Welcome to the World

Last Saturday, I woke up and had a strange feeling. My first thought was: Hmmm, wait a minute, was that a contraction? When it was followed by a steady succession, I tried the old drinking water, laying on my left side, taking a Tylenol trick. They slowed to 15 minutes or so apart and I called the doctor just to let them know. He figured I was okay and that if they got close together to go ahead and come in. I was positive all was fine, and to be honest it didn't stress me out a bit.
When they kicked in again, Corey and I headed down just to be safe. Again, I was calm and SO sure we weren't going to have a baby that day. The doctor checked me out, said my cervix had thinned, but he thought I'd likely go at least another 1-2 weeks. Even if you are having contractions, they have meds that will stop it, right?
First try: They gave me a shot of Turbutaline, the first thing they try to stop em. The nurse told me they'd stay away for at least an hour, maybe two. They were back in 45 minutes. They tried this again, and they were only gone for about 40 minutes. I started worrying a little more. Hmmm, now what?
Second try: A magnesium sulfate drip. There's a reason this isn't the first thing they try. It involves an IV, and is not pleasant stuff. Anyone who's had it will tell you. They gave me some with Asher too, but was knocked out from the general anesthesia, so I didn't remember it much. It's job is to knock em dead. By this time, it slowed them, but they were persistent and kept right on coming anyway. I started worrying now that I might be having a baby that night after all.
So, the doctor gave up since my contractions were more stubborn than the drugs were strong. I had totally planned on having another C-section, but the doctor thought I should consider doing it the old fashioned way, so we decided to go for it after all. The first thing I asked for was my epidural. I've heard too many stories about people missing the "window" and I wasn't interested in a natural birth. Getting them here is hard enough for us, so excessive pain doesn't intrigue me much.
To my surprise, it wasn't too bad, and I only had to push for 30 minutes or so. Corey was a real champ through all of this. After all of our deliveries, he has become a pro at rolling with the punches, but he's never been able to be present for a live birth, so this was such an amazing experience for us. He was so sweet, cheering me along and telling me how great I was doing...it makes me get teary eyed just thinking about it. We just haven't had the normal experiences with this stuff at all, and this will be a memory I will always cherish.
Just after 2 am on Sunday, our Beckett came out crying, relieving me at least a little. They held him up so we could see him, then whisked him through a door to the NICU. We found out later he was 5 lbs. 5 oz., 19 1/4 inches long, a big boy for his "age." I shudder to think what he might have weighed if I'd gone full term. He has a fair amount of hair, and pretty chubby cheeks for a preemie.
So, I am now a milk pumping machine, making my special deliveries a couple times a day to the hospital. Me and my pump are good pals, day and night. We are looking forward to bringing Beckett home, and we are hoping for 4 weeks or less. The nurses call little guys like ours "Wimpy White Boys." Apparently caucasian males are the weakest and take the longest to mature (for the record, girls do amazingly well, ...no surprise there!). At 33 weeks, his biggest issue is breathing on his own, which he does, but needs help and machines to make sure he doesn't forget. He's gone from the C-PAP machine to a nasal canula, but his heart rate still drops sometimes which totally freaks me out. They're feeding him through a tube and he's doing well with that so far. All things considered, it's going well.

Asher won't officially meet him until he comes home because he's under 10 and its RSV season, so they are VERY strict. He's a little confused, but we are hoping some pictures will suffice for now. Can't wait for him to come home!

Welcome to the world Beckett Andrew Reitz!