Ronan James Has Arrived!

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, Ronan James Staat arrived at 222 am weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 8ozs and at 22 inches long. Already after only a few days (really a few minutes was all it took) he is our sweet baby. He already has lots of nicknames from his mom and dad (Peanut Butter, Macaroni, Honey Bun). Keep checking back for more pictures.

Me in labor, before going to the hospital.

I thought I should share the entire birthing story for those of you that are interested. I awoke at 5 am on Wednesday to some sharp back pain and thinking I had to go to a routine bathroom visit. While there, I thought, hmm this might be a contraction. I went back to bed for another 40 minutes or so, and then got up at 6 am, ate, told Jim that I was still having contractions, and then took a shower. While in the shower, I yelled to Jim that he should get up and take a shower too. We then started timing the contractions. When they had been about 3-5 minutes apart for about 40 minutes, I called the office. They told me to come in.

We got to the hospital about 8 am after a rather fast ride. I remember telling Jim to not take his time. I was having back contractions that were very regular and was in a fair amount of pain. When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was dilated to one and 90% effaced. This was a miracle since I was not effaced or dilated on Monday. They had us walk the hallway for an hour to get my labor going. Unfortunately, I was still only at a one and hour later. We got sent home. One good thing about this was that I was starving and so we went to eat at Wolfgangs in GR. Bad idea. Not only was I still contracting every 5 minutes or so, now the public could see me visibly contracting and everyone was thinking "What is up with this hugely pregnant lady?" We then went home. Jim cut the lawn and while he did that I paced in our house for 1.5 hrs. This must have done something because by the time we got back to the hospital at 2pm, I was dilated to 3 and 90% effaced. The doctor asked if I wanted my epidural now (yes, please!!) and then I had my water broken.

Jim and I then called our parents and relaxed. It was really a nice time. I watched tv and read a book. Jim read his ESPN the Magazine and we talked and wondered about our new baby that would be here soon. I was in no pain. Ladies, get the epidural, it was awesome. It made for a very relaxed labor. I was so amazed at how pain free it was to get placed. My IV hurt more. I apparently had a good epidural because I was still able to move and feel my legs, but could feel no pain.

Relaxing in the birthing room.

My parents arrived in the evening and Jim's parents arrived shortly thereafter. At about 11 pm, our OB decided that it was time to start pushing this baby out. I was really not prepared for what hard work this turned out to be. Jim was great. He really supported me and was there the whole time counting for me. I told him that I never wanted to hear him count to 10 again. I progressed well for an hour. The next hour or so did not go as well. I kept pushing very hard and had Pitocin (drug to make contractions harder) ramped up on high. The thing was the baby's head could not get past my pelvis. Jim could see his head, but the hard plates were not coming through. Finally after 2.5 hours of pushing, the OB said she thought that I should get a c-section.

It was about 130 in the morning on July 30, so we decided to proceed with the surgery. They got me prepped, Jim prepped, and before I knew it I was in the room with about 15 people and my epidural got cranked up. I was so sleepy that I almost fell asleep on the table while having him. All I could feel was this amazing pressure. They had a hard time getting him out since he was low in my pelvis and weighed 9.5 lbs. The doctor kept saying "I think he's going to beat his mom" because she knew how much I weighed when I was born (9 lbs 7oz). He did beat me.

Our screaming boy.

Jim was supposed to call out what the baby was, but he couldn't tell with all the people in the way and I was freaking out a little and finally the doctor called out "I can see some boy parts". So we had our little boy at 222 am on 7/30/09.

Dad cutting the cord.

We then went to the recovery for about an hour. Jim was able to tell the grandparents the good news. I kept falling asleep. Ronan got his first bath and lots of hugs from Dad. We then went up to our room and all 4 Grandparents got to hold our little man.

In recovery with Dad.

All clean.

Friends George and Natalie
First diaper change by Dad