Hello Baby!

So I've disappeared for well over a month but I must say, I've got a very good reason. I finally gave birth to my baby!

It's funny how the night before I went into labour, I was wondering and telling Brett if I would know if I was in labour or not. I just figured that I would be one of those women who wouldn't know they were in labour until they went to the bathroom and the baby popped out into the toilet. Gross, I know. Before I became pregnant I had no idea that there was such a thing as false labour and true labour. I honestly thought labour was, well, labour.

The day that I went into labour, I had woken up with strong cramps/contractions but didn't think anything of it since I had been experiencing them randomly for a few days by then. At around 3pm I realized that my contractions were getting stronger and more frequent, but passed it off as a sign that I was doing too much. Around 5pm I had texted to Brett that I thought I was going through false labour, since the contractions were getting stronger but not steady enough to raise any alarms. By 7pm I had to call Brett to tell him to get his butt home cause I was definitely in labour. The pain was intense as I was getting it in my stomach like a very intense menstrual cramp, but also just as intense, if not more, in my lower back. I was a bit confused at the time cause my contractions were coming regularly at every 7 minutes, but then I would get thrown off when a random contraction came right after one ended. I would find out later that those ones were called "coupling" and is usually an indicator that something is happening (I don't want to say that it means something is wrong, but it definitely doesn't mean something is right) and that duration of labour will generally be longer. By 9pm Brett decided that we were going to head to the hospital pronto, and after a few protests that I wasn't ready to go to the hospital, the back pain became so extreme I was demanding that we head over.

26 hours, lots of nitrous oxide, some fentanyl shots, increasingly intensifying back labour (which, I had no idea existed til then), an epidural, a lot of pushing, a Code Blue being called on me, and an emergency C-section later, my beautiful son Kole was born. He was born October 2, 2008 at 2:30pm. He weighted 6lbs 4oz, and measured 48cm long. Since I was given a million due dates by several different doctors, if you go by the first ultrasound that I had, where the Russian technician claimed in his very thick accent that "baby born October 2, yes?", then Kole was born right on time.
I won't go into any more details, other than the fact that I'm glad that we are all home from the hospital and hopefully we won't have to go back for another stay.

I still can't believe that this darling little boy was growing inside of me, and it took me a few weeks to get used to the fact that he's out. I remember waking up after the C-section and feeling my stomach, only to find that it was no longer bulging out. I was a little sad that I was no longer pregnant and could no longer feel the kicking of a little human being inside my belly. I'll admit that I miss being pregnant. I think it's because of the bond I shared with my growing baby, like a secret that we had, and our conversations were through the kicking and belly rubs. If any of that made any sense.

Kole is now a little over 4 weeks old and we are both slowly getting used to each other, with Brett slowly getting used to it all in general. Kole is healthy and doing what all babies normally do at his age, he's gaining weight, eating regularly, and is in the phase of not wanting to be out of Mommy's arms...even when he's sleeping! But I should enjoy the cuddling and bonding times, cause when he gets older he's not going to want to do that with Mommy any more.

I'm also breastfeeding Kole, and hoping to keep him as a solely breastfed baby. I came close a few times to giving in and letting Brett feed him formula, just so that I could sleep a few more hours. Luckily I came to my senses in time! I do get a great feeling of pride when I breastfeed Kole, and knowing that I am doing so much for his health and for him in general. I didn't realize just how rare it is to have a solely breastfed baby, since a lot of people do give in to the formula. Breastfeeding is quite demanding, but I think the rewards and benefits far outweigh the lack of sleep and time consumption. When health professionals told me that the first month with a newborn baby was going to be spent doing nothing but sleeping and feeding, I thought it was all completely bogus and pure exaggeration. I was over confident that I would be out and about all the time, taking Kole out for walks, going shopping, sewing up a storm when Kole was sleeping, and basically doing my usual routine. Boy, was I ever wrong! Looking back at the month of October, all I did really was sleep and feed Kole. I did get out a few times...for another stay at the hospital, for doctor appointments, and for the sake of my sanity. Other than that, I was just too tired and trying to catch up on my sleep to go out. Not to mention that Kole is so unpredictable as to when he wants to feed and when he wants to throw a fuss to the point where nothing will calm him down. We're still trying to get over that one. A bonus to breastfeeding? It helps you to lose weight. Although, you have to breastfeed for 6 months before it starts to happen. I hope and plan on feeding Kole 'til he's at least a year old. Medical professionals claim that the longer you can breastfeed your baby, the better the benefits are. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Ok, so time for me to go check up on my little one...and trying to figure out how to use this blasted (aka - stupid) sling. I swear, it'll be the death of me! In closing, here's the cutest picture of Kole:
Aww...my heart is fluttering!! What a cutie!!