Introducing Cole David Schneider! He was born on November 18 at 2:49 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 22 inches long. We are yet again blessed with another beautiful gift from the Lord!At 41 weeks my midwife decided that since Cole did not want to arrive on his own, an induction was necessary. As much as I wanted to go into labor naturally, I also felt it was time to bring him into the world!
We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 am and the Pitocin was started by eight. The labor and delivery nurse did not give my body much time to respond and upped the pitocin every 15 minutes of course causing pretty intense contractions.
After having contractions every couple of minutes, my water finally broke. Things really kicked into high gear after that- so much so that there was no break between contractions. At that point, coping with the pain while hooked up to an IV and being limited in mobility seemed almost impossible.
I had been practicing hypnonobirthing techniques in hopes of not needing an epidural, but the pitocin foiled my plan! No amount of deep breathing and meditating seemed to help. So- I decided to go with an epidural. I asked the anesthesiologist to not give me very much medication through the epidural so that I would be able to feel the contractions a little as well as walk after giving birth. She gave me just enough to take the edge off!
Within the hour after receiving my epidural, I dilated to a 10. With just a few contractions and pushes, Cole was here! Looking back, I have no regrets about getting the epidural. It was such a relief and allowed me to enjoy the last part of the delivery.
Cole's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice so he was quite blue. My midwife quickly unwrapped it and handed him to me, not seeming too concerned thank God. I held him and nursed him for several hours before moving down to the room we would stay in overnight.
I loved having my midwife there during labor (she was with me for over four hours!), and we loved all of the nurses that took care of us always to the hospital. The entire birth and recovery was such a great experience and we feel so blessed to have Cole in our family!!
He has been home for four days now and likes to do a lot of sleeping and eating. Clara is getting used to having him around and likes to give him lots of kisses on his head. The big kids love taking turns holding him.
I want to soak up every minute of this time with our precious newborn because I know it goes so fast!
