Update and Pictures (finally)

Finally, an update. I finished my last final tonight and instead of taking care of other things I need to get done I decided to finally post some pictures. Warning, there are quite a few.

3 hours before we went to the hospital on October 13th.

My due date was Friday, October 16th, but at my checkup on Tuesday the 13th the doctor stripped my membranes. I also ate the "Pregnancy Pizza" on Monday from Trio Cafe, the combination of ingredients are supposed to induce labor (probably just made to give you the runs and labor is a side effect). So whether it was the pizza (which was very tasty) or the stripping I don't know.
After the doctor's appointment I started getting cramps and as the day went on the cramps just got longer and more regular. I was very confused because I hadn't really had any Braxton Hicks contractions before and the pain was different from what everyone told me labor pains would feel like. Also, Ethan was still moving around quite a bit. So, I called the hospital around 7:00pm and talked to a nurse. She told me that I should wait until contractions are 3-5 minutes apart or the pain is so bad I can't talk through them. She also told me that because I could feel the baby moving it probably wasn't real labor but that it might be a sign it would happen soon. During the next hour the pains kept getting worse and closer and closer together.
When we got to the hospital at 8:00, the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. The nurse didn't know if they were going to keep me (I hadn't dilated further than I was at my appointment that morning, a 3, and the baby was still moving) and so I had to wait till a resident could come check me out (everyone had been called on emergencies so no one was available). They told me I had about an hour so I decided to walk around the hospital. We got down the hall just around the corner from my room and the contractions got 1 minute apart and very intense (I had to stop in every room to sit down on our way back until I finally decided to book it and practically jogged the last 45 feet).
Finally, at 9:30 they decided I was going to stay for sure (I wouldn't have left anyways). They put the monitors on my stomach to track the contractions and check the baby's heart beat. My contractions were so intense that they would go off the chart. Also, they had to keep moving the baby's monitor because he kept moving (he moved clear up until he was born).
Around 10:00 I decided I wanted an epidural because I just didn't have enough time to relax between contractions, and I was having a hard time being nice. Of course, the anesthesiologist had been called on an emergency and wouldn't be available for a while. Finally, around 11:30 he was available, but it took a while because he kept having to stop to wait for my contractions (he kept asking the nurse how far along I was because it seemed like it was too late) and while he had the needle in my back I had a huge contraction (off the chart again), but thankfully I was able to stay still. After the epidural had been put in place Sam and I took a nap (the anesthesiologist gave me an increased dose so I was feeling good).
Around 3:00am I woke up because I could feel the contractions pretty good and some intense pelvic pressure, but I was still able to sleep off an on until 6:00. For some reason only one side of me was getting the effects of the epidural, the nurses kept trying to tilt me back and forth to help redistribute the medicine but it didn't work, but it was okay because I only had to feel half a contraction. Finally I was to 10 and ready to go, but my water wouldn't break.
A resident broke my water sometime close to 7:00; it took her quite a while and she said that the sac was very tough. They had me start pushing, the doctor showed up, and Ethan was born at just about 8:00. The nurses told me that if I could stand it, not to push the button for the epidural so I could feel to push, so I didn't and I was able to feel almost everything to push. They kept trying to get me to relax and not push all the time when we were waiting for the doctor, but I wasn't about to prolong things so I just kept pushing.

The pictures of Ethan were supposed to be from birth to now, but instead they are now to birth (if you want to see him grow just scroll up from the bottom).

Ethan is snuggling his cousin Taylor. She has a baby brother about 3 weeks older than Ethan.

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Gleason for the first time. Don't worry, he really does like them.