Game On

Five days later and here we are back at the hospital. Sara and I spent the weekend doing all we could to get this baby to come on her own. She was scheduled to be induced tomorrow (10/25) but we had a feeling the baby would be here early. As I woke up for work Sara, this time with a far lesser zombie-like tone, let me know she'd been having contractions for quite a while. Because of heavier than normal traffic due to the very dense fog that has enveloped the DFW, we decided to come a little earlier than we otherwise would have. When we left, the contractions were about 6 minutes apart.

Because of the fog and traffic, it took twice as long to get here as it did last week. A few patches of fog were so thick we couldn't see more than 300 or 400 feet. We're back in the same room and with the same nurses as before and we're ready to roll. Still not very far along but we will provide some updates throughout the morning. We both think it's going to be a while until things get going. But, since Sara is now 39 weeks, 3 days along, they should be administering pitocin if this baby doesn't start coming on her own. Finally, I must state for the record that I am live blogging Sara's labor at her request and not because of any disinterest in Sara, her pregnancy or the baby.

8:49 am. Big news! I just had a fantastic breakfast here from the hospital cafeteria. I ate from the comfort of a rockingchair while Sara walked laps around the room. Watching her is making me tired though. Man, this is rough.

12:33 pm. Still waiting. Sara's contractions have been all over the map. Looks like they may have to bring in the pitocin. Her midwife (no we're not hippies!) will be here shortly. It seems like the nurses are trying to pressure us and let things happen naturally. Sara says that's not going to happen. We shall see who wins this battle of wills!

1:11 pm. Sara's contractions have begun to be stronger and more frequent. Her midwife (we're still not hippies) said she's dilated 5 cm and should be ready to go soon. They're about to draw bllod and then give her an IV and will be administering pitocin here very shortly. With Porter, it took several hours after the pitocin before he was born. We suspect it will go faster, but at this point who knows!?! Also, I just hit up Del Taco for some cheap Mexican fastfood. No zombies seen...yet.

1:53 pm. After a very eventful 3 attempts, the IV was finally put in (Sara has "special" veins) and the pitocin is just now being connected to the IV. I'll keep you posted on any further developments. Sara is ready for an epidural, but is going to wait until she's in a little more pain-right now she says it's mostly just discomfort and tightness. I thought I heard a zombie but then I realized it was just my stomach post-Spicy Jack Chicken Quesadilla.

4:04 pm. Things are going a bit quicker now. Sara is ready to get the show on the road!

4:35 pm. Contractions are now 2 minutes apart and stronger than they've ever been. Should be getting the epidural here soon.

5:03 pm. Waiting in the waiting room-they made me leave for sara's epideral.

5:27 pm. Procedure went well. I'm not saying that they replaced Sara with some type of cyborg duplicate, but I also haven't ruled it out yet. On a related note, I forgot my sharpie that I was going to use to mark the baby's head with a mark only I would recognize. Dang it.

5:38 pm. They just broke Sara's water-which I missed. [Stupid quesadilla!] She's at 6-7 cm. Could go quickly, but it seems like it'll still be a while until it's time to push. They're going to check on her every 15 minutes. Here's to hoping this baby is ready to go soon!!!

6:30 pm. Just upped her dosage to get things going quicker. Sara is completely numb now and ready to go.

6:56 pm. Onto nurse #2. Kelly is quite peppy. Maybe a bit too peppy.

7:25 pm. All of the sudden Sara feels like she needs to push. Here we go.

7:34 pm. Born after 2 pushes. Waiting on stats.

7:44 pm. 9 lbs, 8 oz; 22 inches total

8:04 pm. Started nursing immediately. Seriously. Latched on in less than 1 second.

We will have pictures of Myra Staley Oblad up later this evening, probably around 10 pm central time. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.