Javier Enrique (aka Javi) (aka Cuatro) has finally arrived. 9 days late and perfect as can be.
Labor started a little after 2 am with a sharp painful contraction quickly followed by ones ranging from 4-5 minutes apart. As with my earlier false labor, I used our yoga ball to lean over and rock through each contraction. When these continued to get stronger, I was sure that it was the real thing (finally!). After being woken up with a yell of "I think this is it! We need to go now!" Papa ran and got all of the kids from their beds and into the van while I went to the bathroom and then hobbled out to the car. We called the OB's after-hours line at 2:20am and were almost at the hospital (with all three older kids in tow) when they called back at 2:30am to say "come straight in." By the time that Mama got checked in through the ER, pushed up to the delivery floor, and into a room I was feeling the urge to push. The nurses talked me through a couple of contractions (now right on top of each other) so I could quickly get checked and was immediately given the OK to start pushing. After a few pushes, he was here and was immediately laid on my chest. They waited a few minutes to cut the cord and then after a few minutes it was clear that I was going to have trouble delivering the placenta again. So I was given a shot of pitocin in my leg and they "massaged" my stomach (read:tortured) to help force it out. As soon as it was out, they went to the waiting room to get Papa and the kids so they could meet the newest little family member.
It was less than 20 minutes after getting to the hospital and the doctor joked that it was a good thing that we didn't wait for them to tell us to come in. Papa and the kids had gotten to the waiting area and after only a few minutes were told that they could come see the baby. Papa was shocked that the baby had already been born and made sure that the nurse was looking for the right family!
3:04am Javi was born! 7lbs 12.8oz, 20 inches
Lots of bruising on his face which went from red to purple...
He is a breastfeeding champ so far and makes an adorable whimpering sound when he nurses. He's been soiling diapers frequently so we know that he's getting enough to eat.
However, he's also having a little trouble regulating his temperature so he's been in and out of the warmer throughout our time here. We are waiting for test results and hoping to be discharged in the next day or so.
