Welcome Baby Ethan!

It has taken WAY too long to get this post up, but you will see why as the story progresses. Here is my LONG birth story, feel free to skip to the end result if you don't have a lot of time, lol.

I went to my doctors appointment on Monday the 16th (4 days from my due date) in hope of some good news (progress!). I had had contractions for quite awhile the night before but they never really got very intense. I had taken my blood pressure a couple times over the weekend and it was high, and it was high again in the office. So the doctor checked my cervix and he said he had good news, I was 4 centimeters dialated! Yay! So he started to tell me that he was sure I would go into labor in the next couple days, but then I told him about my blood pressure being high over the weekend, and he said to go ahead and go to the hospital so they could do more labs. I asked if I was going to be sent home again, and he said no, that I would be admitted and he would induce. So we got to the hospital and they started me on some antibiotics for GBS which needed to be given for about 4 hours before they could induce. So they didn't start the pitocin until about 3 pm. After a couple hours I started getting some contractions that were pretty bad and so the nurse checked me and I was still 4 cm and the baby's head was still very high. So I asked for some pain meds and she gave me something which relaxed me enough that I was drowsy, unfortunately the contractions tapered off as well and I reached my limit for what the doctor had ordered of the pitocin. The nurse said they would let me rest for a few hours and start the pitocin again. So all my family went home (except Kev). I think they started the pitocin again around 2am and by early morning I was in enough pain that I needed an epidural. I think the nurse checked me at this point and I was 5 cm. The epidural pretty much only worked well on one side but it was still a lot better than no relief. My family came back in the morning, but my contractions tapered off again and the pitocin ran out. The doctor decided to take me off everything, let me eat, and try the induction again that evening. He was going to let me walk around, but since I already had the epidural even though it had worn off, they couldn't let me. It was nice to eat and have a break, but by this point I just wanted out of bed. I think they started the pitocin again around 6pm but I didn't start having bad contractions until about midnight. The nurse checked me and I was at 6cm, I was so happy (and in a lot of pain). They turned my epidural back on but I was still having really bad contractions for a few hours. So when they checked me again at about 4am and I was still 6cm and the baby's head was still high I felt totally defeated. I had been in the hospital for almost 48 hours at this point. Kevin and I started talking to the two nurses about our options. In my head I knew I couldn't start all over again so when one of the nurses said that if I wanted a c-section she was pretty sure the doc would do it, I knew that was what I wanted to do. So she called the doctor at about 6am and he said he would do the section at 7:15. We barely had time to call our families to let them know what was going on. They got us both ready and by 7:46 we were welcoming Ethan Emery Foley into the world. How I wished they had offered the c-section the day before! It was all over so quickly. Kev got to stay with him as they cleaned, weighed, and checked him out. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19 inches long. I got to hold him within 20 minutes of his birth and he was so beautiful. The recovery in the hospital was pretty tough ( but I remember it being pretty tough with Dyl too). It takes awhile before you and move around at all and then it's pretty painful. I had to rely on Kev a lot to do everything for me and Ethan except the feedings. It seemed extra rough because we had already been in the hospital and deprived of sleep for so long. I had also eaten one meal in about 3 days, and had to go about 4 days without a shower. Food and a shower never felt and tasted so good! It was also difficult because what we thought would be 2 days in the hospital away from Dyl, turned into 5 days. He did so good with his Grandpa and Nana and we are so thankful to them and everyone who helped us out during that time. We were released from the hospital on Friday and since Kev had the next couple days off we got to spend some great quality time together bonding as a family. So far Dylan is doing great with his brother and is so excited when Ethan is awake and looking at him. I hear "Oh he's so cute!" about 20 times a day from him. There is more to tell but I will save that for my next post. Here are some pics: