Well, as most people know now, almost 3 weeks ago on Saturday, April 29 we went in to the hospital at quarter to 7 to be induced. I’m not a morning person so I was groggy, but excited. We knew there was every chance that I was going to be sent home until Tuesday though, so I was trying not to get too excited. Especially after I saw all the little viles they were going to be using to take blood samples.

I got checked in and situated in my room. They took blood and thankfully numbed my wrist before putting the IV in. I contracted until about 6 p.m. and they decided to take me off the pitocin and keep me over night instead of having me go home. They woke me up at 3:30 that morning to put me back on the pitocin and break my water. From that moment on I was having serious contractions. (They hadn’t hurt the day before, but now they did). I got three doses of pain medication through my IV. The first two worked really well until they wore off, but the 3rd really didn’t help. I had already decided it was time for the epidural when the nurse came in and said my doctor said it was time.

So I got the epidural and was about ready to tell off the man that administered it. I could not figure out how to curve my spine out and keep my shoulders down at the same time, especially with a stomach full of baby. He kept telling me that it wouldn’t work if I didn’t get in the right position. He made it seem like I was doing it on purpose. But anyway, we got it done and I started to feel great. At one point I asked my Mom why there was a rubber mat on my leg, but it turned out it WAS my leg and it just felt like rubber to me!

At 5:30 that night after laboring since 3:30 a.m., with no food I might add, they decided I wasn’t progressing as much/fast as I should so I would be having a c-section. At 6:11 p.m. Brenden Patrick Burleson was born!

I ended up having all the things I said for 9 months that I didn’t want to have…I was induced, I had an epidural, and I had a c-section. But as the time came for each of them, it turned out I was actually very greatful for them. It’s funny how things turn out.

Brenden is a strong healthy boy. He’s been to the geneticist to see about his right hand that didn’t finish forming and she found that nothing else was wrong with him and it’s just one of those things. He’s had some trouble with eating and therefore weight gain, but that is improving greatly and hopefully when we got to the doctor on Monday he will be back up to birth weight. If he didn’t look so darn much like Patrick I’d have to be concerned that he was switch at birth because both the Romanski’s and the Burleson’s are eaters! He’s also had to have a small clip to his tongue because he had what’s called tongue tie where it was connected much closer to the front of his mouth than it should have been and it was affecting his eating.

For mother’s day Patrick took me out to dinner while Kelli watched Brenden for an hour. And I got a card for “mom” from Brenden!

This is Brenden’s favorite way to sleep. We call it touchdown baby.

This is a wierd angle, but I wanted to catch a picture of him with his eyes open.

This is after his first bath. He did not enjoy it.