Ben's grand entrance

I'm so thankful to Tyler for keeping this up over the last few days while I've been occupied with our new little wonder. If you haven't gotten your fill of pictures, here's a link to see more:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8ActWbdo4buGi-&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Ben is the sweetest gift, and we are so enjoying getting to know him on the outside! My mom has sent me to my room (to rest), so I thought it would be a good time to give everyone the scoop on how it all went down. She's been playing nurse to me and Ben since he arrived and we're lucky enough to have her stay through the week.

OK, so for those who are curious, here's the lowdown on my birth story. Around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, I'd just gotten back in bed from yet another bathroom trip and was dozing off when what felt and sounded like a rubber band popped in my stomach. I immediately jumped out of bed, just in time for my water to break! I woke Tyler up and he made coffee and took a quick shower as I called my family ("get in the car!") and my doctor ("we're getting in the car!") and threw the last-minute items into my hospital bag. I started having mild contractions, but they weren't more than cramps until we actually arrived at the hospital around 3:30 a.m. However, once we'd checked in and I'd changed into my gown, they were coming fast and furious and strong enough to send me to my knees. The doctor checked and discovered I was already 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I told the nurse that while I wanted an epidural, I wanted to wait a little while so that I could "experience the whole labor process." They say you learn from every experience, and what I learned from that is that unmedicated births are for a different breed of woman than myself. That next hour or so was officially THE worst pain I've ever known. The reason it was over an hour until I had relief was that I had to get through a whole bag of saline through an IV before they could administer the epidural (a helpful hint I would have enjoyed knowing about beforehand). Tyler and my nurse held my hands and helped me focus on my breathing and my happy place until the nice man with the meds showed up!

OK, it's about 5 hours later since I started this...ah, life with a newborn. Anyway, so when my parents, sister and brother-in-law arrived at the hospital around 7 a.m., I was feeling much better. The epidural had not hurt at all, and wasn't making me loopy, just more like myself again, and not a groaning, sweating cavewoman! Mom and Jess helped Tyler as my pushing coaches, starting around 7:40. It was so great to have all three of them there. Pushing out a baby while paralyzed from the waist down is pretty hard to do, so the encouragement was much appreciated. Unfortunately, Ben's big, hairy head was stuck on his way through my pelvic bone. My doctor kept checking in on me, but there still wasn't much progress, so at about 10 a.m., she said, "it's time to deliver this baby." At that point, Mom and Jess joined Dad and Michael in the waiting room and Tyler and I were flanked by about 4 more nurses and techs armed with a vacuum and all sorts of tools/skills to get him out, if necessary. Fortunately, all he needed was a little more room, compliments of a quick episiotomy, and then a little more room, compliments of his big, hairy head tearing his way out into the world! I was actually able to see him make his debut - which I'm so thankful for. Words can not describe that moment, seeing a new life begin, one that started from inside you.

Well, now it's a couple hours since I last wrote...this is quite a project these days! Long story short, I ended up developing pregnancy-induced hypertension, which basically means that my blood pressure was sky high and I was at risk for seziures and more fun stuff. So we were sent to the perinatal unit for recovery, instead of regular postpartum. I had to be hooked up to a magnesium drip and have blood drawn every six hours. After the first 24 hours, they removed that IV and stopped the blood work, which definitely made trips to the bathroom easier and helped me feel better too.

On Friday, we were able to come home a little after three. Since then, as Tyler said, we've been enjoying settling in as a new family. Tyler's quite the proud papa, if you can't tell, and has hated to have to return to the real world this week. I had a hard time letting him go too!

I'm off to bed for a couple hours (fingers crossed). Will check back soon!

Five days old...

Ben is changing so fast that it isn't comprehendable. He appears to be a good mix of Stacey and I, though each day he looks completely different... Here are a few more pic's.

Benjamin is Born!!!

Not sure if it was due to the full moon or that we were one day from our due date, but either way we are so happy to be able to hold our little miracle... and by miracle I mean the birth of a life is nothing short of one.

Benjamin Tyler Prentice was born 10:27am January 23 and at 8 pounds and 21 inches, it was a challenge... Stacey and Ben perservered and are both now happy and healthy while enjoying the comforts of home.

Here are a few pics and videos... there's more to come!

Full moon tonight...

Well, I really didn't expect to still be pregnant today, but am taking comfort in that our little one doesn't appear to be a "rock the boat" kind of guy and seems to agree with the medical community that predicts he will arrive later this week.

However...there is a full moon tonight. Supposedly, the gravitational pull of the moon has the same effect on your amniotic sac (which holds the baby) as it has on the tides. And that added pressure causes more full-term women's water to break then than any other time in the moon's cycle. Some hospitals actually overstaff their labor and delivery departments to account for this. Well that and for all the Type A's who think they're in labor b/c of the full moon, but really aren't. We'll see if I fall into one of those categories!

Myth Busted!

Well, it's been way more than 24 hours, and that eggplant parmesan did NOT put me into labor! It's possible that it did move things along though, b/c my doctor said yesterday that I am now 2 cm dilated and 75 percent effaced. She really thinks she's going to see me soon (take that 5% who's voted for a late delivery!), but scheduled an appointment for Wednesday to see how it's going. At that point, we'll decide for sure if I'm going to be induced on Thursday, since she's on call that day. I'd prefer to not be induced, so bring on the long walks, spicy food, etc.!

39 weeks...one to go?

Tyler was convinced yesterday that it was going to happen last night or today, so he decided not to study and that we should go on a date. So we went to DaVinci's, an Italian place that "guarantees" if you eat their eggplant parmesean you'll go into labor within 24 hours. I think they started cooking it when they saw me waddle through the door. Then we went to see "The Bucket List." It was good - kinda slow at some points, but made you think...

But alas, no baby yet. Tyler hasn't given up though, saying I've still got all day for him to be right. ;) Whatever happens, we had a really fun night, and it was one of our last child/babysitter-free dates.

I do think I had some different-feeling contractions last night though. More crampy and lower than regular Braxton Hicks. And so uncomfortable! Last night was not my best sleep, but I guess I need to get used to that, right?!

So my appt is at 3:15 today. Here's hoping that I've progressed from 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced! We'll let you know...

38 weeks and counting

Hi everyone! While some almost-moms spend the last few weeks before delivery scrubbing the floors with a toothbrush and reorganizing their sock drawers, my "nesting" has been comprised of searching for the perfect birth announcements, leaving nice little stacks of what-to-do-once-I'm-gone instructions at work each night, and setting up a venue to share the story of our baby's entrance into the world and our journey into parenthood. (Although I have to admit that I did clean out the refrigerator and categorize the shelves according to the food pyramid last night.)

So, welcome to our page! We hope this will be a easy way to stay connected with our family and friends during this exciting time in our lives. Thank you for your support and your prayers - we really appreciate both!

At my weekly check-up yesterday, I found out that everything looks good and the baby is "in position" for arrival! My doctor said that we're just waiting on him to make his move. We'll definitely keep you posted...