My title picture is no loger accurate.

Teague's birth story:

On Sunday (January 2nd) night, my water broke. It was soooo strange. It was 7:15 or so, and there was a pretty wet secretion that I ignored at first, and shoved to the back of my mind as a minor suspicion because jeez, I'm always wet and gooey when I'm pregnant.But it didn't stop, and the spurts kept getting bigger. So, we called my friend to come watch my kids, and my doc said go straight to L&D.

I also called my dad to come and pick the kids up- they stayed with my parents during this whole thing, and my dad's an hour away, so my friend came over for awhile.

I have to admit, having my water break was kind of nice. I wasn't having contractions, so other than just kind of feeling like a 2 year old with a 5 day old wet soggy diaper on, I felt fine and was able to pack extra things for my kids, organize and make sure everyone was taken care of and comfortable with the situation.

I was wearing a pad, so I thought things were okay- until at about 8:30, which is when we got to the hospital, I got out of the car and when I stood up, my water gushed and my pants were wet all the way down to the knees. It was SOOOOOO GROSS! LOL. (remember, I've never had my water break- I was always in immediate pain and hard fast labor- I've never understood the whole idea of "did I pee or did my water break?" I thought, how could you NOT know? But it's an experience worth the question. LOL.)

I got into a room with a gown on, all the while leaving puddles as I went. Ewww.At 8:30, they checked me and I was 4 1/2 cm 70% effaced. My doc said they would give me 2 hours to see if contractions started or if I progressed at all, if not, they'd give me pitocin. In the mean time, they filled me up with saline drip and I signed stuff for my epidural.

At 11:00, I was given pitocin because labor hadn't started and I hadn't progressed, so I also got my epidural. (There is a completely different vent I could write about the dumb epi guy...but that's another story.)

YES! It was SUPREMELY AWESOME to go through my ENTIRE birth experience without an ounce of pain at all because I DIDN'T FEEL A SINGLE CONTRACTION!!! LOL.The monitor didn't actually show any contractions until about midnight.

I told my nurses that once it started, I would go fast. They were really awesome- two cute things named Mindy (both of them) and were just sweet as anything.

They came in at 1:00 though, because my baby was having what they called "lasts". His heart rate would dip with a contraction, but then not elevate all the way back up once the contraction was over. They had me change sides I was laying on and gave me oxygen. They didn't check me because "they had an hour ago, and I was still at a 4 1/2"....It really freaked me out because I've never had anything liek that happen. And honestly, I was getting impatient. Having already been at the hospital for more hours than any of my other babies took to be born, I was worried that something was wrong.

Well, at 2:15, they checked me and I was complete. The nurses laughed and were like "You weren't kidding when you said you'd go fast!" LOL. They said the "lasts" were, instead of the baby laying on the cord as it usually is, caused by the baby descending. It's really normal

SO they prepped me for pushing. My doc showed up and they said "We're going to do a few practice pushes just to see how you'll do." - I sat up and they both screamed "STOPPPP!!!" One of the nurses couldn't stop giggling. She was like "Wow!!! If you feel anything, DON'T PUSH!!"

When Doc got there, I pushed 2 times, but only because Teague had the cord around his neck and it had to be slipped off.

Apparently, my doctor was very impressed by his cord- which was HUGE and blue and spirally and awesome looking, and the first words out of my mouth were "He is so FAT!!!!" LOL.

I have no tears or cuts!!! YAY!!!I got to hold him for nearly a half hour before they took him to weigh him. He scored 10 on the apgar test, has amazing lungs (cries "maaa-maa" instead of "waaa-waaa" though...but I don't know if that means anything.) and he weights 8 POUNDS 3 OUNCES!!!!! That is HUGE for me- my others were 7.7 (lilly) 6.0 (Mahone) and 6.14 (Scarlet) LOL. He's 21 1/2 inches long, and he has looooots of blond hair. We can't quite tell what color his eyes are yet. They have adjusted several times. They might be brown, or they might be very dark blue.

My doctor, after delivering didn't even give me a chance to gloat about knowing all along. He said to the nurses: "She told me so! I should have listened! You said you wouldn't make it to your next appointment, let alone your induction date."

Maybe I will give him another chance the next time around now that he knows I mean business. LOL.

Teague is a champion nurser- LOVES to nurse...but the contractions I'm getting from nursing are furious and extremely painful. I have had to put him down a few times because I can't hold him with the pain. OOOOOOH I hope it stops soon!!!


Oh- and FTR, I ate a butt load of those ginger "break your water/jump start your labor" cookies on Saturday afternoon....in case anyone wants to try it. They're YUMMMMMMMY and can't hurt. I don't know if they are the culprit for my labor or not. But it was fun to try. I will be making the cookies anyway- even when i'm not pregnant. Recipe:

2 1/2 c. flour1 1/2 t. baking soda3/4 t. cinnamon1 t. ground ginger 1/2 t. ground cloves1/2 t. salt1/2 t. cayenne pepper 8 T. butter1/2 c. sugar1 c. brown sugar1/3 c. molasses1/4 c. egg whitesPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and spices and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the molasses to the creamed butter, then add the egg whites until combined. Addd the dry ingredients slowly. Once incorporated, roll dough into 1 inch balls and place onto baking tray. Bake 8-10 minutes.