Travis Edward Charlton

Dr. Hilliard had pity on me.  When I was at 37 weeks, he scheduled my induction.  I’m not sure why having a scheduled induction six days before my due date was so comforting—I  mean, it’s only six days—but it was so comforting.  Travis’s eviction notice was signed.  The end was in sight.  :)

Monday, June 28th, we arrived at the hospital at 5:30am to start the induction.  I was finally hooked up to the Pitocin at about 7am, and about 30 minutes later Dr. Hilliard broke my waters.  By 9:30, I was READY for the epidural.  I have lots of friends who choose to have their babies without the aid of pain meds, and I completely respect their decisions, but I want the drugs.  Pain sucks, and if there’s a way to avoid the pain, then I’m all for it.

I took a nap after the epidural.  :)  My nurse kept coming in to adjust my monitor because it wasn’t picking up my contractions at all.  About 11am, the monitor situation was resolved, and my contractions were coming on pretty strong and regular…

Mom and Doug went to get some food.  Not more than 10 minutes after they left, I started feeling pressure.  I was a little worried.  I had my cell phone next to me, but the call button for the nurse was not in reach…  Thankfully, it didn’t take them long to come back.  When they returned, the hospital people prepped for delivery and called my doctor.  I was at 9cm, almost ready to go.

A few good pushes later, Travis was born.  Can I just say again how much I loved my epidural?  It was awesome.  I felt more with this delivery than with Timmy, but really with Timmy I didn’t feel anything at all.  With Tanner, my epidural only worked on half my body for most of the labor, evening out just before delivery (thank goodness!).  I had no significant pain with Travis’s delivery (after the epidural, anyway), but I could definitely feel the pressure. 

He was born at 12:23pm, weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 ozs, measuring 19 3/4 inches long.  

We had a fairly uneventful stay in the hospital.  Travis was a bit jaundiced, so we had to supplement his feedings with a chaser of formula, but once my milk came in, the formula was no longer necessary.  :)  He’s a good, healthy baby!