It's been way too long...so I don't even know where to start with all of the changes that have gone on in my life.
First of all Hunter finally made his grand entrance into this world 6 days late on 9/21/2011 at 6:44am. He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. Labor was...well labor. I started having contractions at noon on Tuesday the 20th, Pat came home around 3 and we were at the hospital by 530 pm.
Before we left, I gave Murphy a big hug and a kiss, and cried on his shoulder because I knew when we got home that life would never be like it was right now, just the three of us.
When we arrived I was only dilated to 2 cm, and they said if I didn't get to 3 cm within an hour I would be sent home...I looked at Pat and told him. "We are NOT going home. We will NOT be sent home." So we marched up and down those hallways, me holding onto his arm, squeezing it for comfort every time a contraction came. These things were no joke. When the nurse came back we had made our goal of 3 cm and they admitted us. Because the hospital was full, we had to wait for 4 hours in the tiny triage room before we could get moved to a labor and delivery room...which meant I had to wait 4 hours for my epidural. It wasn't until about 10 pm, that I received that little gift of heaven. I had gotten extremely dizzy when the IV was placed, this epidural was something I was dreading more than the labor. The epidural itself was miserable but the after effects more than made up for it. Shortly after receiving my epidural, my blood pressure dropped into the 70's and I had quite the audience in my room asking over and over again how I was feeling. After about 45 minutes of worrying, and a few injections of epi, it was back to normal.
Now it was time to get some rest...well for Patrick anyways. I tossed and turned ( my upper half anyways since I could not feel anything below my chest) the whole time. How do they expect anybody to rest when the blood pressure cuff goes off every 15 minutes?! My water broke around 2 am and I was told I was at 7cm. By 5 I was at a 9. This is when Pat woke up and texted all the grandparents that they should come to the hospital because Hunter would be here soon. I started to push with each contraction but he was still up to high to make any progress. Also, the doctor was concerned about his heart rate as it was not fluctuating with the contractions like it was supposed to. His heart rate was staying at about 180 which concerned the doctor. She did not want to put him under too much stress with heart rate that high so she said that it was time to have a c-section. Great... my biggest fear was coming true. By this time the epidural was wearing off and I could feel everything. I was prepped and wheeled into the operating room where I looked at the clock and it was 6:14am. Pat wasn't with me at this time, he was changing into his operating room scrubs. I was scared out of my mind, I wanted my husband to hold my hand and my mom to rub my head and tell me everything was going to be ok. Pat finally came in and the doctor said they were ready to go...I looked up at Pat and told him I could feel everything. I could feel her pinching my legs to make sure that the epidural had taken. They kept pushing drugs through my IV, but nothing was working. I started to panic. All I could see were Pat's eyes and they were filled with fear. I told him to help me, make them stop. He stood up and started yelling. The anesthesiologist said, "Danielle, do you need to be put under?" "YES!!" I said without hesitation....and BOOM! nighty night sweetheart...that's the last thing I remember. When I woke up I was in the recovery room, and I was having trouble breathing so they gave me some oxygen. The room was incredibly quiet and the nurse was so sweet. She said, " Your son was 7lbs 9 oz and is beautiful." I started to cry and asked if he had lots of hair...I fell back asleep before I could hear the answer. I woke up when they were wheeling my to my room, Pat was there waiting for me and as soon as I saw him, I bawled. He said, "Our son is beautiful D, he's coming in here shortly." I was still pretty groggy but when they wheeled him in I lost my breath. There he was, my baby boy. Hunter Brian Dube. Named after his Grandpa Brian Hunt, it's his name backwards. Also his middle name is for his Grandpa Brian Dube.
It's impossible to describe the feeling, but when I held him I felt like I had known him forever. It's a feeling I have never known before.
The new grandparents came into the room around 10am and when I saw my mom, I cried again. I had cried more in those past four hours than I had in a VERY long time. My dad said to me, "You look pretty tired kiddo. So let me know when you want all of us to leave, and we'll go." My dad, forever my protector. The hospital stay was a whirlwind, with visitors almost everyday.
We finally got to go home on Saturday the 25th. Hunter was going home to meet his older brother Murphy!
The first few weeks at home went so fast...I know everyone says it, but it couldn't be closer to the truth! Hunter is such a good baby. The first 6 weeks he was eating about every 3 hours and only cried when he was hungry or tired. At about 8 weeks he started sleeping through the night! The first 8 weeks of his life really made me realize how much of a blessing 8 hours of consecutive sleep really is. He started smiling when he was about 8 weeks old. His smile is so big it takes up his whole face. He laughs at any and everything. His dad makes him smile the biggest, Hunter smiles when he just hears Patrick's voice. Watching those two together amaze me. I catch myself staring at them all the time.
I went back to work on December 15th. It was so hard. When you spend everyday with someone for 12 straight weeks, you get pretty attached to them! I love his daycare lady so I knew he would be fine, but I sure do miss my little man during the day.
Pat and I find ourselves talking about him like we were never without him. It feels weird to think that he has only been in our lives for a such a short period of time. Our favorite thing to do is load up both of our boys in the car and run errands or just go for a drive. The last month of my pregnancy Pat, Murph and I did a lot of driving around (we most always visited a DQ during some part of our impromptu trips) until we would get lost. I love those times in the car when its quiet and all four of us are all together in this close and confined area.
Life sure has changed in the last four months. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Later days...
DMD
