Details & Update

OK, so this post is just going to give boring details...no pictures. (I promise I'll post some current pictures soon.) This post is just for the very interested family members, other new moms who care about these early days, and my own memory's sake...

First, to document the details of labor and delivery...
Tuesday, August 11 -- A busy day at OCH
6:05 a.m. -Brent and I arrived in room 5 on the labor and delivery floor of Oktibbeha County Hospital. This was the same room and the same nurse, Dana, who delivered Jack!
The nurses told us that there were NINE laboring mothers that day....there are only six labor and delivery rooms! Thursday turned out to be an equally busy day for the L & D floor of the hospital. After trying to remember what happened 9 months ago to land so many babies with similar due dates, a friend figured out that nine months ago Barrack Obama won the presidential election....not sure what that means exactly, but that's just an FYI.
It turns out that our friends from Sunday School, Jennifer & BJ Cougle, were also there. Her due date was still about three weeks away, but she went into labor on Monday. (We didn't actually see them, but she knew I was coming in on Tuesday and told the nurse to tell us she was also there.) She ended up having a c-section, and their baby girl, Alex, and Joseph share a birthday!
7:15 a.m. -After getting hooked up to a monitor for the baby and one for my contractions, answering what seemed like 100 questions, signing lots of paperwork, and almost passing out from a lousy IV job (my vein rolled, and I just about lost my breakfast), the nurse successfully inserted the IV and got the petocin (the labor inducing stuff) started. She checked my cervix and said I was starting at about 3 cm. She said I had a few contractions even before she started the medicine, but I wasn't really in labor. (Later she commented that she didn't need to increase the petocin as she usually would because my body was doing the work without it.)
9:50 a.m.-Dr. Pearson gave me the epidural. He is the doctor who delivered Jack and does the best epidurals in the practice. When I saw him the previous week for my check-up (because Dr. Furniss was out of town), he said he would give me my epidural if I ended up being induced on Tuesday. Everything went smoothly with the administration of the epidural, and Dr. Pearson said I should start to feel relief from the pain by around 10:05. He was heading to administer another epidural and said he would check back.
10:15 a.m. -Dr. Pearson came back and broke my water. I was only a little over 3 cm at that point. I told him I was still feeling the contractions as strongly as I had been, so I was a little unsure if the epidural was doing its job. (I felt certain I would have dilated more than that based on the contractions I was feeling.)
11:05 a.m. -The nurse measured me at 9cm. That's why the contractions still felt so strong. I dilated 6 cm in less than an hour; the epidural worked, but I just progressed very quickly during that last hour. She said she would come back in about 30 minutes, and it would probably be time to push!
11:45 a.m. -The nurse came back, and I started pushing. Joseph came down quickly. Dr. Furniss got there just in time for the actual delivery. (Warning: gory details: Apparently Joe has big shoulders, I ended up with 3rd degree tears. Yes, the epidural definitely worked...I didn't feel any of this, but the recovery process has not been fun!)
12:02 p.m. -Joseph Benjamin Fountain was born! He weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. He scored 10/10 on the APGAR. He came out crying and cried a good bit at first. (This was different from Jack who just cried a little at first.) Brent got to cut the umbilical cord and we both held him as soon as they wrapped him up. So, if you've followed the timetable, that's 3 hours and 45 minutes of labor and only 15 minutes of pushing....I can't complain about labor and delivery!
12:45 p.m. -Grandmommy & Susu arrived to meet Joseph. They were biting their nails at our house all morning and waited in the hallway and visited with all of the other waiting families while Dr. Furniss stitched me up.
1:15 p.m. -Joseph had to go to the nursery for his first bath and a few tests. Brent, Grandmommy & Susu accompanied him. I was moved to room 319 for the remainder of my stay. Brent went to grab some cheeseburgers for us (I was STARVING), and the grandmothers kept their noses pressed firmly against the nursery viewing window (for the next 4 hours.)
5:00 p.m. -Jack and Aunt Bec arrived at the hospital, and Joseph returned to my room. The brothers' first meeting went well. Jack was a little hesitant at first; he seemed uncertain about what he should do. I held Joseph and Jack slowly relaxed a little and touched him and kissed him. It was very sweet. By the end of their visit, Jack asked to hold Joseph. We let him sit on the bed with me, and we held him together. Jack was VERY proud! (and so was I!)
9:00 p.m. -Grumps, Mimi, and Gramps arrived from Lafayette. They stayed and visited for about an hour, and we headed to sleep...sort of.

The First Days at Home
So, I know things can change at any minute; it is still much too early to conclude anything about what kind of sleeping or eating patterns Joseph will have, but so far, here's how things are going...
Joe sleeps really well during the day. He'll go for 3-4 hour stretches between feedings and will sleep in his bed, the bassinet, or in someone's arms, the latter being his favorite. When the evenings roll around, he wants to eat and be held more. He's been eating almost every hour from around 9 or 10 until around 1-ish. By that time, I'm exhausted and sore, and we've given up on putting him in his bed or the bassinet. So, we do something that I generally have been against, we let him stay in the bed with us. I'm very aware that he is there and make sure he has lots of room and there are no blankets or pillows around him. He usually sleeps for about 3 hours that way. Then, around 4 or 5:00 he wakes up and wants several feedings again. Around 8 or 9:00, we begin our fairly restful day.
Jack is adjusting very well. Again, this may change when the doting grandmothers' visits come to an end, but for right now, he hasn't misbehaved or acted out at all. He is very interested in what "Baby Joseph" is doing and wants to help entertain and keep him happy. He helps with diaper changes. (We moved a stepstool next to the changing table so that he can assist.) He likes to bring Joe toys when he's upset, and always wants to know what he's doing. On a few occasions, he's commented, "I think he likes me." He is a very proud big brother.
I've been able to take baths and get a nap every day, thanks to help from Grandmommy and Brent. I'm still very sore from the stitches, and I feel like if I could move around and sit more normally everything else would be much easier.
All in all, I would say things are pretty typical of the first week of a baby's life. I'm not going to go so far as to say it is easy, but thankfully, I wouldn't say that Joseph is a difficult baby at this point.