Grant Thomas Lovinger

Here I am finally writing Grant's birth story. First off let me say I have NO idea how so many people have pictures up and the whole story eloquently written up on their blog within hours of the birth or the next day at the latest. I have been trying to sit down and do this for what?... almost two weeks now. Anyway, here it is:

My due date was Tuesday August 3rd and I had a dr. appt. on Monday the 2nd to decide more about what we wanted to do as far as when/if we wanted to do an induction(my doctor thought he was big and didn't necessarily want to do an induction, but didn't want me to go too much overdue either.) The week before we had an ultrasound to see how big he really was. That said he was 7lbs 9 oz, but they said it could be off by 10% in either direction. So on Monday we met with the doctor and she said that since he didn't seem too big on the ultrasound and I wasn't even due till the next day she wanted to wait till I was a week overdue and started asking us what day the next week worked best for us if it came to that. My mom was flying in later that day and could only stay one week because my brother was getting married in California and she needed to get back for that, so if I was going to be induced the next week sometime my mom would miss the whole thing and maybe only get to see him for one day or even not at all. So I asked my doctor if there was anyway that we could do it later on that same week if I had not gone already(which for some reason I knew for months that he was not going to come on his own. I had been telling Cameron that I was going to have to be induced for a while). My doctor called the hospital to see what they had available for late that week and they had an opening Friday morning at 7. This was actually a great time because it gave us a few days to get really ready and to hang out with my mom and show her around Cleveland before he came. While my mom was here we took her to our favorite pizza place, went on a tour of Kirtland, drove around downtown and showed her where Cameron works, drove by the lake, watched movies, cleaned the house, and just hung out. When we scheduled the induction Cameron was able to call his work and take a few days off, plus arrange his work schedule so that he didnt have to go back to work till the following Wednesday so the three of us were able to hang out, which was fun.

The week went by SO fast and Friday morning was there before I knew it. I actually slept pretty well the night before which kinda surprised me, but it was a good thing. We were all loaded up and at the hospital by 7am. The nurse was waiting for us when we got there and took us back to the room I would be laboring and delivering in. She said she just had some last minute things to do and would then come start my IV's. We did some paperwork, I changed into the gown and hopped into bed to hang out until things got started. The nurse came back and started the IV fluids and the pitocin at 8:30. For the next several hours it was just a waiting game. I was in no pain for a long time while the meds kicked in. At one point the nurse said "do you need any pain medicine for the contractions?"... I had no idea I was even having any. So while the contractions were slowly getting stronger, my mom and Cameron and I just hung out and watched MASH episodes on the laptop and waited. Things were not progressing as fast as they would have liked even though they had been constantly upping the pitocin. I came to the hospital dialated to a 2 and after 7 1/2 hours of labor and contractions I was still only at a 3. I was stuck at that for a long time and in a fair amount of pain by then so they said I could get the epidural then if I wanted... and I did. A student put it in with the doctor watching, which was fine until I heard the dr. say "ok stop, don't push the needle in all the way!" I was a little freaked out by that, but it must have been fine because they finished up and left. Within about a half hour my legs were totally numb and the pain was gone, it was awesome. At 5pm they put in an internal monitor to make sure the contractions were actually strong enough and doing something. I was checked several times in the next 4 hours and was only dialated 1 more centimeter after all that time and painful contractions(they had to come up the epidural twice because it kept wearing off and I could feel everything again. Cameron would barely tap my leg and ask if I could feel it and I could feel everything. It was like I never had the epidural in the first place. But after they came back and fixed it up again it was great). It was at this point (8:30pm) that Cameron went out into the hall to get a nurse and have them come and fix the epidural when he heard the nurse talking to my doctor and saying that they would give me till 9pm to see where I was at and if I wasn't any further by then they would need to do a c-section. Cameron came back in and told me what he had heard. My body must have known how bad I didn't want a c-section after being in labor for 14 hours already and it kicked itself into gear. When they came to check me at 9 I was at a 4 1/2. They said they wouldn't make any decisions yet since that was some progress. They had a hard time keeping his heartbeat on the monitor so the head nurse came in at 9:15 to put in an internal monitor in his head to make sure he was still ok with the laboring. When they put that in they checked me again and I was at a 6. An hour later they checked me and I was at an 8. An hour after that (11pm) I was at a 9 and at 1am I was fully dialated. They told me to tell them when I felt like I should start pushing. A nurse that was there earlier in the day had told me that I would push for about half the time if I made myself wait as long as I possibly could. she said that if you start pushing as soon as you feel like you could you would push much longer than if you waited and let the baby and the contractions do the work for you. So remembering this advice I just hung out and didn't say I could start pushing even though I felt like I probably could. I waited till I felt like he was going to fall out and then I was thinking to myself "oh crap, I waited too long, he is coming NOW" I told the nurse I needed to start pushing and she acted all calm and said "ok, well lets just do some practice pushes to see where you are at and to learn how to push effectively." She took her time getting all ready(it seemed like ten minutes, but I think it was like one). She said "ok lets see one push...(I pushed)...WOW WOW WOW, STOP pushing, I need to get the doctor in here NOW, he is right there, I can see him." Then she said " i'm going to call the dr. don't cough, laugh or spit", which made me laugh and she was like "no, no, don't laugh". The dr got there a few minutes later and after 9 minutes and 5 pushes Grant was born at 1:39am on Saturday August 7th. He weighed 9lbs. 1oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Just hanging out waiting for the pitocin to kick in.

Cameron wanted to get a picture of the magic drug.

Cameron was camped out next to me for the entire 18 hours. He was good at making sure I had everything I needed and making sure I was comfortable... as much as I could be.

Us seeing Grant for the first time. they had just put him on me and were wiping him off.

Getting all measured and cleaned up

A very adoring daddy and me loving holding him finally

The first time he really opened his eyes for very long.

Me holding him after being moved to the recovery room. Swollen hands and REALLY swollen feet from so much pitocin. My feet are just barely going back down now, two weeks later.

One happy grandma. Grandma Skelton was able to stay for the first 4 nights after he was born before she had to head home for the wedding. She was a huge help, thanks!

The beautiful flowers that Cameron and my mom got me

Enjoying every second just holding and watching him

Getting ready to head home!

At home before his first bath. Looking at dad like "what do you think you're doing?"

The sign they put up for me at home

Resting peacefully. He likes to prop his chin up on his hands when he sleeps

In daddy's hand

Holding my hand

After his first bath

Sleeping away in the boppy

Most people think Grant looks like Cameron. The nurses at the hospital all kept saying how much they looked alike. One of them even said "well if there was any doubt that he was your baby, you know now he is your son for sure".

Grandma Lovinger was able to come out and spend about a week with us. Grant loved her and kept her up many many hours at night. She was a lifesaver, thanks again!
First family picture at home. This was taken around midnight one night after his bath. You can tell how exhausted all three of us are.

Our perfect little guy!