Labor Day

Ryuta already knows how to pose for pictures. I guess he's not as camera shy as we thought!

It's about time for me to update now that Ryuta Kai Tsuchiya has arrived. He was born Sunday, September 2 at 1:57 pm. He was an even 7 lbs and measured 20 1/4 inches long. His apgar score was 7 and 8.

I wasn't sure what to expect for the labor, but I was hoping for it to go somewhat smoothly. And with my mom having a history of quick labors (I was born in a short 3 hours) I was half expecting mine to be quick as well. I was also leaning towards not getting an epidural because you tend to recover faster if you do a natural birth. My labor ended up being about 17 hours and I decided I couldn't survive without the epidural.

Saturday night around 8:oo I started feeling contractions. They didn't really hurt so my mom, Shinsuke, and I watched Bride Wars and my mom and I painted our nails. I kept track of my contractions until they were close enough together to be admitted into the hospital. You are supposed to go when they are 5 minutes apart and last about 1 minute each time for an hour. but mine were already close together from the beginning. They came every 2 or 5 minutes, and would sometimes last 30 or 40 seconds and other times be over a minute. So we just decided to head over to the hospital around 11:30 pm.

I was checked into the hospital and sent to an observation room where we all waited while the doctors decided whether or not to admit me into the hospital. By this time my contractions were two minutes apart and painful enough that I didn't bother to record them anymore. Shinsuke and my mom took turns rubbing my back and feet to help distract me but it was hard to ignore the pain.

It was 2:00 am by the time the nurses made a decision. I wasn't dilated far enough so they were going to send me home even though my contractions were 2 minutes apart. My mom asked when to bring me back in and the nurse said when the contractions were close enough together and painful to the point I couldn't talk through them anymore. My mom explained that this was the case already but the nurse still insisted that I should go home. The nurse gave me a sleeping pill and sent us on our way.

The sleeping pill helped a little but the pain kept waking me up so we were back in the hospital by 4:00 am. This time the nurses said I was dilated enough and admitted me to a delivery room.

My dad arrived a short time later. We had called him once my contractions started and he left as soon as he could. He did my hair and thanks to that I look decent in most of the pictures from the labor. And then we waited. After a being in pain for several hours I decided I did want to get an epidural and I am really glad I did. The anesthesiologist was really nice and it didn't hurt really. At least not compared to the contractions. Once the epidural kicked in I could talk and smile again.

Everything was going okay until the nurse turned me onto my right side. I started getting really bad cramps on my right. At first the nurses didn't think anything of it since sometimes epidurals work on one side and not the other. But then Ryuta's heart rate dropped.

I was rushed to the OR and only Shinsuke was allowed to come back with me. I'm really glad that he could be there with me through it all. And the doctor who delivered Ryuta did an excellent job because she didn't jump to do a C-section. Once his heart rate went back up she had me try and push him out. She said I was doing a good job pushing but for some reason he wasn't making much progress. She tried forceps and then the vacuum, but he still didn't want to come out. His heart rate dropped again so she waited to see if it would come up again. She asked me if I wanted to try the forceps again or if I wanted the C-section. I opted for the forceps.

Finally he crowned and the doctor discovered what the problem was. He had gotten the cord around his neck and was stuck facing the wrong way. The doctor was able to cut the cord and turn him the right way. He was born at 1:57 pm and the nurses and doctors took him to make sure he was doing alright. Shinsuke and I were able to hold him for a few minutes, but they had to take him up to the nursery to observe his vitals for a few hours.

It wasn't the smoothest delivery, but in the end Ryuta was delivered safely and he is very healthy. Thanks for the safe delivery charm, Jessica! I am still getting used to the fact that I am a mom and that Ryuta is mine and Shinsuke's, but I couldn't be happier.

Our first family photo. This won't be going up on the wall, though.