2 Dogs, a Baby Make Five: Nathaniel Philip Hahm is Here

Stats: Sept 30th at 11:13pm, 8 lbs 7 ozs, 21 inches long.

First of all, I know I haven't been all that communicative... it has just been quite exhausting so keeping in touch has proven a little difficult for me. I hope everyone knows I am thankful for their concerns and congrats, etc. I am surrounded by a lot of people who apparently care about me ;) I haven't felt more loved! THANKS!!!

Well, as you can guess by my lack of blogging Baby Hahm has arrived. Baby Hahm is know Baby Nate :) We decided on Nathaniel 'Nate' Philip Hahm. We chose Philip as a middle name because that is both Kevin and his dad's middle name so we carried on the tradition.

Here is a quick summary of a VERY eventful day (s)... I'll blog more details as I have time of course!

I woke up around 6am Sept 30th to feed the dogs. While making a usual pit stop while the dogs were eating (using the bathroom) my water broke. I wasn't quite sure, but then I was pretty sure after the next 15 minutes. Kevin and I gathered ourselves and stuff and headed to the hospital. Upon arriving we checked in (our pre registration wasn't there for some reason so we had to sit through a re registration... my anxiety levels rising and rising). We were then moved to labor and delivery.

Unfortunately, besides my water breaking I had ZERO other signs of labor. I was basically starting labor from scratch (no dilation, only minor minor inconsistent contractions). Once the doctor confirmed that indeed my water did break they started to induce me. This meant I was pumped full of pitocin to get contractions and everything else started. I got an epidural pretty quickly so that I could handle the intense contractions that were being created. As most of you know I was VERY scared to get an epidural. It turned out not to be as bad as I had built up in my mind. Although the thought of something in my spine is still very very weird.

By this time I had an epidural, an IV for fluids, a catheter all sticking out of me... I looked like an experiment beginning to start. After hours I was only making slight progress so they kept increasing the pitocin levels. This in turn made for more and more intense contractions. After HOURS of not a lot of progress they decided to put an internal contraction monitor in me to get an accurate reading of my contractions. Apparently, the external monitors read a little higher sometimes. This was indeed the case. So they up'd the pitocin again. At this point I was having contractions every 2 minutes at a fairly intense level. More and more time passed. I was dilating... good news. I got to about 6cm and my cervix started to swell. You don't want this because now the baby's head can't get by the swelling. Baby Hahm was ramming (literally) ramming his head into my pelvic region causing the swelling. He wasn't going to fit :( At this point (12 -13 hours later) it was determined I needed a c section.

As I was rolled down the hall (completely freaking out and scared) it all became a blur. The lights and stuff in the operating room were bright and everyone was around just doing room prep. I can remember them counting the surgical instruments and verbally stating what drugs were going in me. Kevin showed up sometime after they completely numbed my lower half... WOW is that a weird feeling. I could feel the pin pricks by my neck, I could only feel a dullness in my upper stomach and then Nothing below that ....it was like I didn't have legs or feet. I had to hold my arms out to the side. The worst part was how dry my mouth was - it was the driest it had ever been in my life. I said like 500 times to the anesthesiologist that 'my mouth was dry and I'm so thirsty'

After a tiny bit I felt a pretty good amount of pressure and then I heard crying (11:13pm). Kevin followed Baby Hahm at this point. Baby Hahm got a 9 apgar rating so that was great - he was super healthy. His head was a bit dented due to the ramming from the contractions earlier. I remember saying something (in my groggy state) about getting ripped off because c section babies were supposed to have perfect heads :) While I was getting all put back together Kevin went and did all the initial stuff with the baby, weighing, etc. I know it was hard for him to leave me behind in the OR, but he knew I wanted him to be with the baby.

I was then rolled back to my room - most of which I don't remember. It is weird that you are fully conscious and stuff but still don't remember things because of exhaustion and stress and all the chemicals in you (none of which were narcotics because I didn't want any in case they made the baby sluggish). I then spent the next few days in the hospital completely sore and immobile. Wow, does surgery and HOURs of labor take a toll on you.

Well, that is enough for now.... we went home around 11pm Monday Oct. 3rd. instead of waiting until Tues. Being home (and gimpy) has proven to be an adventure itself .... more on that later.

I'm just excited to have our little family. I do feel blessed in every way for my little guy - It has been a lot harder and full of unexpected things than I imagined, but when I hold him it does help me get over these hurdles. I love Nathaniel in every unexplained way possible.

Here are a myriad of pictures (of course more pics to come)