Colton's Birth Story/ Catching Up

I wanted to start a blog when Colton was born so that I didn't forget anything as he was quickly growing up before our eyes. However, I didnt fully realize the time dedication it takes to raise a baby so I haven't been able to start until now. Cole is a little over 2 months old at this point but I guess I should start with his birth story. Other small things to note besides the birth story
-he started to smile and coo shortly before he turned 2 months old
-he bats at his toys on his overhead gym that his Nana bought him
-his first holiday was July 4th- we spent the day at Nana's pool with all of the family and some friends
-we took him to Hershey Park the day before his 2month monthday. He hated it!
-he had thrush, lactose allergy, severe diaper rashes and several other minor complications (including colic for a few weeks).

So, there's the short summary- more to come as we watch our little human grow up. It seems he does something new every day. It's crazy, having a baby is more rewarding that you can imagine, even when you hear people say it's rewarding. You literally get to watch a human evolve, learn and grow in front of your eyes. You pay a very high price for this, but once the rewards begin to show the price seems less relevant. Here's the birth story:

I woke up on Friday, May 15, 2009 with a bit of a sore throat and headed to work for the day. I was feeling a bit discouraged at the fact that I was still unable to hold my darling boy in my hands yet. Pregnant and miserable, I carried on thinking that I would eventually have to be induced the following week. Work was pretty uneventful and miserable, and I remember feeling a pressure in my abdomen all day that had not been there previously. However, I ignored this feeling, thinking I was imagining it since I had been overanalyzing every ache and pain in anticipation of the start of labor. After work, I drove home and Scott and I met his family at Cracker Barrel to celebrate Scott’s dad’s promotion!
At Cracker Barrel, I ate an amazingly filling meal of fire roasted beef with potatoes and corn on the cob. I topped it off with strawberry shortcake that I split with Scott’s mom. While we were eating, a baby beside us started crying. I said “Colton, hear that baby? Come outside and be like him”. Then Amy, Scott’s sister, said “Colton, wait until after dinner”. We finished our dinner, had an amazing, fun time and then decided to go back to Scott’s parents’ house to watch an on-demand movie.
Scott and I stopped by our place to change into comfortable clothes and then headed over to the house. On the way up the walkway to the house I said to Scott “you know, the pain might make me curse, but your mom will be in there- do you care if I ask her if it’s ok to curse”. Scott said “no, ask her- she won’t care”. The next words out of my mouth were “UHM I just peed mys-no no wait- my water broke”. I remembered hearing stories where women thought they had peed themselves and I promised I wouldn’t be as oblivious to do the same thing. So, officially, at 8:30PM my water broke!!! We ran into the house, announcing the news and Scott called the doctor. Scott’s dad and Chris were there and seemed amazingly relaxed amidst the chaos I was feeling. I was so nervous and excited and in disbelief, FINALLY!!! Scott, in typical fashion, also made sure to update his facebook status and use the restroom before we headed to our place to grab our bags and off to the hospital!
Once we got to the hospital at 8:45PM, Barb and Amy met me at the Emergency room doors. We went in; I refused to be wheel-chaired and continued to say “ewww ewww eww” as water ran down my legs (gross). I was so excited and so nervous at the same time.
By 9:45 PM, I was hooked up to my antibiotics and given an IV for hydration. The nurse began monitoring my contractions- they were 4 minutes apart at this time. I guess this is where my adrenaline wore off because I started feeling the pain of the contractions. Six days later, as I write this, I can barely remember what they felt like, only that they hurt. I told the nurse that I would take an epidural ASAP! She told me I had to be 3 cm dilated before I could have my epidural.
Dr. Curry came in to check me out and said that I was 2cm but could have my epidural whenever I wanted it. At 10:45 I called the nurse to check me again to see if I was 3cm yet because I was in pain and wanted that epidural now! I am such a baby! The nurse said I could have my epidural and at 11PM she called the anesthesiologist to hook me up! My parents arrived around this point after their 2 hour drive.
At 11:30PM I was given my epidural and at 11:45PM I was given my catheter. The nurse that gave my epidural was extremely nice and did a good job of hiding a HUGE needle that I later heard about from Scott. The epidural only stung a little bit, but felt much better than the contractions and I felt almost immediate relief. I was so relaxed at this point. We turned on the TV and hung out, rotating visitors in the room to chat with.
At 12:45AM on May 16, 2009, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I must mention here that I LOVE EPIDURALS. I did not feel a thing. At 1:15AM, the nurse gave me some Pitocin to speed up my contractions. I remember that as everything was happening I could not believe how fast time was going. For being in labor, time was flying by and I knew it wouldn’t be too much longer until I could finally meet my angel boy.
Around 2AM, the nurse doubled my dose of Pitocin. I soon began feeling pressure, not pain, as Colton was shortly ready to make his appearance. The nurse told me that once the pressure came and did not go away to call her in because that would mean that it was time to push. We all decided to take a small nap.
About 20 minutes into my nap, the nurse came back. It was 3AM; she checked me and told me it was time for me to push. I was in disbelief, a little scared, and mostly anxious because this was it, finally time to meet Colton. I could not believe how easy and quickly this time had come once I had gotten the epidural. My mom and Scott’s mom came into the room and Fresh Prince was on TV; the theme song had just begun as the nurse got me all set up and explained to me how to push. I told the nurse that it sounded a lot like pilates and yoga, isolated movement. I was to grab my thighs and push with my abdomen.
At 3:20AM I began to push, it wasn’t too bad and no pain at all. My face turned bright red with every push and I put all of my energy into meeting my little one. Scott was by my side the entire time, though I must say I was completely unaware. The only people in the room were Colton and I. The nurse let me feel his head as he began to crown- it was so nice and a little disgusting to feel (I’m squeamish) but almost time to hold him. After 2 contractions of pushing the nurse called the doctor in because Colton was ready to come out. Once Dr. Curry arrived, I pushed through 3 more contractions and at 3:41AM COLTON SCOTT HARRIS WAS BORN!
His head was extremely cone shaped and he looked so purple and lifeless for what seemed like eternity, but was only seconds. He started crying and it was the most amazing sound I have ever heard in my entire life. The doctor put him on my chest and Scott and I began to cry as I told him “that was easy”. Colton was so perfect and precious, scoring 9’s on all of his apgar scores. He weighed 5lbs 9.6 oz and was 19inches long. It felt so amazing to feel his soft skin on my chest and touch his precious full head of hair. I felt immediately like I had already known him all my life.
Everyone was allowed into the room and we celebrated and took probably way way too many pictures. We were all so excited and Colton is so lucky to have so many people in his life that already love him more than he will ever know. I cannot wait to share every little experience with Colton and Scott as he grows up and turns into a man. The good and the bad, which we’ve already had both of, will make him such a strong person and Scott and I are going to do everything we can to provide the best life possible for our little man. Welcome to our world, Colton Scott, you are truly very loved.