Marcus' early arrival

First, the picture. Pretty cute for a premie!

Thursday night around 11, Will was reading Fablehaven 2 to me so I could fall asleep. I was suddenly aware that I was leaking. I got up, raced to the bathroom, which is all of 7 feet away, and realized that my water had broken. This was not exactly what I had anticipated, being only 34 weeks along in the pregnancy, but broken my water was. I called my OB/GYN about 15 minutes later and 10 minutes after that, we were on the way to the hospital.

Once there around 12 am, the nurses realized that my water had indeed broken and I was going to be staying there and delivering a baby sometime sooner than we all would have hoped. Luckily, my OB was on call and at the hospital that night! Anyway, my contractions started not long after getting there and I really am not a fan of them.

There were a couple of complications, like Marcus really hating contractions as well. His heart rate would decline for while after any set of more than 2 or 3 in close proximity. I would then turn one way or the other until he was "happy" again. Because these declines could happen because of the umbilical cord being pinched, I was given an IV-catheter thing into the uterus to help him have enough fluid to float in. Two words, not fun. After that fun procedure, I opted for the epidural I planned on. (This was about 6:30 or so and I was 3 cm dilated)

I don't remember the timing of things, but I do know that 10:45 or so I was a 5 and by 11:30 I had progressed to a 9. About 30 minutes after that I was "complete." So not to have undue stress happen for me or Marcus, we waited for him to come down rather than me try to push him out. So 90 minutes later, I was just starting to push. So, at 2:28 Marcus was born, weighing 3 lbs 13 oz and 17 3/4 inches long.

He is doing remarkably well. As of this post, he has only lost 1 oz and has taken all food by mouth. He is able to eat "ad lib" meaning that we don't have to limit the amount he gets each feeding. They are also adding "human milk fortifier" to put an additional 4 (yes, four) calories per ounce into his/my milk. Marcus does eat better when the nurses feed him, but they are said to be able to get a rock to eat and I have never tried to get a rock to eat.

Marcus currently has an additional whiff of oxygen to help his saturation levels, which tend to go down after a feeding. I think his body just gets too tired and needs help one way or another. Since he could go home on oxygen, but not with a feeding tube, I think he has chosen wisely.

Yesterday however, there was a period of time without any tubes on him, just monitoring leads. That is when we got the first picture here and also our first family picture with me in street clothing, as seen below.