Charles Thomas Rosema (Charlie) arrived to the outside world on June 28, 2009, 7:47am. He was 6 lbs, 15 oz and 19.5 inches long.
We had to go get him some Gerber newborn size onesies...he had two preemie onesies he fit into, but nothing else. :)
Labor/Delivery Story:
First contraction: 2:30am. I slept another hour before the next one. Slept another half hour before #3. At this point I decided to get up and grab a bowl of cereal in case I wouldn't feel like eating and was preparing for the long haul. I also informed Chris at this point that I had had 3 and was going to get cereal. #4 at 4:20; #5 at 4:30. Chris wakes up. Between 4:30 and 5:30 I have contractions maybe 4-7 minutes apart. I also took a shower. I believe it was in the shower I went through transition. I threw up, went from cold to hot, and began feeling like I wanted to push. I kept thinking I had to go to the bathroom (#2). We call Tracy, friend and doula, to let her know I want to push and we'll be heading to the hospital. We left for the hospital about 6:20 (I labor pretty much by myself from 5:30 to 6:20 cuz Chris is packing and taking care of Bernoulli...it was slightly scary with the occasional strong urge to push, but otherwise, totally manageable on my own still). I continue to have the pushing sensation (very scary to me since we're not in the hospital yet) and contractions on the drive. I couldn't lean my seat back because of the car seat either (warning to future first time moms :). 6:45am arrive at the hospital, go up the elevator. Tracy tells me at the top that even if I am indeed pushing, to go ahead, since even the pushing stage takes a little while. So, I let loose. I feel the bottom drop out. Haha. I'm practically carried down the hall into the labor room, where, once lying down and checked, am informed that I am only 1-2 cm! I couldn't believe it, but contractions/pushing keep coming so am quickly distracted. They keep flipping me over (extremely uncomfortable) when they realize baby's heart rate is not stable and asking stupid questions repeatedly :).
Nurse realizes these don't sound like 2cm contractions... they check again... 10cm! Apparently, the 2cm was my poor baby's butt hole! :( So, they discovered he's breech. They give me some injection to slow me down since the doctor needs time to get there. They also decide to take me back and prep me for a c-section. I received an epidural at this point for the c-section possibility (shot itself wasn't painful as expected, but them crunching my legs up in order to do the shot was very painful). I would not have chosen the epidural, but wasn't given a choice in the matter since this was prep for c-section. I was so thankful for the epidural at this point since no one told me I could push to get the baby out; I knew it was going to be awhile... anywho. Doctor arrived and told us c-section or we had to sign off on some high-risk delivery waiver. We heard high-risk and went with c-section. Apparently, baby's heart had stabalized, so maybe we could have still done vaginal birth, but we didn't (and still don't) know much about the risk factor with breech. In retrospect, the decision made was good for our knowledge. But it was none-the-less unfortunate because we were so close to having the much desired natural childbirth and more so because the c-section recovery was extremely painful! Definitely the most pain I've ever experienced (really bad for about a week, was off pain meds by 10 days, occasional soreness and/or pain for another week, dull occasional pain now).
Our precious boy is now here though. My mom stayed with us 2 weeks, then Chris' mom for a week. We would have been lost and on edge for sure if they had not been here. They were here as Charlie adjusted his sleeping schedule which was huge since we both were so sleep deprived and adjusting our ideals for parenting already (ex: pacifier) with the arrival of our new reality.
I turned to the Lord like (almost) never before in those first 2 weeks. I was comforted knowing He would sustain me through all I was dealing with. Chris was so tender to me as well. He even washed my feet one evening as I was balling and nursing Charlie in pain. True act of servanthood in that moment; it was just what I needed. I love that man. I think we both were also surprised at how much we felt our love grow for one another through the experience of our first weeks.
