Welcome to the world, Eamonn James Coyle!

He's finally arrived, our beautiful precious baby boy born October 13th 2007 at 5:20 pm in the afternoon, weighing in at 9.4 pounds and measuring 21 1/2 inches in length. Eamonn is an Irish name, pronounced long A as in agent and then mun - A mun... emphasis on the A... Eamonn needed a little help coming into the world. We went to the hospital Thursday the 11th to be induced at the stroke of midnight on Friday the 12th. I got the first dose of prostin and was sent back to bed. Still nothing going on at 6 am when they checked me out, so I got another dose. Around 8 am the labor pains started. They were on and off in intensity through the day, but since he was also face up I had back labor in addition, which let me tell you, can be a little intense. A LOT of walking up and down stairs and two baths later, the pains subsided but still no show, no dilation, and no progress. At this point I've gone through one round of induction, so we have to wait 24 hours for the next round, they'll do two rounds before moving on. So 6 am Saturday morning I get another dose, and have actually managed to dilate 2 centimeters in my sleep. What I thought were labor pains yesterday are made rather insignificant by what comes on next! Oh my - I'm glad I did yoga and had lots of breathing and relaxation techniques at my disposal! A few hours go by of this, and the doctor says to come in for exam at 11 am, they're going to look at artificially breaking my water because the baby's head is not dropping with the water in the way at there is not enough pressure on the cervix to make it dilate further. Doc tries to get in and break the water, but just can't. Now we have two options: another dose of prostin at noon and keep going or schedule a c-section. It just feels that sonething isn't right. James instinctively knows it, and his instincts are extremely reliable. After a few tears and an honest discussion, we decide to go ahead with the section, which is scheduled for 5 pm. Reality is, at this point I'm 15 days overdue, and the statistics for stillbirth rise significantly after 14 days. Plus the induction isn't working. What exactly is going on?
Now, since we've decided to have the section, I should get to stop having the pains right? Not a chance! They start coming harder and faster! Walking down to the operating room I had to stop several times to let them run their course. But at least my little man had warning of what was coming! James had to wait outside for a while as they prepped me. I got an epidural and then was draped from below my chest down, at which point James got to come back in and sit next to my head. The anaesthetist was absolutely brilliant. He was on the opposite side from James and told me what was going on every single step of the way. I know lots of women swear by the epidural, but I hated it. It made me really sick to my stomach, and I had to get anti-vomit drug injected into the line before I got sick in the oxygen mask, which they said could come off once the baby was out. As for the actual section, the prep process was the longest part. Getting Eamonn out seemed like it took all of 30 seconds. The doc held him up over the drape and we got our first look at our wailing baby boy. My first thought was "Jesus, he's long!" and the second was "What a great pair of lungs!" It was then that the doc told us that the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, and that if we hadn't elected to do the section, he probably would've been an emergency section in the end.
The midwife from the labor ward who accompanied us through the whole process took him for apgar scores and a brief cleaning, and he was laid on my chest as they put me back together. He was so alert and clear-eyed, he just lay there and looked at me so quietly and intensely. And when James spoke, his eyes travelled over to him and took him in. I think I cried but I'm not sure, but considering the whole hormonal thing, I probably did. It was all so overwhelming, this incredible rush of joy and unbelievable happiness and boundless love for this little creature. He laid there for a good while, and then it was time to go upstairs to the nursery. James went with him and I got cleaned up and wheeled to recovery. James wanted to stay with me, but unfortunately wasn't allowed. I didn't have to stay long in recovery before they wheeled me back upstairs. I still had no feeling in my legs, so I needed help with everything. The first night was the worst, but the feeling came back eventually and next morning I was up for a shower. After a section, you have to spend 5 days in hospital. We finally got to spring out a week later, and here we are at home settling in. We're getting used to not sleeping more than two hours at a time. And we've got this gorgeous, amazing baby boy to ooh and aah over :)