On his birthday Gus woke up with the sniffles for the first time, and he is still getting over that cold.
He has taken a few "steps" of crawling on all fours, but for the most part he crawls on his elbows and gets from point A to point "hey you can't touch this" really quick.
I miss the peaceful diaper changes on his changing table because lately it has been like WWE SmackDown with the twisting and turning and pulling and kicking.
We've found him standing on the crib a couple of times, so it is time to lower it, but because he is starting to pick himself up we got him an activity table and he loves it.
He stopped babbling, will only have a day or another here and there when he "talks", mostly now he says "aaaaahhh", but he is clearly understanding meaning of certain words now, and we even think he says "aaahhhh" for "Agua" (water in portuguese). :P
The stats: he is about 19 lbs and 27 inches long.
Halloween was such a busy fun day. In the morning mom went for the swimming class for the first time (it was supposed to be a dad thing but dad wasn't feeling good in the morning), and mommy loved it, we can see Gus enjoying each class more and more.
Than we carved a pumpkin (actually mommy's first one) and Gus liked helping with the sliminess.
And for the evening, Gus had this spider costume (thanks Joe and Laura), and we took pictures at Sears with it (will post when I get them), but we ended up getting this skeleton onesie because it was so hot. We went to the Halloween event at the local police department and we think Gus had a good time. They had a balloon guy and Gus got - you guessed - a frog!
This has been one of his new trends, cute poses on his hands when he is in his high chair. Problem is, he does that while eating too, and since the bibs don't cover his arms feedings are requiring full change of clothes and wipe-downs.
He has also been giving kisses, I love me some "Snuggle-berry pie". :)
Wow, it feels like as the months go by, time goes by even faster... and Gus keeps on growing, he is about 26 1/2 inches long and weighs around 19 pounds. He scoots but hasn't locked in one method yet, sometime he scoots and rolls, sometimes pushes with his legs, sometimes pulls himself with his arms, but is definetely on the move and we will be babyproofing this weekend (hopefully!).
We took him to the zoo for his birthday but I don't think he enjoyed as much as I expected. I thought he'd love to watch the animals because he is really aware even of squirrels when we go for a walk, but I guess he was tired. He still is not a good napper and fell asleep on dad at the very end only because he was exausted. At least he wasn't too fussy and we still had a good time.
Here he is, first thing in the morning:
We've been keeping Gus busy on the weekends because he seems so bored at home.
Last sunday we made it to the Fall Festival at the church and he liked riding in the little train (well, that was pretty much the only thing he could do there, so we rode 3 times), but he enjoyed seeing all the buzz.
Monday I took the the day off because we had carpet installed in the new room and to go away from the smell for story time at the library. We never saw Gus so happy, it was great!
Our little fishy had his first swim lesson today and loved it! In fact, I don't know who enjoyed it most, if it was him or daddy. :) The teacher was great, and daddy and Gus even did the hokey pokey, too funny! It will be a total of 8 lessons at the Y on saturdays, and we are already looking forward to the next one. Check out the videos too.
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On a side note, being there made mommy want to go back really bad to the workout classes, but right now I feel it would cut down on the time I have with Gus. New Year's resolution, maybe?
Uncle Jack did this, showing off his photoshop skills. :P
Also yesterday Grandma Sue and Aunt Mary came to visit, and brought this very cool graduation gift for Dad:
Gus got his first two teeth, the bottom front ones, which started to break through the skin (or at least it's when I noticed) yesterday.
I should have known, he was just not being himself last week, grumpy, fighting the naps like crazy, night wakings, trouble nursing, you name it - I was really getting frustrated and at a loss.
I wasn't checking his gums because during his 6 months appointment the doctor said they were far away. I should have realized 2 weeks is a long time at this point. I actually found them by accident, he was being very fussy and I just ended up putting my finger on his mouth to let him suck on it, and that is when I felt the serrated edges of the teeth. Later in the day we went for a walk and I saw them and they even show in the picture:
SOoooo... I am glad they showed up and I am hoping that is the explanation for his behavior lately, but sheeshhh.... is it going to be like this for every tooth? Yikes.
Ooops... Gus turning 6 months was not only about getting vaccines.
He is able to sit up on his own and really doesn't fall down anymore but we have to be close by because he throws himself back sometimes really hard. But he did great when we went to get his pictures taken:
That day we stopped by the play area at the mall and he loved to see all the kids running around, I have to find something for him to do with other kids.
