Corey Allan Fleming is born!

Tuesday morning, at around 4:30 AM, I felt my water break. I had hoped for a sure sign that I was in labor, and that was certainly a sure sign! I woke Damian up (no small feat, given that he's had to sleep with earplugs in ever since I started to snore like a freight train). He said, "What? What?" I yelled "MY WATER BROKE", and then he flew out of bed at rocket speed. We called Hopkins, spoke to Dr. Peterson, whipped around the house, and arrived at Hopkins around 5:30 AM.

They set me up in a labor & delivery room, and then the fun began. I had originally wanted a completely natural birth, and this is what I told the anesthesiogist, Dr. Small, not long after my labor began. He looked at me with some skepticism, but at that point the contractions weren't too bad, and I thought I could do it. At this point I was on a monitor and stuck in bed. By 10:30, I was 3 cm, only allowed to lay on my left side (the baby wasn't tolerating me on my back - his heart rate dropped too much), and the contractions were fierce enough that I said, "Forget this - get me Dr. Small, NOW!" That's when I had the epidural, which turned out to be a fantastic decision.

I was in labor until 6 PM, when I was finally allowed to push. For an hour, I pushed, but he made no progress. The baby's head was down, but his face was looking up, and he wouldn't descend. After a solid hour of pushing and no progress, the doctors advised a C-section. They thought it was necessary, given his heart condition, so Damian and I talked it over briefly, and we decided to go ahead and have the surgery.

It was the most frightening event of my life. Because of the pregnancy hormones and all the anesthesia, and the low temp in the OR, I was trembling uncontrollably, and they had to strap my arms down. Not to mention my fear for the baby. But, after about 10 minutes of surgery, Corey Allan Fleming was born at 8:32 PM! He was 7 lbs, 13 oz, 21 1/4 inches long. We heard his cry, and it was truly the sweetest sound I've ever heard in all my life. He was blue at first but when we eventually got to see him he was pink! It was all we could have hoped for. Damian and I looked into each other's eyes and just cried out of relief and happiness. The surgical team held him over the drape so I could see him briefly, stitched me up, and sent him to the NICU.

Damian was able to go and see Corey around 10:30 PM in the NICU, after drinking a little champagne out of a plastic cup with the family. :-) It was really hard on him. First his son was in danger, and then, with the surgery, both his son and his wife were in trouble. I had to wait until the medication started to wear off, and until I started to recover and was able to move a bit, before I could see Corey. Around 1:15 AM, they took me, on the stretcher, into the NICU, and I finally got to see and touch my beautiful little guy. I couldn't believe how perfect he looked. He has Damian's nose and funny ears (which I tease him about, but I love), blue eyes, and my mom's long elegant fingers. I think he will have my eyes. It's just so hard to think of how perfect he looks and seems, when I know that his heart isn't ok.

Jenn

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