The Rodes': January 2011

After all the suspense and waiting, Graycin is finally here!! My water started leaking about about 6:35am on Thursday, January 6th 2011. We both finished our showers and packed our bag. Zeb packed our two foster children's bag and we made phone calls to the family that is taking care of the kids for a a couple weeks, and to our parents and a few friends. My Mom and Dad jumped in the car and headed to Boise, picking up my sister for a caravan along the way, with high hopes to be here before the baby was born! We got to the hospital a little before 8 am and headed to labor and delivery. Since we were pretty sure my water was about to burst they admitted us and kindly took the 'leaking' process to a full blown 'rupture.' Before we knew it, they had us walking the halls trying to let nature speed up the process while they got us a room and got all the technicalities done. We were assigned to room 2401 and that became our home for the next 10 hours. For awhile Zeb and I hung out and watched sports center (imagine that) while my contractions slowly increased on their own. At about 10am we starter Pitocin to speed up and strengthen my contractions. They got going pretty quickly after that. For most women and their first pregnancy, you dilate about a centimeter an hour on Pitocin. I, however, can do nothing normally and in about two and a half hours went from a 3 to a 10! At 9 cm dilated I got my epidural and that was FANTASTIC! Zeb's Mom got there about 11:30 or so and hung out with me while Zeb ran to get lunch before all the fun began. My Mom and Dad and sister walked in at about 12:45pm and I started pushing a little after 1:00pm. My Dad provided entertainment from the other side of the curtain for most of my labor and that kept everyone laughing and a little more relaxed. After 2.5 hours of pushing and a break, and then another half hour of pushing while the doctor tried to suction our little man out, it was decided that his head just wasn't going to make it past the iliac spine in my pelvis. So, the process and prep began for a c-section. Graycin James Rodes was born at 6:35pm (just 12 hours after all this began). He was 8lbs, 15oz and 21 inches long. His 14 inch head (which is not that big) had a pretty good size blister and bruise from the vacuum on it. His blood sugar was fairly low when he was born and we battled that for about 24 hours. Then on Friday evening he started turning a little yellow, due to the bruise and his body trying to fight all those dead red blood cells. So, he spent all of Friday night and most of Saturday under the billirubin lights. We have been free and clear since then! Welcome baby Graycin! We are SO excited that you are here!