9 Hours and Counting...

Carrie's around 6cm now. I've been advised by her that if I wish to eat dinner, now would be a good time to do it.

She's taking things in stride, though I can tell it's wearing her out. They put her on oxygen, mainly as a precaution and to supplement. Lawson's heart rate drops when she has a contraction, so they think he's being compressed somewhat.

To alleviate that somewhat, they had her on her knees, lifting her back up and down. I left the room to get a coffee while the nurse was checking her, and came back in to doggie-style pushups. Good times.

So far, no concerns regarding the heart rate. The guess is that his head may be a little close, or the cord may be coming across his chest. Carrie is the ONLY patient here in labor, so she's definitely got the full attention of the staff. That's a good thing. :)

I'm off to dinner. Trying to think of something she doesn't like to eat so I don't feel guilty. LJS?

4:15pm update...

So the epidural is in place, and starting to work its magic.



She's probably texting away to one of you, or perhaps updating stuff on her Facebook. Amazing, this technology that lets us keep you all up to speed without 200 annoying phone calls :-).

They just did a check on her cervix, and she's 4.5 - 5 cm now. Could still be delivering around 7pm. We will find out soon, I hope.

No More George Jones Songs in My Titles

So the Potosin is up to 14 mL/hr, and they came and broke her water about 10 minutes ago. She's definitely feeling the change in things, as shown by the "oooooh" faces and the squirming.


Looks like we're getting close to epidural time.

She's still keeping a tough face. The nurse was guestimating around 7pm for a delivery time, but she's wincing on that now. Carrie's ranking her pain about a 7.5 on a ten scale.


My gum lost it's flavor. That's my big issue thus far.


She's holding out as long as she can on the epidural, to keep things moving along. She's doing great so far. I love this woman.

Uterus Ache, Comin' to the Inside...

Just got back from lunch (cafeteria is closed on the weekend), and the contractions are a bit closer, but nothing to write home about. Just to write blog about.

She's swapped from newspaper to cell phone (talking about Carrie, not a puppy). As of 1:00pm, she's trying to take a nap, so I'm typing quietly. Hopefully, she can rest up for the big game.

Pride in the Back Stretch...

What; me worry?

The contactions are getting a little closer together, but she's taking it in stride... so far. I have to remember that with Layla, we started things a lot earlier. Relatively, this is way early in the game.

"Huddle House has macaroni and cheese wedges. It's like they took macaroni and cheese, breaded it and fried it. It actually sounds pretty good," Carrie says. Naw, no pregnancy cravings, doctor; why do you ask?

And the Race is On...

We're here at Southeast Hospital, and in our room (255). Things are going smoothly so far, with Carrie strapped into the fetal heart rate monitor and bloodwork done. They have a tube running for the something, and another for something else, and a nurse is here now to get the IV started. Carrie has sneaky veins, as they have discovered, so it's taking a little bit to get the IV in. She has a few holes in her now. For whatever reason, she says it hurts less when she is watching. I guess that's how the wedding worked, too. ;)

The first nurse said we're shooting for 7pm, which would be swell. Typically, vaginal births stay in for two days, so we'll be here on the 4th. When we got here this morning, we asked if they had a room that had a window view towards Arena Park so we could see the fireworks. Yeah, we're a little shallow, but hey, if you're paying for a suite and there's no hot tub, at least get a room with a view, right? That, and I've always loved the 4th and have been hyped about the timeliness of the birth for a while (since, oh, I dunno; Thanksgiving...).

Layla might be rousing now. It's close to 10am, and Carrie's dad, David, is at our house waiting for her to wake. They're spending the day over at their house, and I'm sure Layla will play the time away. The plan is to bring her up tonight after Lawson is born, so she can meet her baby brother. No sense in freaking her out with Mommy in tubes and monitors everywhere.

Still trying to find a vein for the IV. Damn you, sneaky veins.

No real data on how dialated she was coming in this morning, but Thursday she was around 2-3cm, so chances are she was close to that. Once the Potosin kicks in, the ole' cervix should start cooperating.

I'm set up in my media center/man-man corner, with a Sunday paper, camera, video camera, laptop and phone. I conceded the remote control to Carrie (the TV is over my head anyway). More updates to come!

24 hours...

We head to Southeast Hospital tomorrow at 0900 to get the wheels spinning on the birth of my son, our son. I am excited, Carrie is getting the butterflies I think. I can't imagine what's going through her head, realistically. It's like preparing for surgery, essentially, and mentally, that's pretty taxing.

I have a gig tonight in Bloomfield, and it's going to be hotter than hell. I have to get the bar into the garage, move our bed to that room and put together his crib. That's the minimal stuff for the rest of the day before I have to head south.

So, with that in mind, I better get back to work. I will be posting a lot of updates tomorrow here and on Facebook, so stay tuned for the saga of the Lawson.
D