He is babling a lot and clearly says da-da, I haven't really caught a good ma-ma yet, but I love to hear anything he has to say, even his screeches. :)
Sleeping is becoming more challenging. He rolls easy from back to tummy but mostly not the other way, so if he does that during the night sometimes he wakes up crying and doesn't go back to sleep without one of us rocking him. Also the already short naps he takes are becoming more sporadic and he is fighting it harder to fall asleep. I really hope this is just a phase that will pass soon.
It is official, Gus ate out for the first time this saturday at Sweet Tomatoes. We went there to celebrate vohvoh's birthday. It was time for him to eat and he would would not nurse there - too distracted. After trying mashing some cantaloupe and that not working at all, we decided let's just eat quickly and go home. One of the soups was vegetarian yellow split pea soup. When I tried it, it had a really light curry flavor and it looked like just like his peas at home. So we went for it, mixed a little bit of water and he liked it! =)
Gus loving bananas in the mesh feeder:
Gus did good in the 3 hour trip over an back from Grandma's and had a busy saturday: He was excited to see cousin Kaitlyn, play in the exersaucer, touch the dogs, spend time with his Grandma, aunts and uncles. He even met his aunt AnnMarie with his cousin baby Landon who is due in november.
Lots of playing and little sleeping got him way off his napping schedule which resulted in bad sleeping at night which meant cranky Gus on Sunday. He was okay in the morning and during the only nap he took, Grandma Sue sewed this book I got for him. I feel sorry to come up with a project and end up having her do it, this happened with his first blanket too... but she says she enjoys it, so hey! I really appreciate it, especially because I lack the time and patience nowadays. She does it with such love and care, I am sure Gus will treasure these when he gets older. Here is the picture of the page where she embroidered his name:
Monday, at home, Gus did his catch up: the poop as discussed in the previous post, and in the afternoon he had the longest nap in months, over 3 hours straight. He usually naps 45, 50 minutes tops! We were worried and kept checking on him, and when he finally woke up he was in a great mood. We then set up the pool outside again and it seems he is starting to enjoy it, reaching for toys, splashing the water and so on. It was a great weekend, and not only about poo after all. :P
Yes, my life has been so eventful these days that I find poo interesting enough to post about. Gus is a very regular, once a day type of guy in that department. I guess after peas, lentils and carrots his system had to shut down for an upgrade. :)
So after 3 days of no poo we stated to worry a bit. We were at grandma Sue's house for the weekend and we thought that plus being tired from not napping well was making Gus a bit cranky.
At her suggestion we gave him a little water with karo. And then next day - labor day, Habemos poop! Habemos poop 3 times! And sooo stinky! It is definetely a new stage, mommy now is a little grossed out about the poopy diapers... :S
I couldn't resist adding an entry with this title, I loved it when I saw it in a peace sign onesie. :P
He adapted to the cereal better, so we thought we'd give peas a... try. This is the messiest peas face I got.
Bath time is one of Gustavo's favorite times, so we figured he'd like a pool. So sunday we were going to set it up outside in the backyard, but since the weather was looking stormy we just put it in our "ex-porch-forever-under-construction-hopefully-one-day-will-be-an-office" room.
In the beggining he has not really liking it but didn't cry, and once we put him in the float he was enjoying it more. If the weather is good we'll try again this weekend and hopefully he'll like it better at a warmer setting.
Tuesday Gus turned 5 months and as usual it is an excuse for vohvoh to bake a cake "for Gus". ;)
He still is not good at rolling and I keep trying to practice with him, but he just doesn't get what to do with his arms yet. So I am thinking he might skip crawling, we'll see. He does love to stand up and we pretty much have to make him sit down, because I am afraid he'll get bow legged standing up so much.
It has been a month he has had the jumperoo and he could be the poster child for that thing. He got pretty well coordinated "dancing", his legs go left-right-left-right... We always get a kick out of watching him on it. :D
And our little guy keeps getting bigger, 17 lbs and 26" long. Mommy loves his chunky thighs. :)
At almost 5 months, last saturday we decided to have Gus start eating rice cereal. This was mainly because during the week when he gets a bottle of breast milk in the afternoon sometimes he seems hungry afterwards.
We did it saturday and sunday and he seemed okay with it - definetely not loving it, and he only really ate a couple of spoons.
I think he knew what we were up to because this week I was told he seemed totally satisfied after each bottle, apparently he did not anymore of that goop! :P
Yesterday Gus got to attend daddy's big day! We were worried how he would do because those cerimonies can be long and boring but he did great. Well, he had his grandma and vohvoh there, and also his aunt Vicky. She really is a baby whisperer, whenever he started fussing she was able to calm him down - thank you aunt Vicky!
