Introducing Tristan

Summary: Tristan Edward Jones was born at 4:09 PM Sunday. He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Long and skinny, as the nurse said. He has dark hair and it looks like his eyes will be brown like Landon's. I'd include photos, but they're stuck in our broken computer.

If you want more detail: After Landon left for Virginia, I asked Mom to come hang out with the girls and me for the weekend, just in case I went into labor on or before my due date. So Saturday I went into work while Mom watched the girls and we did some shopping. I stayed up late preparing my lesson for Sunday and then went to bed. I had to get up with Chloe several times that night because she was sick. At 4 AM I was rescuing her from her crib once again when I felt a sudden warmth and realized my pants were drenched. Mom took care of Chloe while I showered and called my midwife, who gave me permission to sleep a few more hours before coming into the hospital. When I woke up at 7:30 without any serious contractions, I had Jamie stroll around the block with me in the hopes that the exercise would get labor started. I enjoyed the walk, but remained labor-less.

After dropping the girls off at Jeanette's house and getting a blessing from Howard, Mom took me into the hospital where they said I was at a whopping 1 centimeter and I'd have to be induced. I decided for sure that an epidural was in my future, despite the nurse's assurances that "a contraction is a contraction" and pitocin doesn't make them harder.

The drip was started at noon, and by 2:30 I was at 4.5 centimeters and getting my life-saving epidural. (The nurse was wrong about pitocin. I felt like the squeezing was going to pinch me in two.) The midwife left to get some lunch, and Jamie, Mom and I were enjoying "The Mask of Zorro" when I started feeling a little pressure in my nether parts. Seeing as it had only been 45 minutes since they checked my cervix, I didn't make a big deal of it. After two more contractions with the pressure, I commented on it and Jamie went to find my nurse. The nurse put on one glove and got a visual of the situation. "Well, I see some blood. . . . Wait. Don't move! Don't push. But push the call light!" At this point, I realized what the "pressure" was, but the pitocin caused another monster contraction and Tristan squirted (as Jamie describes it) out into the nurse's half-gloved hands. I think I was in shock at this point from the crazy contractions, because all I remember is wondering how the slimy purple thing got into my bed in the middle of my movie. What a difference from my epidural-free births, where I was all too aware of where the baby was at every moment!

My midwife felt bad about missing the birth and sent me flowers the next day. Landon felt bad about not being there as well, but I told him not to worry about it -- if Jamie hadn't taken my complaint about the slight pressure seriously, we might have all missed it! We'd probably just have finished the movie and then found Tristan hours later while adjusting the sheets. :) So will I get an epidural next time or go back to the non-medicated approach for my next birth? I don't know. At 3 days post partum, I'm not even sure there will BE another birth! Ask me in a couple of years.

But Tristan is a sweet little baby, well-tempered and a good sleeper (as long as he can sleep in bed with Mommy). I hope to post pictures soon. Thanks for all of your calls, visits and emails.