The moment you've been waiting for!

This post will probably be rather long, but it's alright. This entry is dedicated to my little man Ivan Paul Brown.

The last weeks of my pregnancy were uneventful. I had an appointment with a midwife on post, because I really wanted to have a drug free waterbirth. I went in, was 1cm dilated, and 25% effaced. Didn't look like anything was going to happen anytime soon!

On Friday, 30 July, Ivan was moving a little less than normal. I waited it out on Saturday, he was moving a little, but nowhere near what he usually did. Most of that night I stayed up, hoping that he would just go crazy and kick the crap out of me, but he didn't. We headed into labor and delivery on Sunday morning, 1 August. I was hooked up to the machines, and everything looked great! Well, almost everything.

Our little boy was breech. Very breech. He had one foot shoved down as far as it would go, and the other was crossed over at the knee. After quite a few tears we decided that the following Tuesday, 3 August, I would go back into L&D and the doctors would attempt a manual version. For those who don't know- a version is where they try to flip baby from the outside. It has some pretty high risks, including death of the baby. If the version didn't work, I would be having a c-section ASAP. I don't know how I managed to make it through that day and Monday, but I did. Tuesday morning rolled around, and I was TERRIFIED.

I called into L&D a little before 5am to see when I should come in for the version attempt. We promptly left the house and got to the hospital at 0630. I was hooked up to some monitors, got my IV started, and a dose of antibiotics, just incase they had to operate- that way the drugs would already be taking effect. We met with the anesthesologist, who had decided to give me a spinal instead of an epidural, once again- just incase.

I was wheeled to the OR doors at approximately 0900, where I got up, walked to the OR table, and hunched over to get my spinal shot. I knew deep down that I would need it in the end, because Ivan was so far along- they had less than a 50% chance of flipping him. Luke was brought in to be with me during the version- he sat down at the head of the table at 0920 or so, and the version was started at 0924. The two fabulous docs attempted to flip my precious child three different times, but he wasn't moving an inch. His heartrate dropped from 130 to 80 and they couldn't bring it back up.

"Scrub up." I remember hearing those words, even though I was crazy drugged. I never really had a chance to be scared, but I knew that in a few short minutes I would be meeting my baby boy. I couldn't really cry, I was more in shock that this was really about to happen. I held onto Luke's hand for all it was worth, and I prayed. I prayed that I would be alright, that whatever happened would be right. I prayed that my baby would come out screaming, and that he would be healthy.

Remember- they started trying to flip him at 0924. At 0927 the anesthesiologist told Luke to stand up and watch his son come into the world. He stood up, said "It's a boy!" and then I heard the greatest sound. My baby screamed and screamed and screamed. I cried a little more, and then Luke brought him over. He was beautiful.

I got stapled back together, moved onto another bed, and then we had to wait for an xray tech to come in to check my belly- they didn't even have a chance to do a count of everything, so they had to make sure nothing was left in there. Lucky for me- they got everything out on the first try. After they were done, Luke brought Ivan back to me, where I got to hold him for the first time. He screamed a little more, and then just looked at me..like he knew who I was.

A lot happened after that, but it's pretty much the standard hospital stay. I was up and walking within 8 hours of a major abdominal surgery, which really impressed the nurses. I was feeling good, I had my baby, and my husband was still by my side...even though I wasn't pretty and pregnant anymore. I was drugged, had a flabby belly, and could only cry about it all.

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday morning. I walked out of the hospital with no help, and we headed to the house. Ivan is a dream, Luke is a great daddy, Wrinkles isn't crazy, and I'm recovering like a champ.

I got my staples out today, they said everything looks beautiful. The only bad thing is that everything below the waist is swollen, and probably won't go down for awhile. I'm fine with getting up constantly to check on him, to feed him, and just to be a mom. I still haven't taken off my hospital bracelets, and it's been 4 days. I'm still in a dream state, and I'm just not ready to take them off. Yes, they're going in the baby book, but still..They're comforting right now, I guess.

That's all for now, I need to go corrall the dog, and feed my baby. He's really mine!

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers everyone! I can't wait to share him with all you folks back home, and just to really get into the swing of being a real family.