Oh baby!

More for my memory rather than for your interest, I want to tell the story of Jackson's birth. I had been on bedrest for over 2 weeks because of some high blood pressure, and was very excited when we were told that we would be induced on Monday night (July 27th) at 8pm. We were supposed to call the hospital an hour before we went in to make sure they had room for me. They didn't. They told me to call back in 2 hours - lets just say tears were involved at that point! It had been a nerve-wracking weekend in anticipation of that moment, and now I had to wait some more. We called again at 9, and they told us to call back in another hour. We called back at 10, and they finally told us to come in. My brother insisted that he wanted to be there for the whole thing, despite my warnings that it would be long and boring. So Dustin, Mark and I After putting in my IV (worst thing ever invented) They gave me a pill when I got there and then again 4 hours later that dissolved on the inside of my lip. It was supposed to start contractions artificially in the hopes that my own would begin soon. We soon came to realize that I was very sensitive to this drug, and was experiencing very painful contractions very quickly. I was given my epidural at 2 in the morning (a life saver eventually, but I wanted to DIE when they were putting it in - remember: I HATE all things dr, hospital, etc), and we found that once the drug kicked in, so did my own contractions. In fact, they were so strong that the Doctor ordered that I be given a shot to slow the contractions so we could wait for me to become more dialated. Soon, though, the contractions were too slow, and I was given Pitocin.
My mom and dad came to join the party in the morning, and we spent the day waiting. Ok, they spent the day waiting, I spent the day switching from one side to another (with the help of nurses and Dustin, since I couldn't feel my lower half) to try to get the baby in a better position. Oh, and once the nurse accidently turned my epidural medicine off, and we didn't realize it until the contractions hurt so bad I couldn't stand it. That was really fun.
When it finally came time to push, the doctor said wait 45 more minutes. I KNEW Jackson was ready then, but we waited anyway. It may have been a good decision, because I only had to push through 4 contractions.
Jackson wasn't born until 8:30 pm on Tuesday, July 28th. It was 22 hours of labor, and so worth it. We couldn't be happier. Dustin was an angel throughout, and so were our sweet families. The Carruths. We're a party of 3 now!

My angel on his Bilibed. Jackson is a little jaundiced, but we are going to get him tested again today, and we hope he can be off his bilibed. It's no fun. My mom and dad both spent a night here while he was on the bed to help out and give Dustin and I a full night's rest.

Dustin and his little buddy. It may be my favorite part of being a mommy - watching my baby and his daddy.