Introducing

River Lucas Bear
12-31-09*10:18 pm*8 lbs 1 oz*20 inches

My Dad called today and all he said was pictures... need more pictures. It was very dramatic, so I told him I'd do my best. I'm sure there is a more clever way to tell my birth story, but really you all just want to look at pictures of River anyway, so here's the story in a nutshell.
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I went to bed at 3 am feeling completely normal. I woke up at 4 am with contractions coming at me every 4 minutes. I think to myself, "Really, I have to do this with only an hour of sleep?" Bear comes home from work and I tell him what's happening. He says, "Really, I have to do this with no sleep?" I waited a couple hours to see if they would stop, but no, so I called my doula to come over. When she arrived, she told Bear it would be awhile and to get some sleep. To me she said, you should have gone to bed earlier. Okay, she didn't say that, but I could see it in her eyes.
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I labored at home till 6:00 pm. Hiring a doula was the smartest decision. She helped me relax muscles I was holding tight during contractions. She reminded me to change positions frequently. She even massaged my feet. The best part was having someone familiar with birth to help me decide when I should go to the hospital.
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I was dilated to an 8 when I got to the hospital. Almost over right? Wrong! I hopped in the tub for twenty minutes and got out before I couldn't get out. I was now to a 10 and it was time to push. This part is short right? Wrong! My cute little baby was stuck behind my pelvic bone and it took 3 hours of pushing to get him out. (Please refer to previous baby balloon story.) The doctor told me it was a good thing I was doing this with no medication, because if I had an epidural, I wouldn't be able to feel enough to push him out and would need a c-section. That was nice to hear, because after 19 hours of labor, I'd second guessed my "no drug" decision more than once.
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With Bear holding my hand and literally giving me strength to push when I did not have an ounce left in me, our little baby was born calm as could be. They handed him to me and he just stared right at me. They needed me to get him to cry to clear fluid from his lungs and apparently I was not rubbing him vigorously enough. I made everyone in the room burst into laughter when I made a deal with River, "You breathe and I'll bleed." I was serious. It sounded fair to me. They finally got him to cry and he filled with color and the rest is history. Magical, beautiful, wonderful history.

Our first second together. (Mama bragging moment... he latched on immediately and nursed for 45 minutes straight. Thank goodness. I prayed for a good nurser.)

Coming out of the delivery haze. Please note the blood on my arm.

Papa Bear

Ready to ride.

Sweet moves.

Nursing machine.

Mom, this hat is so lame.

Hello world.

My best James Dean.

Where's my mama?

What's the big deal?