Here is his Class of 09 picture, and here more pictures.
Gus had a really busy day today with going to the aiport in the morning and doctor's office in the afternoon.
It had been two weeks after his 4 month appointment and that was the day the doctor noticed this "diaper rash" on his front area. The doctor dismissed as possible allergy to something I ate and not to worry about it.
I thought it was maybe soy milk I had been drinking, but two weeks later the rash would not go away and was riding up his belly. So I decided to switch pediatricians because even though I liked the doctors there I thought they don't address an issue as quickly as they should and we were never too wild about the staff. Also I read about types of rashes and from the descriptions I thought he should have known those were not likely food allergy.
So far so good at the new office. The doctor described the problem as sensitive skin and prescribed hidrocortizone for 5 days. My mother said I had the same issues as an infant so it turns out Gus really is my clone, down to my skin problems... :s
Last weekend Gus got to spend 3 days with his Grandma Sue and he loves the extra attention. One cute thing he started doing when she was here was he started with these very poutty lips. She started calling him lippy, which we thought was pretty funny and we laughed. In turn, that made Gus think it was funny and crack a smile and almost laugh. So he got in this cycle pout/laugh that was soo cute and funny and kept us all laughing for a while. :D
And today we went to pick up his other grandma (VohVoh) at the airport. He smiled when he saw her and she says it is because he remembers her. ;)
In any case, he was happy to see her, here are pictures of his smiles at the airport.
He laughed! And I consider it my first "dated" first because...
Rolling over: even though I was there when it happened I was so zoned in with taking pictures that Dad had to tell me it happened, so I count as his first.
Smiles: since babies have involuntary ones in the beggining I am not sure when they started to happen on purpose.
Sleep through the night: I didn't note the date, maybe out of shock of it suddenly happening and fear of it being a fluke (and thank God and knock on wood he has pretty much been doing it ever since).
This is how it happened: yesterday evening I thought I'd give the Moby carrier another try - I had stopped using it about a month ago because Gus was not liking it anymore. So I go in front of the mirror to put him in and he felt so snug and secure and seemed so happy in it that I started to jiggle a bit and sing-say "Moby Gus, Moby Gus". That gave him the big smiles, and I guess that and being in front of the mirror seeing the smiling baby made him laugh! I kept doing it and he kept laughing until he got hiccups from it... It was one of the cutest things I've seen so far! And we were able to "reproduce it" today, but it took a lot more work (blowing raspberrys + jumping up and down + us laughing + mirror). A workout I tell you, but totally worth it! :)
Gus went for his appointment today and everything looks fine, he is doing everything that is expected of him at this age and is growing great, so we will likely wait 'till 6 months to start solids. His weight is 15 lb 8 oz and he is 25.5 inches long, both in the 75th percentile, head circunference in the 50th percentile.
He took his vaccinnes today and cried with tears which breaks my heart, and cried all the way home (he doesn't usually like the car seat anyway, so adding the pain in his thighs to that doesn't help). But he was ok as soon as we got home and is sleeping right now. Hopefully he'll just go through the night like that.
We went grocery shopping sunday and as usual end up getting something for Gus. This time it as a $2 rattle. Guess what? It is his favorite toy, over the $80 jumperoo... :P
It has the great feature "can be put in mouth" - which is the one he cares about the most right now. :D
Saturday Gus turned 4 months old and we think he had a very nice happy birthday. We got him a jumperoo and he already seemed excited about it while dad was putting it together. And when we first put him on it we were talking to grandma Socorro via Skype and she got to see it "live", which was pretty cool.
Later we were doing tummy time, just taking pictures of him and I was clicking away and he rolled over for the first time, right at his 4 month old birtnday! It was funny because I didn't even realize at first, Dad was the one that said "he just rolled over" and I was like "oh, yeah, I guess he did"! I reviewed the pictures and it was there.. hehehe. We think it was kind of an accident because he hasn't done it again since - he still doesn't like to be on his tummy for too long and after a little while just buries his face.
We go to the doctor for his appointment on wednesday - not looking forward to the shots. At least we'll know how big he has gotten. He looks way bigger and is getting too long for his 3-6 month sleep-n-plays. How heavy depends on how tired I am... ;)
Last thursday July 9th was our 10th wedding anniversary.
First, we got a new camera which we've been enjoying by taking tons of pictures of Gus (as if we were not taking enough pictures before). We got some very funny goofy faces.
