katy gray | jackson hole wedding photographer

He’s here! After thirty nine weeks of incubation, Jasper Gray made his debut appearance on 1/4 at 11:21 AM after what might have been one of the fastest labors ever.

** WARNING **

You may not want to read this if you:

Are squeamish

Don’t like babies

Have had a difficult labor

Have had a long labor

Have had a bad epidural

Have had to push for a long time

Have a baby who doesn’t eat

Have a baby who doesn’t sleep

Have a toddler who doesn’t like their new sibling

We checked in at St. John’s Hospital here in Jackson around 6:30 AM on Wednesday, 1/4. We had originally been scheduled to induce on the fifth but when Dr. G gave me the option of going in a day early, I went for it. Of course the message didn’t quite get to the hospital staff, but after a few phone calls it was all straightened out and I was comfortably ensconced in the same room I had delivered Milo in with the same nurse (go Kristin!). They got me all hooked up to the IV and started Pitocin around 8 am.

I was getting a little worried as time passed and I didn’t feel any contractions yet, but around 8:30 I felt my first little twinge and knew we were on our way. I was already about a 4 or 5 before the drugs even started, so we were hoping for my own hormones to take over once the Pitocin gave me a little jump start.

The contractions gradually got worse, although there wasn’t really a point where they were so bad that I couldn’t talk through them. Around 10 AM one of the other OBs from Dr. G’s office came in to break my water and check up on things – she asked if I was considering an epidural and when I said that I was, suggested I get it now because otherwise it may be too late. And who am I to ignore a doctor’s advice? So about 10 minutes later my favorite doctor EVER, Dr. T the anaesthesiologist (that is not spelled correctly at all) came in and got the party started.

I told Dr. T that I wanted a light dose – something to take the edge off but not render me completely numb from the waist down. He nailed it with just the right amount – the contractions faded away but I was still able to move around and get comfortable and participate in things, which was nice.

Well…the contractions faded away until transition labor, that is. All of a sudden – CONTRACTION! OOOOOO!!! But again, not so bad that I couldn’t talk through it. Six or seven of those and it was time to push – just needed an OB and we were off to the races. Dr. A got there and gowned up and about 11:15 I started pushing. And then at 11:21 Jasper was born, weighing 7 lbs, 5 oz and 19.5″ long.  That’s right, approximately five or six minutes of pushing (or three pushes, if you’d rather) and we had a brand new baby boy!!

I am under no illusions that this is how the birth process works for most people – I know I’m lucky! I was able to walk around on my own within two or three hours of delivering and had our lovely candlelight (well, LED light. safety first!) dinner at the hospital that evening. We were cleared and discharged by 2 PM the next day and have been getting the hang of this two kid thing ever since. Milo adores his baby brother, loves being a big brother and is really annoyed with us for not giving him all the attention, all of the time.  :P  Overall he’s doing really really well and we’re very proud of how he’s handling it all.

Following are some photos that Nate took at the hospital – enjoy and thank you for looking!

xokt