billy boy! <3 <3 <3
introducing mr. william mako fusaro!
3/25/11, 7:14 a.m., 7lb13oz, 19.7 inches long
so, i went to bed at around 11:15 the night before my due date feeling like there was no way i'd be having a baby soon. i just felt much too normal, y'know? i'd watched american idol and written my recap. i knew i was due the next day, but i figured i still had a few days to go, especially with what you hear about first babies usually coming a little late.
well, 15 minutes later my water broke dramatically all over my bed. uh, okay! i always assumed i'd start having contractions before my water broke, so i wasn't entirely sure what to do, ha. i called the hospital and the doctor on call said i could wait at home or come in then, but i should definitely come in within the next 3-4 hours.
i wasn't feeling any contractions yet, so i figured i'd chill at home for a while. my mom and scott were both freaking out a little, but i felt pretty calm. i took a quick shower and when i was getting out i felt what i thought was my first contraction. it was a little uncomfortable, but no big deal, and i still figured i'd wait to go to the hospital.
well, i quickly realized that my contractions were already coming about five minutes apart, so we decided to go ahead and head out to the hospital. we arrived around 1 a.m. and went to check in to L&D. they kept me waiting for what seemed like forever as my contractions started getting closer/stronger, and finally took me into triage. scott came with me while my mom had to wait in the reception area.
i felt like i was in triage for 100000 years, altho it was more like an hour, maybe 90 minutes. my contractions were coming pretty hard by then, about 2 and a half minutes apart maybe. i was in a lot of pain and making scott harass people about hurrying up so i could get an epidural. they finally started my IV fluids and a doctor checked my cervix and found me at 5 cm.
i got admitted and moved into a room then, and was told i'd be getting my epidural shortly. contractions continued to suck royally. then...my blood pressure was high and i was told i'd have to wait to get some labs back before i got the epi. i was like "no shit my blood pressure's high, i'm in BLINDING PAIN."
and so this is the moment where i will give insane amounts of respect to any woman who gives birth naturally. if i hadn't gotten that epidural when i did, i might have thrown myself out the window. i was really scared of labor going into it and honestly it was worse than i expected. :( this is by no means to say it wasn't worth it -- billy is so amazing that i'd do it again in a heartbeat if i had to, but still...i did not find labor or birth to be in any way magical or beautiful, ngl. billy however is both those things. <3
anyway, i finally, FINALLY got the epi at around 4 a.m. and it was a goddamn miracle. i could still feel pressure from contractions but the pain was gone! it was the most incredible relief i'd ever felt in my life. the only downside was it gave me the shakes like whoa, but i didn't care, it was 100% worth it. i will never, ever want to have a baby without it, lol.
shortly afterward, i got another cervical check and i was fully dilated! the doctor said i could just start pushing then or give it a little while, so i asked if i could have some time just to relax a little bit and wrap my head around everything. the plan was for me to start pushing in an hour. i asked if i could get a little extra local anesthesia in the lady parts just to be safe but i think they thought i was kidding? idk. i wasn't. in any event, i said that while i wasn't in pain i could definitely feel pressure and the nurse suggested i go ahead and start pushing.
i pushed for two hours, with a nurse on one leg and scott on the other, with my mom pushing up my shoulders each time. pushing was exhausting, wow. not painful, tho, at least. finally, his head was right about to come out and the nurse called the doctor to the room. i remember the doctor getting her gloves on and feeling like i'd die if i didn't push, so i was like "can i push?!?!? can i push?!?!" (i guess i was afraid he'd pop out before she could catch him? idk) and they said yes, so i started pushing again.
i have no idea how much worse it would've been without the epidural, but those last 5-10 minutes (or however long it was) to get him out HURT!!!! i had been pretty cool throughout the labor, i think, but for the end i was the crazy screaming pregnant lady. :( he finally got his little head out and the cord was around his neck, so scott didn't get to cut it, but he was fine. the doctor told me to look down and see my son being born and i leaned up slightly but couldn't see him at first, so i was like "i can't see! it's fine! get him out!" lol. but she was insistent and so i leaned up a little further and saw him!! i think it took about one more push to get his shoulders out and there he was! they put him on my stomach and i said "oh my god, he's real!" <3 because, like, you objectively know there's a baby in there, but actually seeing him was kind of shocking. he looked pretty good -- not too squished or pointy-headed, hee. his apgars were 9 & 9!