And to celebrate we took a few days off to spend together at home and we went to Rainbow Springs over the weekend. It was Gustavo's first big outing and he did great. We took him to K.P. Hole County Park on Saturday and dipped his feet in the water. Next day we went to the Rainbow Springs State Park - we skipped the water there but took a nice walk around. We had a great time and can't wait to go back when he is old enough to go tubing!
No, we didn't do anything special or went anywhere for the 4th... I am just sitting here, dreading these fireworks, thinking it is a miracle Gus hasn't woken up with them yet. Some of them are pretty close and very loud. UGH! Whoever invented these didn't have a sleeping baby around...
I uploaded some pics of Gus in the high chair. I used to have him sit by us whenever we are eating at his bouncy seat, but it just didn't feel right to have him so close to the floor. So since he is holding his head a little better, we set him in his high chair and he seems to like it better! He is still exclusively breastfeeding though. :)
Oh, we also gave him a "test-drive" on the walker, he seemed to enjoy it a bit but I think he is still too small, he was basically leaning against the front and his feet could not touch the ground yet. We'll try again in a couple of weeks.
And to take my mind of the d*** fireworks I "andywarholized" a picture we took today, I think it came out decent for using "Paint"!
On Father's day we went to Sears to get family portraits. Gus would not smile for the camera for anything, he was just too curious with the new surroundings and kept looking around. But we can't complain, he did great even with the outfit changes and we love the end result. After that we planned to hang out at Crane's Roost but it was just too hot a day, so we just chilled at home. It was great to have such a relaxing family day. Here is Gus and dad with his "Daddy is my super hero" outfit. :)
Gus turned 3 months on the 18th, but only today did we have time to weigh, measure and take "3 month" pictures with him. Yeah, I am crazy and have to have this ritual with tons of pictures, but he did great (even after a trip to target and home depot!).
He is about 14 to 15 pounds, can't be sure with my crappy scale at home and pretty much 24 inches long. Growing so much, so fast!
Oh, mommy also found the "black and white" feature on the camera, so here is my favorite from that:
Gus is not too much into tummy time, but last tuesday I propped him up with the boppy and he enjoyed it for a couple of minutes. This is way better then crying right away! This worked a little bit yesterday too.
We also get a kick out of him at the changing table, we have these shelves with stuffed animals, and he is now always very amused by the feet of the bear hanging down, his smiles are so cute!
I am also much happier with his trend of sleeping from about 9pm to 5am. Even though 5 am is really early for me, some days he goes right back to sleep until like 7, some not. But I can't complain - so refreshing to sleep 6-7 hours in a row! :)
Yesterday while mommy was changing Gus he discovered one of the frogs she painted for him. He was talking to it and laughing at it. It was so funny and we were lucky to both be here for it.
Last weekend Gus took his first trip to Grandma Sue and Aunt Vicky's house. It is a 3 hour car ride and Gus is not a fan of the carrier. He was awake and happy when it started but had a melt down 30 minutes into the trip. We had to stop to calm him down and after that was great - he slept the rest of the way. The way back was hard though, had to stop a few times and he didn't sleep even after nursing.
He had a great time there - Grandma Sue and Aunt Vicky are great with him and they always make sure to make things perfect for us. It was fun to watch him with Kaitlyn (and her bit of jealousy - so cute!). And of course they always send us home with a ton of stuff. Again we appreciate! Thanks Heather, Vicky and Sue for everything!
While there he also met cousin Heather and aunt Kim. That's all aunts and uncles on his dad's side, so now he needs to meet his uncle Fernando on my side. We hope we can do this soon! :)
Memorial day weekend was busy and sad for Gus. Saturday we got a visit from uncle Jack and his wife all the way from Ohio. There are some great pictures of Grandma Sue with Gus from this visit.
Sunday we went out to eat and later to the airport to drop Grandma Socorro. She had some issues come up suddenly and had to go back unexpectedly. Gus will for sure miss her, so will we as she is a great help, but she should be back as soon as possible. We got some pictures of Gus wearing "long jeans" for her as she is always amused by him wearing long pants. :)
Here is a picture of Gus predictable smile - we take a walk every morning and for over a week now he smiles and laughs at the car seat sun shade (not the toybar, go figure...)
