if ya know what I mean! 
