Eli just fell asleep so I decided to use this moment to write about his grand entrance to the world two weeks ago.
The family is gone and Brian is in the field for a few days, so I am alone with our new son for the first time. It has given me a chance to start catching up on my sleep and to reflect on the pregnancy and delivery.
During my entire pregnancy, Brian and I kept saying to each other how blessed we were that it was so smooth and enjoyable. Our German doctor and his staff were all amazing and we knew Eli was in good hands.
Now..about the delivery....
My due date was May 17th but nothing was happening yet. I felt too good so I knew I was going to be overdue by a few days. In Germany, the doctors will let pregnancy go 10 days past due date before they induce labor.
My doctor said I was healthy and was willing to let me go the 10 days if needed. Because I wanted a natural, unmedicated labor, Brian and I felt it was best to wait until Eli was ready to come out.
I didn't focus on how many days I was overdue, I just took every day as it was and we enjoyed our time with Brian's family who came to help our new family. Brian's sister Charmian came with her husband Jon and our nephew Gabriel. A few days later Brian's mom came as well so we had a full house of wonderful helpers!
6 days after my due date on Monday morning, Brian was getting ready to go to PT at 5am and I woke up with him. I felt lite cramping every so often but didn't worry about it much. Brian woke up Charmian on his way out and she came to tell me it was time for me to shower and get ready. Brian turned right around and came home. I made breakfast and we sat around the living room as people were getting up. My contractions were not very strong and I happened to have an appointment with my doctor at 11 that morning so we went to see him. He told me that Eli was coming that day but I still had time to go home and relax.
When we got home I got in the tub and Brian and I hung out in the bathroom. The contractions started to get stronger and closer together until I realized they were 5 minutes apart. It was time to go to the hospital!
We arrived there at 3:45pm and the midwife strapped me in to monitor the contractions and baby's heartbeat.
Charmian and Brian's mom were with us supporting us through it.
Around 4:30 the midwife checked me and I was at 5 centimeters and my water broke. They showed me into my delivery room, which had a "swing", ropes, dimmed lights, aromatherapy and a CD player for us to play music if we chose to. The hospital has a tub available for women to get into to relieve some of the pressure of contractions. I got in around 5:00pm, Brian put in a Norah Jones CD, the lights were dimmed and I just relaxed and tried to breathe through the contractions. I could not have done it without Brian! He was holding me when I needed to and talking to me when I needed encouragement to relax through some strong contractions.
The midwife came to get me at 6:30 because I had to get monitored again. She said she would put me on for 30 minutes and then I could go back to the water. I had to lean on Brian sitting up because laying down was extremely uncomfortable.
It is now 6 weeks later and I am finishing this post, wow.
I kept asking to go back to the water when my doctor showed up at 7:30pm. He then told me to move to the table from the swing to make the exam more comfortable. Lo and behold, as soon as I laid on the table, the doctor said to push and 30 minutes later we welcomed Eli into his daddy's arms.
Per our wishes, Eli was handed to Brian as soon as he was born. You should have seen the look on the proud new daddy's face! I have never seen him happier, not even on our wedding day:-)
They left us to bond as a family in the room for a while and then Brian had to go home while Eli and I were moved to the maternity ward. I couldn't sleep all night, I watched Eli and made sure he was breathing (a new mom thing I guess).