while i got stitched up (three small tears) they cleaned him up a bit, and then let me hold him for a while, and then he got taken down to the nursery to get checked out and a bath and whatnot. my blood pressure and pulse were both really high, so they kept me in my L&D room for a few hours after, so i didn't end up getting to see him again for like 3 hours, which i haaaated. i wanted a hospital delivery because i wanted pain relief, but i really wish things had been just a little more crunchy. my hospital was not as baby-friendly (a term i got from our pediatrician, who i like a lot) as i would've liked.
which leads me into my hospital stay, which i did not enjoy. the nurses were mostly nice, but i needed more help with the baby than i was getting. i was so sore and tired and i needed more support, especially at night, because they kicked out scott at 10 p.m. so it was just me and the baby, and i was trying to breastfeed but nobody was helping me, etc etc wah wah wah.
blah, whatever, i'm not going to weigh down the birth story of my little man with a bunch of whining about our hospital stay. it blew, but it's over and we're home and things are looking way up. we had a rocky start with breastfeeding, as i mentioned, but i had a visit from a lactation consultant on friday night and she showed me how to get him latched on properly, so once my poor nipples heal up (they are so shredded right now, oy -- i keep joking that we named him appropriately; his middle name, mako, is a species of shark) we'll be rocking. i'm tired, but not as dead as i thought i'd be, and billy is so sweet and cute and cuddly and i'm madly in love. he was a surprise baby (i won't call him an accident) and i was a little uncertain about becoming a mom, but it's kind of my favorite thing ever. <3
okay, now for the important part: PICS!!!
love at first sight!
ready to head home from the hospital.
yawn.
perfect face.
extreme closeup.
happy getting snuggles from daddy.
tiny hand.
sweet hangs with mom.
SO EXCITED TO BE ONE WEEK OLD!!!!!
3/25/11, 7:14 a.m., 7lb13oz, 19.7 inches long
so, i went to bed at around 11:15 the night before my due date feeling like there was no way i'd be having a baby soon. i just felt much too normal, y'know? i'd watched american idol and written my recap. i knew i was due the next day, but i figured i still had a few days to go, especially with what you hear about first babies usually coming a little late.
well, 15 minutes later my water broke dramatically all over my bed. uh, okay! i always assumed i'd start having contractions before my water broke, so i wasn't entirely sure what to do, ha. i called the hospital and the doctor on call said i could wait at home or come in then, but i should definitely come in within the next 3-4 hours.
i wasn't feeling any contractions yet, so i figured i'd chill at home for a while. my mom and scott were both freaking out a little, but i felt pretty calm. i took a quick shower and when i was getting out i felt what i thought was my first contraction. it was a little uncomfortable, but no big deal, and i still figured i'd wait to go to the hospital.
well, i quickly realized that my contractions were already coming about five minutes apart, so we decided to go ahead and head out to the hospital. we arrived around 1 a.m. and went to check in to L&D. they kept me waiting for what seemed like forever as my contractions started getting closer/stronger, and finally took me into triage. scott came with me while my mom had to wait in the reception area.
i felt like i was in triage for 100000 years, altho it was more like an hour, maybe 90 minutes. my contractions were coming pretty hard by then, about 2 and a half minutes apart maybe. i was in a lot of pain and making scott harass people about hurrying up so i could get an epidural. they finally started my IV fluids and a doctor checked my cervix and found me at 5 cm.
i got admitted and moved into a room then, and was told i'd be getting my epidural shortly. contractions continued to suck royally. then...my blood pressure was high and i was told i'd have to wait to get some labs back before i got the epi. i was like "no shit my blood pressure's high, i'm in BLINDING PAIN."
