The Beginning...Days 1 & 2

OK...I feel like it's not fair if I don't include how we got to day 3.  It started when I got home from work on Wednesday around 5:30 and Courtney was already home.  Not normal.  She said that something just didn't feel right so she came home.  Not normal but not too telling either.  We ordered Chinese food and tried to watch a movie but pausing every 10 minutes for bathroom breaks makes that difficult.  Around 9:30-10 PM some pain and contractions began but I thought it was a warm up for next week.  Midnight came and things got real.  I made a quick list of things not to forget and took turns gathering them and rubbing Courtney's back during each contraction.
At 12:30 things were really real.  She suggested we go so I called the hospital and they confirmed 3 minutes apart was close enough for us to come in.  As I continued to pack in between contractions, and we get ready to leave, Courtney's water breaks around 1.  We head out immediately following that and arrive at the hospital around 1:30.  She was 5 1/2 cm.  To make a short story shorter, she had contractions until 3:30, pushed for 45 minutes and delivered George at 4:15 am(without any medication of any kind) on February 7th, 2013.

Exactly as we had hoped but didn't think it would actually happen that way.  Lucky for us, it did.

The hospital was big on skin to skin contact for the first hour and a half of life while mom nurses and they exchange good vibes.  George latched on immediately and hasn't stopped eating since.  He eats a lot.  I wasn't going to cut the cord but the nurse basically called me out so I did.  I'm glad I did.  After an hour and a half of skin to skin, they weighed and measured George.

8 lbs 9 ozs    20 1/4 inches long
14 1/4 Head

I added in the head measurement because the nurses laughed while measuring.  It's substantial but fits his body.  He's a pretty big dude in general.  After that they took some foot prints, wrapped the placenta, and we were on our way. 

I did go back to move the car and gather our belongings for the next few days.  I remembered everything on the list but my bag of course.  That's fine.  My good friend Paul brought me some of his clothes the next morning and we weren't there very long any how. 

At this point we were moved out of the delivery room(which was nice!) to a more hospital feeling room(not nearly as comfortable but not bad).  We never left George once throughout any of it which was nice.  And they never took him from us.  I should mention Marcia.  Marcia was the nurse from our check-in through delivery.  She was amazing and I think made the whole thing possible.  It seems as though nurses should be making the big bucks(sorry Dad!).  The Doctor's were great as well but were not in the room very long.  Marcia kicked ass.   

Now we're alone in our room with a baby!  People are in and out continuously checking Courtney and George for everything and anything.  Thank God everything continued to be fine.  Courtney did almost pass out earlier in the delivery room.  An hour and a half after delivery she went to use the bathroom.  Everything was OK but as she was about to sit back down in the wheelchair to be transferred to the next room she lost it and almost passed out.  I was holding George and was facing the other direction, helpless.  Thank God for Marcia.  Marcia grabbed and wrapped Courtney up and landed her safely in the wheelchair. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. 

Hours go by and Thursday morning begins.  Our first visitors were our friends Pete and Erica.  Erica is a Doula and was there to gather the placenta for encapsulation.  The rest of the day was filled with staring at George, a lot more visitors, texting, taking pictures, emailing pictures, more visitors, more staring at and caring for George, not eating, not resting, more visitors, staring at George, exhaustion, and unparalleled excitement.

Thursday night arrives and George is pissed.  Courtney and I have had zero sleep and should have spent more time resting earlier in the day. We didn't and now we would pay.  Oh well, up most of the night figuring out parenting is something we might as well get used to.  Friday morning came soon enough and eventually we would be on our way home.  A few important things to take care of first.  It worked out that as he was being taken away for his circumcision, I had to go downstairs to have the car seat installed.  I'm grateful for this.  Courtney said when they brought him back from his circumcision he was, understandably, VERY upset.  By the time I returned he was sleeping comfortably and I was able to pretend it never happened.  A few hours later we were on our way home.  Exactly 36 hours after we arrived.  Not bad!!

Friday night our friends Paul and his daughter Averie, and Cody and Jessa came to visit with plenty of pizza to last us for a bit.