a story of seth

labor was intense, twelve hours long and induced. induction, by the way was awful. remind me never to do that again.
pushing was amazing. i felt calm and ready and in control. also, i pushed for ten minutes (that may have helped).
it's interesting how things worked out this time around. especially when you compare them to last time. with ava, everything was fast and intense and hurried. pushing was hectic and intimidating. but it was a hundred percent natural, something that i had set a goal for a reached. so even though i nearly lost my mind in the pushing process, i felt really good about how things went.
with seth, everything was medical intervention. i was induced, i had pitocin and i eventually got the epidural which was a much needed eye in the storm. the family joke is how next time i can have a c-section and the time after that i can shoot for a vbac. then i'll have experienced all four major birthing techniques!
the best part was meeting him for the first time. with ava i was so busy pushing her out i didn't realize i had pushed her out, so when they handed her to me i looked at her for a moment thinking, "what is this?". when seth was being pushed out, i could feel him and knew where he was and what he was doing. i wanted him to come out, i wanted to hold him and as i pushed, that's what i thought about. and when they laid him on my chest, i loved him. he was all smushy-looking and purple and covered in a thick, thick layer of vernix but he was the most beautiful little boy. i knew who he was and i felt so connected to him. and all of that miserable pitocin-y labor flew out of my mind. i would do it all again in a heartbeat.

so i'm home now (the blogging should have clued you in to that), but seth is not. after hanging out with us for a little while the nurse noticed that he seemed to have a lot of extra fluid in his lungs and recommended that we get him suctioned out. turns out, she was right. but it wasn't just fluid, there was a little tear and he was retaining carbon dioxide. they were pretty worried and hooked him up with to all sorts of wires and told me i couldn't hold him and wouldn't be coming home for about four or five days. but the next morning, he was already doing much better. his x-rays were clearing up ("he moves around a lot" the nurse informed me. this made me laugh because, yeah, i knew that. i was pregnant with him, remember? the child literally shared my space with me for nine months), he was breathing on his own and normally and that night he was allowed food. which he eats like a champ. yesterday morning's x-ray confirmed his tear was gone and he'll be coming home on wednesday, if all goes well.
i can't wait to have him home! and i can't wait to introduce him to ava (who probably thinks that whole mommy's-got-a-baby-in-her-tummy story is rubbish. because i am now home with no extra-large tummy and no baby. i expect it'll extra confusing when we go to the hospital, pick out one of the many babies through the window and take him home with us).