and so this is the moment where i will give insane amounts of respect to any woman who gives birth naturally. if i hadn't gotten that epidural when i did, i might have thrown myself out the window. i was really scared of labor going into it and honestly it was worse than i expected. :( this is by no means to say it wasn't worth it -- billy is so amazing that i'd do it again in a heartbeat if i had to, but still...i did not find labor or birth to be in any way magical or beautiful, ngl. billy however is both those things. <3
anyway, i finally, FINALLY got the epi at around 4 a.m. and it was a goddamn miracle. i could still feel pressure from contractions but the pain was gone! it was the most incredible relief i'd ever felt in my life. the only downside was it gave me the shakes like whoa, but i didn't care, it was 100% worth it. i will never, ever want to have a baby without it, lol.
shortly afterward, i got another cervical check and i was fully dilated! the doctor said i could just start pushing then or give it a little while, so i asked if i could have some time just to relax a little bit and wrap my head around everything. the plan was for me to start pushing in an hour. i asked if i could get a little extra local anesthesia in the lady parts just to be safe but i think they thought i was kidding? idk. i wasn't. in any event, i said that while i wasn't in pain i could definitely feel pressure and the nurse suggested i go ahead and start pushing.
i pushed for two hours, with a nurse on one leg and scott on the other, with my mom pushing up my shoulders each time. pushing was exhausting, wow. not painful, tho, at least. finally, his head was right about to come out and the nurse called the doctor to the room. i remember the doctor getting her gloves on and feeling like i'd die if i didn't push, so i was like "can i push?!?!? can i push?!?!" (i guess i was afraid he'd pop out before she could catch him? idk) and they said yes, so i started pushing again.
i have no idea how much worse it would've been without the epidural, but those last 5-10 minutes (or however long it was) to get him out HURT!!!! i had been pretty cool throughout the labor, i think, but for the end i was the crazy screaming pregnant lady. :( he finally got his little head out and the cord was around his neck, so scott didn't get to cut it, but he was fine. the doctor told me to look down and see my son being born and i leaned up slightly but couldn't see him at first, so i was like "i can't see! it's fine! get him out!" lol. but she was insistent and so i leaned up a little further and saw him!! i think it took about one more push to get his shoulders out and there he was! they put him on my stomach and i said "oh my god, he's real!" <3 because, like, you objectively know there's a baby in there, but actually seeing him was kind of shocking. he looked pretty good -- not too squished or pointy-headed, hee. his apgars were 9 & 9!
while i got stitched up (three small tears) they cleaned him up a bit, and then let me hold him for a while, and then he got taken down to the nursery to get checked out and a bath and whatnot. my blood pressure and pulse were both really high, so they kept me in my L&D room for a few hours after, so i didn't end up getting to see him again for like 3 hours, which i haaaated. i wanted a hospital delivery because i wanted pain relief, but i really wish things had been just a little more crunchy. my hospital was not as baby-friendly (a term i got from our pediatrician, who i like a lot) as i would've liked.
which leads me into my hospital stay, which i did not enjoy. the nurses were mostly nice, but i needed more help with the baby than i was getting. i was so sore and tired and i needed more support, especially at night, because they kicked out scott at 10 p.m. so it was just me and the baby, and i was trying to breastfeed but nobody was helping me, etc etc wah wah wah.
blah, whatever, i'm not going to weigh down the birth story of my little man with a bunch of whining about our hospital stay. it blew, but it's over and we're home and things are looking way up. we had a rocky start with breastfeeding, as i mentioned, but i had a visit from a lactation consultant on friday night and she showed me how to get him latched on properly, so once my poor nipples heal up (they are so shredded right now, oy -- i keep joking that we named him appropriately; his middle name, mako, is a species of shark) we'll be rocking. i'm tired, but not as dead as i thought i'd be, and billy is so sweet and cute and cuddly and i'm madly in love. he was a surprise baby (i won't call him an accident) and i was a little uncertain about becoming a mom, but it's kind of my favorite thing ever. <3
okay, now for the important part: PICS!!!
love at first sight!
ready to head home from the hospital.
yawn.
perfect face.
extreme closeup.
happy getting snuggles from daddy.
tiny hand.
sweet hangs with mom.
SO EXCITED TO BE ONE WEEK OLD!!!!!