Ready or not...here he comes! Baby Henry is on his
way! I've only cried 3 or 4 times from excitement and I'm anticipating a few
more times before the day is over! Hooked up and the doctor is going to break
my water shortly... (this was my first attempt to announce the birth of Henry)
Baby Henry is here!!!! As
you may have guessed, Henry is here!! He is the coolest little dude and I’m
obsessed (as you may have also guessed). Where to start?
L&D-I
went into labor after a quick 10 minute check up where the doctor “cleared my
membranes”…don’t ask me what that means exactly because I’m still not quite
sure. All that I know is that when I left I immediately felt an abnormal amount
of fluid (sorry tmi) in my pants, called the doctor, stopped back into the
doctor’s office and was given instructions to go to the hospital. HE’S
COMING!!! I checked into the hospital at 2pm, they put me on petosin and I
labored for 4 hours (no pain yet), the doctor broke my water at 6pm (and
instantly the contractions kicked up to HOLY HELL OUCH). After they broke my
water they left us alone for about an hour. LONGEST HOUR OF MY LIFE!!
Apparently my body was contracting hard on it’s on, AND they left the petosin
ON…so I was having VERY INTENSE contractions VERY CLOSE together…just as one
contraction ended another would be starting…not normal. When the nurse came
back in she noticed how frequently I was contracting and turned the petosin
off…at which point I requested the anesthesiologist for my epidural. It was
another hour and a half until he was in my room, had me prepped, and the “good
stuff” turned on and working…sooo longest two and a half hours of my life!
After
that it was smooth sailing! JCH ran home to let out Teddy (our dog), meet the
UPS driver to get our new camera, and grab a few things that I had forgotten. I
played on facebook and pinterest and even started updating my blog (sadly never
finished). The nurse came in and checked me at 10pm and said I was ready to go
(dilated 10cm, fully effaced, -3 position, etc.), when the doctor came in-she
said she’d like to give me another hour (well dang...all that excitement and another hour wait). Around 11ish the doctor came back in
and started getting us all prepped to push. They went over “leg holding” instructions
with JCH and taught me how I would breathe and push through each contraction.
Shortly after 11:30pm I started pushing. It was nothing how I had imagined.
Well I always imagined you just push and push and push until the baby comes
out…but you actually get nice little breaks in between pushing. As soon as you
start contracting you take a deep breath and push (and don’t breathe) for as
long as you can, then do that again until the contraction has let up. I did
this for probably 8-10 contractions and that lasted about 20-30 minutes. Henry
John Hoffman made his entry into the world at 11:59pm…he was determined to come
THAT day. At one point I got nervous because the doctor said she was noticing
his head was protruding back after each push. She told me that if that kept
happening, than they would have to do something “quick and drastic” (I thought
that meant a c-section, JCH said it meant they were going to stand on a stool
and push really hard on my stomach…thank god that didn’t happen). Both JCH and
I were amazed at how smoothly everything ended up going. JCH kept saying that
he always imagined pure chaos, lots of equipment and lights and people running
around frantically…but it was nothing like that. The doctor sat calmly at the
edge of my bed while she talked us quietly through it. There was only one nurse
assisting while the baby nurse waited quietly in the corner for Henry’s
arrival. It really was the best possible birthing experience ever. I always
said that because my pregnancy was a little bumpy I deserved a good labor...or
perhaps a perfect baby...well I got them both!!
No
family made it for the actual delivery. My sister tried, but that afternoon her
flight out of North Dakota was so delayed that there was NO WAY she was going
to make it in time so she made the executive decision to wait and come in a
week after my in-laws (who were already en route via car from Texas) had left
(that way she could have Henry and me to herself)...my wonderful inlaws were
there the next day and such amazing help in that first week! (this was my second-unpublished-attempt at announcing Henry's birth)
6 months later...Yep, he's here alright! Evidence of it
is the enormous smile that never leaves my face, the double bags under my eyes,
and the fact that I am no longer working in marketing at the credit union. Two
things I've found to be very true..."no matter what anyone says they can
never truly prepare you for the sleep deprivation in the first few weeks",
and understatement of the century, "the most rewarding and amazing feeling to be a parent"...THE
BEST!!!! I am honestly loving every moment (even the sleep deprivation which
comes on and off with sickness and travel).
(yay...third and final attempt at the announcement...and I've finally published for all of my readers!)
I've decided I'm going to keep writing.
It's been a roller coaster and lets be honest, I've got a lot to say...and
amazing things to share! I love being able to look back on our "Getting
Knocked Up" journey and now we're starting a new chapter, with that I could come up with countless titles..."Where Did This Baby Come From?",
"What Have We Got Ourselves Into?", and in all seriousness, "You
are My Sunshine"...because I've truly never felt so alive and life has
never seemed so bright!
So, now to start you off with a few
favorite memories of mine from the past 6 months...
Henry sleeping on my chest (still one of my favorite things)
Henry enjoying bath time so much that he would kick all of the water out of the tub
JCH putting a diaper on Henry backwards (seems to me that would be much more difficult)
JCH puking all over the nursery while changing his first poopy diaper (this man can gut a fish and dress a deer, but poopy diapers gross him out...hmmmm)
Henry playing and interacting with his friends (I've got 3 girlfriends who had babies within the same month, 2 within the same week, as Henry was born)
When we gave Henry his first bath he was on the kitchen counter and screaming and Teddy (our dog) was frantically running around the house trying to find him ("must find/help little brother")
Henry's first laugh, while he was sleeping
SO MUCH MORE... but you get the point!
Without further ado...Henry John Hoffman
