Our little Valentine!

It is hard to believe that our sweet little baby is already 2 weeks old. It feels like yesterday we were wondering if he would ever be born. The last 2 weeks have flown by, and so much has happened. I feel bad that it has taken me so long to put up more pictures, time has gotten away from me.

Dan thinks that I am best qualified to share all of the details, so for those who need to know those things, here goes.

I had been dilated to 2-3cm and 65% effaced since about 36 weeks, and having contractions since mid December. We and the doctor thought that he would surely make his appearance early, but he waited until 40 weeks and 5 days to arrive.

I had my weekly appointment on the Tuesday before he was born. I was 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Dr. Brown was shocked that I still had not gone into labor, but was sure that at this point it would happen at any moment. My contractions had just not been consistent enough for long enough, which would prove to be a problem later on too.

We went home hoping that anytime we would be jumping back in the car to head to the hospital. Contractions, contractions, contractions, continued Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and still no baby. Thursday night we really thought it was it, and then once again the hard contractions stopped. I continued to have lighter contractions all night and into the next morning. I called the Doctors office in the morning, wanting to get checked before the weekend. They told me just to head to the Birth Center to get checked out. When we arrived and got hooked up to the monitor I was still having some pretty intense contractions, about 10 minutes apart and I was also 5 cm dilated. So, they decided to keep me and let me have a baby! About 45 minutes later I was settled into my room and Doctor Brown came to break my water. I was 6 cm dilated. For the next 4 hours or so I didn't really progress. Once again my contractions would not stay consistent, so I had to have a lot of pitocin to keep my labor going. With the high level of pitocin I started to get really sick. I was throwing up and gaging uncontrollably, and the I started to get the shakes. I knew with how sick I was continuing to get that I would not be able to push if this continued, so I got an epidural. The epidural took the edge off, even though I continued to be very sick. I progressed from 6 cm to 10 in about 40 minutes, so about 10 minutes after I got my epidural I started to push. My contractions were still not consistent, even with the pitocin, so I pushed for about 45 minutes or around 10 pushes. As he was starting to crown he decided to reach his hand out first. So first came an arm, his head, and then his other arm. To help make sure that his shoulders didn't get stuck, one nurse pushed on my belly, rather hard, as the Doctor pulled him out. After almost 6 weeks of "pre-labor" and 3 hours of intense labor, our sweet little boy made his arrival.

Eli James Shaw weighed in at 8lbs. 9 oz. and 19 inches long. Everyone was surprised at how big he was, because I was not very big, only measuring about 35 weeks. At his two week check up he was 22 inches long, so he was probably longer when he was born and they just measured wrong.

It was kind of a surreal experience. I knew that the baby was mine, but I couldn't believe that he was actually there. He did not cry when he was born. As they laid him on my chest I looked into his eyes and I knew he was fine. The nurses were a little concerned though, and went to check him out. Still no crying, just very curious. He quietly looked around the room taking everything in and talking to the nurses.

He is still a very calm baby and he loves to talk. Today he had his 2 week check up and the nurse commented on how talkative he is. He is also a great eater and great sleeper. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby. I can't believe how much more I fall in love with him everyday. I can't believe I lived so long without him.