Miles William Bean!

On November 17th, 2011 we welcomed sweet little Miles William Bean into our family! He came into the world at 11:50 AM and weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. His length was 20 inches. You can stop reading now, or you can get the full story in all it's gory glory.

You have been warned.

Miles was scheduled to come into the world via elective induction on November 18th, 2011. I had Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy with my other pregnancies. Because it can come on very suddenly in the third trimester, I decided to have an induction scheduled to avoid complications.

Rick's parents planned on flying in on the afternoon before the induction (on the 17th) so they could get settled before we left. Everything was planned and ready to go!

The night of the 16th, began like any other night. I tossed and turned in bed, and whined to Rick that I needed my hips rubbed. Although I eventually drifted off, I didn't sleep for long thanks to the baby resting on my bladder.

I woke up several times in the night with an achy, crampy bladder. The sensation was similar to what it feels like when you've held your pee for too long. Yep, I told you there would be gory details!

Anyway, whenever I felt this pain, I would wake up, go pee, and go back to sleep. I was too groggy and disoriented to think anything of it.

After several trips to the bathroom, my brain finally focused enough to realize that I never use the restroom this often at night. I looked at the clock and noted that it was around 4 am. After feeling this pain a few more times, I realized I was having contractions. Because both Gwen and Fiona were induced deliveries, I didn't really know what it was like to have real contractions. Now the question was, were these contractions leading to something?

After a few more contractions, I woke up Rick and we started timing them. They were consistently 7-10 minutes apart, so we had the on-call doctor paged. Dr. Harding told me to take a warm bath, drink plenty of water, and eat some breakfast. Often, this will make contractions go away if they aren't the real thing.

We did as instructed, but the contractions we getting closer together (somewhere between every 3-7 minutes). We talked to the doctor again and she said to go to the hospital. I asked her if we should start panicking and drive recklessly like they do in the movies or if we should take our time. She said that somewhere in between would be fine.

Since Rick's parents weren't flying in until that night, I called my dear friend Susan (who fortunately wakes up early!) to come and take care of the girls. I hurried and packed a few last minute items and we were off a a little after 6 am.

Just the day before, Rick was mourning the fact that he's never gotten to race to the hospital with a wife in labor. He seems to think it is some sort of rite-of-passage. He was so excited as he speed down the street. Fortunately, the hospital is only a few miles away. Since traffic was light, I only had to endure his death-defying driving tactics for a short while. As Rick was gleefully fulfilling his manly duty of getting his wife to the hospital in record time, I was fretting the fact that there wasn't time to do my hair and makeup before we left.

As we checked into the hospital, I kept worrying that they would say it was false labor and send me home. Once I was in triage, I voiced my fears. The nurse, Dorothy, said, "Don't worry honey. You are due in a week. I'll make sure you have this baby today!"

We later learned that our doctor praises Dorothy for her ability to efficiently get women through the childbirth process. He always says, "Dorothy delivers!" Boy was he right!

As we settled into our room, I made sure there was no question about the fact that I am a pansy and that I wanted my epidural yesterday. Those that know me might remember that it took 7 pokes (and hours) to get my epidural in with Gwen. With Fiona it took 3 pokes (or was it 4?)and about 45 minutes. Anesthesiologists seem to pride themselves in a job well done. Ours was determined to get it in by the first or second try but didn't have qualms about taking FOREVER. I'm glad he set to work right away because my ability to be patient and relaxed through the contractions was wearing thin.

The epidural was perfect. I couldn't feel much pain and I had all my sensation in my legs. I was told about the special button that I can push if the contractions get too painful. Keep in mind that I wasn't told that it takes about 15 minutes for the effects of the button pushing to work. This little fact comes into play later.

Anyway, the next couple hours were a blurr of nausea, light headedness, and so forth. Because Dorothy likes to get things done, she gave me some pitocin to kick things up a notch. Eventually the nausea got so bad that I vomited, but fortunately it was only once.

The doctor came in to break my water and noted that there was some meconium in the amniotic fluid. They didn't seem too concerned, but of course I obsessed over it. I was still only dilated about 5 cm, so it seemed I would have plenty of time to worry.

Just shortly after they broke my water, I felt a little pain with a contraction. Then a little more. I told Dorothy and she asked if I wanted to push the button. I decided to wait because they weren't that bad.

Another contraction or two and my mind was changed. In tears, I told Dorothy to push the button. She pushed it for me and then I took it and pushed it a million more times in a panic. She said,"Don't worry, it will take effect in about 15 minutes."

"15 minutes?" I sobbed, "I don't have 15 minutes!"

Dorothy left to get the anesthesiologist and he came back with a shot of something to put straight in my IV. Between my tears, I told him that I didn't want any other narcotics in addition to what I already had. He explained that it was just a stronger dose of what was already in my epidural. He reassured me that it would work in just 2-3 contractions.

"I don't have 2-3 contractions! This baby feels like it's going to come out of my bum right now!"

The anesthesiologist said something about not wanting to deliver my baby and soon the room exploded with activity. Dorothy was back with the doctor in just the nick of time.

There was no time for the mirror I requested. There was no time to roll in the bucket thing to catch all of the fun birth "material". There was just time for the doctor to put on her catching gloves and get down to business.

The first push took care of the rest of the head and the second push took care of the shoulders and body.

And it hurt like crazy!

Of course, five minutes after the delivery, I suddenly couldn't feel the lower half of my body (at all) courtesy of the button and the shot that went straight into the IV. Thanks, Mr. Anesthesiologist. It took forever to wear off!

Did I mention that there was a little baby as an end result of all of this? A darling one! It was love at first sight.

I loved everything about Miles. His perfect little face, his cute little cry, and his teeny little body that didn't cause me one little tear. How considerate! I think Rick liked him too.

It was just Rick and me at the hospital, so my sweet doctor hung out a while and took pictures of us.

She even sat and talked with me a while and we both talked about how wonderful Miles was. She said he had the perfect face and was so mellow and sweet. She went on and on like she had never seen a baby before and I ate it all up.

Dr. Harding and Dorothy

Soon Susan came with the girls so that they could meet him. They oohed and ahhed over him and it was unanimous that we should most definitely keep him.

Eventually it was time to say goodbye to the girls. The nurse wanted to take Miles down to the nursery to give him a bath. I was able to muster enough feeling in my legs to make the trek. I didn't want to be separated from him for a minute!

Freshly bathed, eyes gooped up, and ready to take on the world!