Yesterday marked my 37th week of pregnancy, which means the baby is considered full term. If it were comfortable to jump up and down right now to express my excitement over this fact, I would! Since I could feasibly go into labor anytime now (tomorrow would be good, I think!) I thought I should share the tale of Benjamin's birth, for posterity reasons. Since the time span from which I started contractions to the moment he entered the world lasted 55 hours, I will give the condensed version. You can thank me later.
Benjamin was due on August 6, 2008. We were in the middle of a sizable remodel (think major renovations to the kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as a nursery of course) and both Nathan and I were anxious to get the house back to usable condition before the baby arrived. The floor started getting layed down about 10 days before my due date and the counter tops were almost ready to be installed, which would have allowed us to have a functional kitchen again (kind of important to me at the time). If only we had made it to my due date.
Aside from the house, there were two things that were very important to me to complete before Benjamin arrived. The construction of the nursery was vital, but I really wanted the decor to be complete as well. On Sunday, the 27th of July, my brother-in-law, Travis, helped me hang the art on the walls, painted cabinet doors, made and installed Benjamin's name sign, and completed all my "honey-do's" for that room. His help with this project was truly invaluable to me, as my nesting instint was kicked into high gear at that point. The other task that was crucial to get done before the birth was our pregnacy portraits. Again, Travis came to the rescue and that same evening he spent a couple of hours documenting this special time in our lives. After the photo shoot was over, Nathan and I grabbed some dinner and headed home to get some sleep. Just before climbing into bed, my contractions started. God truly was kind enough to let me check my to-do items off my list before labor began. :)
The contractions were mild, so I got some sporadic sleep that night. I continued on with my normal activities Monday, even doing errands such as picking up sink faucets and getting the pictures from our shoot developed. By Monday evening, the contractions were getting stronger and sleep was proving to be impossible. I was trying to avoid my bed so Nathan could get some sleep, but other than the now-completed nursery, there was no other place to be in the house, since all of our furniture was covered up outside (remember the remodel?) I tried to get comfortable in Benjamin's rocking chair, but finally decided on a warm bath. After trying to relax for a bit in the tub, my nesting instinct took over again and I scrubbed the bathroom clean in between contractions (no joke!). I figured I wouldn't want to clean it when I got home from the hospital and I knew we would have a lot of guests in the house. Yes, I'm a little neurotic.
At 4 a.m. Nathan gave up trying to sleep and figured that since we would be heading to the hospital soon, he better get the bar sink installed before we left, since the granite guys would be at the house that week to put our counters in. So while I showered and did my hair and make-up to get ready to leave for the hospital (yes, make-up) he hammered, drilled, and did whatever else was required to get our new sink in, all at four in the morning. Now my story of cleaning the bathroom doesn't seem so crazy, does it?
We headed to the hospital about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. Remember, I had been having contractions since late Sunday evening. At this point, I was in considerable pain. We checked in and my initial exam showed me only 3 cm dilated. I lasted until about 11 a.m. before requesting an epidural, which brought immmediate relief. After a little sleep and a very long wait, I was finally completely dilated and ready to push around 1:30 a.m. At 4:02, Benjamin Allen Hasch was born. Everyone in the room, including both grandmothers and sister-in-law Laura, who was our photographer of the big event, was exhausted (but none more than me, I'm sure!) Our baby was warmed up, weighed, measured, and given a clean bill of health before he was placed in my arms for a nice long nap, which Nathan and I decided would be good for us too. We left the hospital the next day, heading home to start our new life as a family of three.
And very soon, we will repeat the whole thing again, this time becoming a family of four. Hopefully it will be just a wee bit shorter process this time. :)
Benjamin was due on August 6, 2008. We were in the middle of a sizable remodel (think major renovations to the kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as a nursery of course) and both Nathan and I were anxious to get the house back to usable condition before the baby arrived. The floor started getting layed down about 10 days before my due date and the counter tops were almost ready to be installed, which would have allowed us to have a functional kitchen again (kind of important to me at the time). If only we had made it to my due date.
Aside from the house, there were two things that were very important to me to complete before Benjamin arrived. The construction of the nursery was vital, but I really wanted the decor to be complete as well. On Sunday, the 27th of July, my brother-in-law, Travis, helped me hang the art on the walls, painted cabinet doors, made and installed Benjamin's name sign, and completed all my "honey-do's" for that room. His help with this project was truly invaluable to me, as my nesting instint was kicked into high gear at that point. The other task that was crucial to get done before the birth was our pregnacy portraits. Again, Travis came to the rescue and that same evening he spent a couple of hours documenting this special time in our lives. After the photo shoot was over, Nathan and I grabbed some dinner and headed home to get some sleep. Just before climbing into bed, my contractions started. God truly was kind enough to let me check my to-do items off my list before labor began. :)
The contractions were mild, so I got some sporadic sleep that night. I continued on with my normal activities Monday, even doing errands such as picking up sink faucets and getting the pictures from our shoot developed. By Monday evening, the contractions were getting stronger and sleep was proving to be impossible. I was trying to avoid my bed so Nathan could get some sleep, but other than the now-completed nursery, there was no other place to be in the house, since all of our furniture was covered up outside (remember the remodel?) I tried to get comfortable in Benjamin's rocking chair, but finally decided on a warm bath. After trying to relax for a bit in the tub, my nesting instinct took over again and I scrubbed the bathroom clean in between contractions (no joke!). I figured I wouldn't want to clean it when I got home from the hospital and I knew we would have a lot of guests in the house. Yes, I'm a little neurotic.
At 4 a.m. Nathan gave up trying to sleep and figured that since we would be heading to the hospital soon, he better get the bar sink installed before we left, since the granite guys would be at the house that week to put our counters in. So while I showered and did my hair and make-up to get ready to leave for the hospital (yes, make-up) he hammered, drilled, and did whatever else was required to get our new sink in, all at four in the morning. Now my story of cleaning the bathroom doesn't seem so crazy, does it?
We headed to the hospital about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. Remember, I had been having contractions since late Sunday evening. At this point, I was in considerable pain. We checked in and my initial exam showed me only 3 cm dilated. I lasted until about 11 a.m. before requesting an epidural, which brought immmediate relief. After a little sleep and a very long wait, I was finally completely dilated and ready to push around 1:30 a.m. At 4:02, Benjamin Allen Hasch was born. Everyone in the room, including both grandmothers and sister-in-law Laura, who was our photographer of the big event, was exhausted (but none more than me, I'm sure!) Our baby was warmed up, weighed, measured, and given a clean bill of health before he was placed in my arms for a nice long nap, which Nathan and I decided would be good for us too. We left the hospital the next day, heading home to start our new life as a family of three.
And very soon, we will repeat the whole thing again, this time becoming a family of four. Hopefully it will be just a wee bit shorter process this time. :)
Comments
Post a Comment