Introducing Solomon James Shaw

We had an exciting weekend! We had a baby! Here is Solomon James Shaw born at 5:16 AM on Saturday, February 27, 2010. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He is perfect in every way, but already completely different from Davey. Everyone is doing great! He is a sweetheart and a great sleeper so far! Here is the birthing story for those who are interested...

Thursday, I went for my prenatal appointment and was a "tight" 2 cm. The OB/GYN stripped my membranes to try to get some things started. That night I had a lot of cramping, but no contractions. Just felt horrible! Friday, I went through school as planned and didn't feel as bad. Just tired as usual. But somehow I knew Solly was going to come early. My due date was Monday and the induction was planned for Thursday unless something happened on its own.

Friday night, we have a tradition of getting pizza and going to my in-laws for supper. Right as we picked up the pizza, I started having a couple of contractions. But they were not consistant (15 minutes + apart) and not bad at all. But we went ahead and had Davey spend the night with Karen just in case we had a long night. Josh and I went home to try to get some sleep, which worked for about 2 hours. Then the contractions got stronger, more regular, and I thought I might have started leaking fluid. So I jumped into the shower and Josh packed the car.

By the time we got to Madison and checked into the hospital it was 1:30 AM. It had been a very busy evening (blame it on the full moon!) so the doctor on call was already there. Right before she got in the room, my water broke on its own. She told me I was at 5 cm and would be back later to deliver. I started the IV and prep work for my epidural and prayed that it wouldn't take 5 tries like last time. The contractions came on very hard and fast, but Josh was doing a great job getting me through them. Once the fluid was in the dr only had to try 3 times this time! LOL But it did ultimately work!

Once I got settled, my awesome nurse Anne told me that I would probably have the baby before her shift was over at 7. She reminded me to ring her once I felt the pressure to push. At this point, it was 4:10 AM. I called my sister to come. She was in the delivery room when Davey was born and is a helpful voice and videographer! By the time she got to Madison, I was ready to push. I pushed for about 20 minutes with no problems and my wonderful baby was here! So from hospital admission to delivery, it was less than 4 hours!

It was such a busy place for my little hospital, that we had to stay in the L&D room for most of the day until a recovery room opened up. Solly tried to nurse a few times, but was much more interested in sleeping. VERY different from Davey! He is much more laid back and his cry is pathetic compared to Davey's! Then at at 8:00 I went to surgery to get my tubes tied and that surgery went great as well.

I am shocked at how well I feel compared to my recovery after delivery. My tubal incision was sore, but that is it! I was ready to come home Sunday, but needed to wait for the 48 hour blood test to come back for Solly.