Jackson Thomas

Well, I never got to take that 38 week picture.  I last posted at 38 weeks and 3 days, and at 38 weeks and 4 days we went for a very long walk and I stood outside before I went to bed, faced the full moon, lifted up my shirt, and said "come on baby!"  And then on 38 weeks and 5 days I woke up at about 3am to pee (weird), and just could not get comfortable in bed.  At around 3:30 Marc woke up and asked me if everything was ok.  I was still having the same contractions I'd been having for about 2 weeks now, but they were starting to get a little uncomfortable.  Still not really painful though.  I busted out my trusty iPhone app to time these contractions, and they were about 3-5 minutes apart.  Knowing that we had a 35 minute drive to the hospital, I became very alert at that point.  I called the doctor at 4am, told her I'd been having contractions 3-5 minutes apart for about the last half hour, and she said if they continue for another half hour to go ahead and go to the hospital.  Then, I couldn't be in bed anymore.  I needed to walk around, it was not comfortable at all to lay still.  Marc got up and showered, threw our bag and the car seat in the car, we double checked our list of "to-brings" and headed to the hospital around 5am.  We called our moms on the way.  The contractions were definitely painful by the time we got to the hospital, and I had to lay in the bed on the monitor while they admitted me.  It was awful!  As soon as she was done with my admission information, I asked if I could get up and walk.  Marc and I walked the halls for about 2 hours on and off, and then I couldn't stand the pain anymore, but I wanted to make it further before my epidural.  Well, the resident came and checked me, and I was about at a 5cm!  I was still going back and forth on the epidural, but my nurse went ahead and called anesthesia.  Hmm, maybe she's done this once or twice - she was FANTASTIC!!  By the time I decided I really couldn't stand it anymore, the anesthesiologist was already there, prepping my epidural.  I was pleased that we had made this much progress and it was only 9:30am!  The women in my family tend to move quickly after 5cm, so I figured we'd have a baby sometime early afternoon.  Well, my uterus and Jackson had different plans.  Not too long after my epidural, my uterus decided to have one BIG contraction and essentially clamp down on the baby.  His heart rate dropped and 5 nurses came spilling into my room, flipped me over, put oxygen on, and checked me.  Luckily, my nurse had warned me this might happen with an epidural (did I mention she was fantastic?), so I wasn't too freaked out, but all I could hear was "her uterus is hard as a rock" and "do you want the terb?" then, "little shot in your arm here, Megan."  Then I realized what they were talking about.  They gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the monster contraction.  Here's the thing - they use terbutaline in preterm labor to stop it.  So, they essentially stopped my labor and I was at 5cm.  Aye carumba.  We waited a little while to let the baby settle down and see if my contractions would start back up.  I was having some little ones, but not really good enough ones to make progress, so E started me on some Pitocin.  Jackson wasn't too big a fan of that.  Every time she'd try to increase the pitocin, his heart rate would drop and they'd have to turn me on my side for a bit.  Luckily, no more monster contractions, but my labor was definitely slowed.  Mom got there around 10:30am, and Marc's mom got there around 2:30pm.  I was comfortable with my epidural, but it was a little lopsided.  My right leg was dead to the world and my left leg was numb, but I could still move it.  It was a weird sensation, but I was glad to not be feeling the contractions anymore.  At about 3pm I finally reached 10 and it was time to start pushing.  We pushed until 4, took a 30minute break, and then started pushing again.  And at 6:12pm, this little thing changed my life forever:

Jackson Thomas Wheeler was born on May 17, 2011 at 6:12pm.  He weighed in at 6lb 11oz and was 19 1/2in long.  And the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. 
So, how have the last 2 weeks been?  Well, the first few days were an emotional roller coaster, with the lovely hormone flux.  I cried because I was nervous to leave the hospital, I cried because I love this little man with all of my heart, I cried because I didn't want Marc to have to go back to work (even though that was 2 weeks away), I cried because I knew it would be hard for Marc, emotionally, to go back to work (yes, 2 weeks before it was necessary), I cried because I was so skinny again, I cried for no reason.  Looking back now, it was kind of comical. 

And yes, I am skinny again.  Immediately after I had Jackson, my doctor said, "Megan, where is your belly?"  It seemed to go down really quickly, even in the first couple of days in the hospital.  Apparently the weight I gained during pregnancy really was all baby.  For the most part.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still not to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm pretty close, and it's only been 2 weeks.  I know there are some of you out there that now hate me for reading that, but it really surprised me just as much.  I can't find my pictures of me right now, so I'll post those later.
Jackson's 1 week picture:

Our first Family Portrait:

And a Special thank you to Dr. F - I absolutely could NOT have done this without her!!

Happy Grandparents:

And our trip home from the hospital!

Overall, I had a wonderful experience being pregnant, Labor and Delivery wasn't too bad, and now I get to be home with this little beautiful Man every day for 12 weeks!  I thank God every day for this blessing - I can't believe how much I love him and how much more I love my Husband!  Didn't think that was possible.

Ok, so I'll be done with the mushiness for now.  I'll post more pictures soon!!