our sweet baby boy is already a week old so what better time than now to recap how he became a part of lives.
on tuesday, august 9 i had a doctor's appointment. we knew going into this appointment that we would "talk about" induction with my doctor, but we were not really trying to have high expectations in case i had not progressed any in terms of my body preparing to have him. however, she immediately presented us with the option of induction on thursday, august 11 even though i had not progressed any. we made sure she thought this was really a good idea since it was not for a medical reason or emergency. the most ironic part of it all was that lee had asked his dad what he wanted for his birthday and all he said he wanted was for brendan to be born on his birthday....august 11.
the plans were made, the calls were placed to our families, family began to make their way to houston, and last minute details were taken care of as we got closer and closer to our check in time of 8pm on august 11. at 5:30, while eating our "last meal before baby" at pappasitos, i received a call and voicemail that our induction had been canceled due to an unexpected influx of women in labor. needless to say, i was devastated. preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for something like the birth of your child is quite a difficult thing to overcome when those plans are suddenly changed.
with no answers about when it would happen, we went back home, my family continued their travels into houston, and we waited until the next day to talk with my doctor and make new plans. thankfully, my doctor was able to work out some details and get us a new check in time on friday, august 12 even though it meant she would not be there to deliver brendan. after being canceled on, we were very much ok with another doctor taking care of everything if it meant seeing our son sooner rather than later and our family still being in town for his birth as well.
with our breath held all day, we were in fact able to check in and get the process started at 8pm on friday, august 12. saturday morning we woke up and the induction officially began with the start of pitocin. saturday was a very loooong day with very sloooow progress. luckily, we were making just enough progress for the doctor to continue on with everything. he broke my water sometime in the evening and within a couple of hours everything was ready to go to welcome brendan into the world.
unfortunately, my body and brendan had different ideas for just how he would enter the world than the rest of us. after pushing for an hour with little results, the doctor decided the best and safest method of delivery for brendan and myself would be a c-section. my contractions were very painful at this point, especially since brendan's shoulder continued to wedge itself into my pelvis with each contraction and i could no longer push. this period of time felt like an hour to me but lee says it only lasted about 10-15 minutes. i was moved into the operating room, drugged up, and prepped for surgery when they finally let lee rejoin me.
at 12:27am brendan jack pilgreen made his appearance. however, he was not crying at first so they had to help him clear his lungs a bit since his umbilical cord had gotten wrapped around his neck. we were both so thankful to finally hear his cry. poor lee should have an entire post to tell his side of the story because apparently brendan and i scared him half to death between his struggle clear his lungs and me having to be cut open unexpectedly.
our little boy is a fighter. he cleared his lungs out on his own enough to avoid going to the nicu, and we finally got him all to ourselves at 5:30am.
a long, long day but so incredibly worth it.
less than one hour old
one week old
i am very glad we got a picture of everyone together before they left since group pictures are few and far between when we are all together and we often just take pictures of the kids (however, i believe i picked the most unflattering pose to possibly stand in). and for laughs, we also got a picture of lee and walter holding their "baby boys".
