Reed's Birth

Here's how Reed's birth transpired for those of you who are interested.

Since labor never started on its own and Graham was spending the next few days with his cousins, we left early Monday morning to head to the hospital. I was hooked up to many machines and monitors. My doctor (Dr. G) checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. They started the Pitocin and I experienced several hours of light contractions as they periodically increased the amounts of Pitocin. Around noon contractions began to pick up a little and at 12:15 my doctor came back to check on me. I was now 5 cm and disappointed that things had changed so little over 5 hours. Dr. G said breaking my water could help speed things up but that it was up to me. I wanted to avoid that since the water being in tact helps make the contractions more manageable. I ended up letting her break it in the hopes that more progress would be made. Within an hour I was almost 7 cm and the baby had moved down some. The contractions continued to pick up to where they were coming one right after another with very little recovery time in between. I owe being able to make it through the whole thing without an epidural to having Anthony there to help. Believe me, there were many moments of wanting to give up! He did a great job reminding me to relax and his hand on my back during the contractions reminded me that I wasn't alone in it. We spent time listening to music, praying, and quoting scripture which really helped to distract me. After about 20 minutes of pushing, 10 lb 3 oz, 21 inch Reed Jackson Rosolowski was born at 4:17 pm!

Yes, I was once again shocked by his size. They said that the ultrasound we had the week before could be off by a pound in either direction. I figured it was estimating high, thinking Reed might be smaller if not the same size as Graham. Apparently it was off by a pound in the other direction!

We praise God for his faithfulness to answer prayer and strengthen us through this birth. His Word really is living and able to accomplish great things!

We're now adjusting to life. Reed is nursing well although difficult to wake up if he's sleeping and it's time to eat. He sleeps great during the day and at night his preferred place to sleep is on Mommy, so we've been camping out in the living room. I look forward to going back to my bed sometime soon! Graham has done a great job of transitioning to having Reed here. He gets jealous when Anthony does anything with the baby and prefers for me to help him. He has been sick the whole time we've been home, but we're hopeful that the worst of it has passed. My recovery is going well thanks to Anthony being home all week and our wonderful church family who has been bringing us meals. We're all looking forward to having my mom here for two weeks beginning on Thursday.