Gus had his 2 month appointment last thursday. He more than doubled his birth weight at 12 lbs 11 oz and is measuring 22 inches, so he is a little short for his weight. I guess mommy has been feeding him too often... ;)
He also had his shots, 3 pokes, ouch! That made for an interesting evening... I felt so bad for the guy, one of the shots made his thigh really sore. :(
Apart from that, being 2 months is fun! He really started to enjoy his toys, he will play in the baby gym for a good hour, and is starting to like the bouncy seat and swing. But the ceiling fan in our living room is still one of his favorite friends! He always likes staring at the black blades contrasting against the white ceiling.
We are also enjoying this age a lot, he is in a good mood more often and we can really get him to smile and coo at us. :)
Here is one of my favorite pictures from this period, Smoky watching over Gus playing:
I got a great smile from Gus for mother's day! He has been smiling for a little while now and I've been taking tons of pictures trying to catch one on camera, and on Mother's day there was this one of him smiling at me! :D
We had cake at home, late lunch at Jason's Deli and a very nice walk at Crane's Roost park at the end of the day. It was an absolute gorgeous day. :)
Yesterday was 6 weeks for Gus. I was dreading this because it meant I would go back to work. Well, turned out it wasn't that bad, and it actually gave me a feeling of being normal again. Nonetheless by 5 o'clock I am definetely missing him a lot and ready to go back home to him.
The challenge will be putting a couple of hours at home because it seems to me he is awake and usually cranky all day long. Thank God for my mother or this would be impossible...
I uploaded the pictures of his 5th week, check out how much he has grown:
Week 1
Week 5
Saturday Gustavo turned 1 month old and we went to Oasis (cuban restaurant) to celebrate. It was the first time we went out to a restaurant with him. I was hoping he would sleep through it, but he wanted to enjoy it too I guess. ;) He was ok when we got there but got fussy and we had to hurry home. Later we took a walk around the lake and fed the ducks, but he again fussed when we tried to take his chair pictures.
Also sunday grandma Sue came visit with Aunt Mary (who made him a wonderful quilt). He fussed most of the time and got us all worried.
We should have known it would be that way, for the past week his sleep pattern has been deteriorating, he grunts, seems to be in pain and even cries while sleeping. So he is upset and very demanding most of the day. We called the ped yesterday (monday) and he got started on mylicon. He seems a little better today - fingers crossed.
For Easter Grandma Socorro made Gus a cake. Mom wanted to take pictures of him with his outfits and with the cake, but Gus was not up to Mom's plans... so he was not really happy. Sorry Gus, we will make it up to you next year. ;)
Also Dad gave him his first bottle of breast milk, I am not sure how that will work out since he chugged the whole thing in like 2 seconds (so it did not soothe him like nursing usually does).
Yesterday we went to Joe and Laura's to meet Teagan and she is soooo beautiful! It was great to see how happy they are too! :) Laura looks really good, she seems to be handling that first week much better than I did. I felt like a zombie (and really, still kinda do...)
And what a difference a couple of weeks make at this point! Teagan is only 13 days younger than Gus but I was amazed to see how much smaller she is. I couldn't believe he too was that small just 2 weeks ago. I knew he had grown, but did not realize how much until I saw little Teagan. Cliche but so true, time flies with the little ones...
Yesterday Gus was 3 weeks old, and from the 2 week appointment the doctor asked us to call if his cord stump hadn't fallen yet. So we did, and we had to go back today. He is already 8 lbs 1 oz!! That is over a pound in a week! She treated the cord with silver nitrate and said it should fall within a week, it is taking forever and driving me crazy.
The good thing is being over 8 lbs we thought we'd start graduating Gus from new born to 0-3 clothes, and took some chair pictures.
April 4th was Gustavo's original due date. I was so attached to it and really believed he would arrive today - even though it is very rare for babies to arrive right on the due date.
Well, he is 2 weeks and and 3 days old and the detail of the date does not matter, we are so happy he is here and doing great. We have some more pictures of him hanging out with dad, I also have been obsessed trying to get good tiny hands and feet shots. :)
Oh, Gustavo's friend Teagan Ripple did arrive late on the 31st. Congratulations Joe and Laura, she is adorable!
So today I get an email that Laura is in the hospital and her water broke. I am so excited for them!
Gus is being very good so I've been able to take it easy and actually catch up with updating his baby book, all these journal updates here (since his birth!) and I am constantly checking for updates on Baby Ripple. She should be here anytime now! :)
Today Gus finally met cousin Kaytlin! She was sooo cute meeting "the baby", check out the really cute pictures. She also had fun with Gus' chair, we put the pictures in the chair section for comparison.
Grandma Sue and Aunt Vicky also brought some new born clothes that actually fit Gus, I was so worried he would arrive big that had hardly any on that size. The 0-3 months are still huge on him! So thanks Grandma!
Today we had a visit from very pregnant Laura and Joe. She is due the day after Gustavo's estimated due date and looks very ready for her little girl. It must have been hard for her to come over so we really appreciate the visit, the gifts and the wonderful pictures they took of Gus.
We hope "Cricket" comes soon!
We've been busy keeping up with Gus schedule, taking pictures and so on.
Tuesday we thought he was a little jaundiced and went to the doctor. We saw Dr. Alber who was really nice. Gus had 15 billirubin, which is a little high, and he had us come back to see if the levels were moving and which way. Good news is he was already 6lbs 4oz, 2oz up from his birth weight.
So it is back to the Dr. on Wednesday, this time we saw Dr. Hillock who was also great. The levels were slightly higher (15.7), and we were trying to do the prescribed 10 minutes of indirect sun, which is hard to find at home. That was a good excuse to take Gus on the stroller for the first time, but since it was drafty we just went to the corner and back.
Another re-check with Dr. Hillock on Thursday showed the billi at 15.4, so since it is stable she said he should be better on his 2 week appointment, so we will try to keep up the sun until then. Gus weight was 6lbs 6oz.
As a week old Gustavo received an "international registered package": a gift from Andreia (cute blanket and outfit - Thanks aunt Andreia for everything and the card!) and also a really cute gift from work, check it out:
At 5 days we took Gus first chair pictures. We will be taking those every month, it should give us a good idea of how big he is getting! :)
This morning we went for the 4 day old check up. Gustavo saw Dr. Chong and was 5 lbs 14 oz, so he did not lose too much from his birth weight. Interesting was he measured 18.75 inches, down from the 20 inches they measured at the hospital. I am attributing to his cone head coming down from birth.
In the afternoon Gus got to meet Grandma Sue and Aunt Vicki. Since dad is in such a hurry to see Gus walking, they brought a walker and other toys. Thanks Grandma Sue and Aunt Vicki! A few more pictures here.
The night from 3/18 to 3/19 was very restless at the hospital. Gustavo was fine, it was the hospital staff coming in every 5 minutes that bothered us.
My doctor had suggested I stay another night but after the first night experience I said I'd rather not. So she said as long as the pediatrician is ok with it, you can go home. It felt like forever waiting for the pediatrician to come discharge Gus, it was already after 2 pm when he came in.
After that, we had to wait for the nurse to fill out paperwork, and finally around 4 pm we got to come home with our little guy.
March 19 was also cousin Gabriel's birth date! Since Gus ended up being 1 day older, he says: Welcome to the world cousin Gabriel!
Tuesday (St Patrick's day) at work I thought I was having braxton hicks when I was really in early labor. I had been having those "cramps" sporadically since the night before.
When I got home from work I was still in denial that it was labor and started going to contractionmaster.com to time them.
David came to have dinner with me at home at 10 pm. We called the hospital and since I explained the contractions were not exactly 5-1-1 she suggested drink water and lay down to see if gets better. My husband went back to work.
Going to bed just made them more painful, and at 1:30 in the morning I called him and said I wanted to go to the hospital. When he got home I could barelly walk to the car during the contractions. We got there a little after 2 AM and in triage I was 8 cm dilated already, the nurse said I'd start pushing soon. I said I wanted an epidural, they took me to the L&D room and the epidural came maybe 40 min afterwards. I really needed it because the whole time they were asking me questions to fill out forms and I could barelly think straight and answer anything through the pain and they were really frequent at this point.
The anesthesiologist came and asked if I was sure I wanted it you've been through the worse on your own... I said YES! He did something that gave me almost instant relief, and it was much better because I could concentrate.
Shortly after I started pushing, they added pitocin to speed the contractions (they slowed a bit with the epidural). I think I pushed like 40 minutes, and he was born 4:58 AM.
All was not as planned: I was going to try without the epidural, but I guess the speed of things and me having "the shakes" scared me into getting it. I didn't want a mirror, but when my husband suggested it I let it be and ended up thinking it was amazing to see him come. I got a small tear - but after a few days it is like it didn't happen. All in all labor was not as bad as I was expecting, I thought I'd be scared and was not and as soon as he came out to me was like there was nothing else going on. :)
We got to the hospital in such a hurry that we left bag with cell phones and cameras in the car. The bad: no pictures right at birth, the good: we really enjoyed the whole thing just the two of us. :) It was truly the most amazing experience of our lives.
