Roman Todd Dodge 4.19.11

   Monday April 18 Chase and I got a call from my doctor asking us to come talk to her. I was 37 weeks pregnant and since I was measuring small I was going in twice a week for ultrasounds and non-stress tests. During one of the ultrasounds they found that Romans belly was measuring at 32 weeks and wasn't growing as fast as he should be so Dr.Hebert wanted to discuss our next move. She could induce me now or wait until Friday to do it. There was a chance that his lungs weren't be fully developed and he might have to spend time in the NICU but since he wasn't growing they thought that the placenta wasn't working properly and he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed. This was probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make.. have them induce me and possibly end up with a baby that just wasn't ready to be here or wait a little longer and not know if he was getting food and oxygen. After a lot of thinking and a little persuasion from my mom I decided to be induced.
   After I had made my decision Dr.Hebert sent us home for a few hours to get my bag packed and make sure everything was ready for the baby. At 5 p.m. we went back to the hospital. they immediately started an IV with petocin and broke my water. About 2 hours later the contractions were starting to become more and more painful so i decided to get an epidural. Now we just had to wait... and wait... and wait...
8 hours later it was time to start pushing. With my mom and chase there for support I pushed for 15 minutes...

Roman Todd Dodge

5 lbs 10 oz, 21.5"

4.19.11

1:21 a.m.

His daddy cut the chord and the nurse laid him on my stomach. I immediately fell in love. My mom and I were both in tears as they took him away to make sure everything was ok. After they had cleaned him up and checked his lungs they brought him back over to me then took us up to our room. I spent the next 3 days in the hospital and when it was finally time to go home we put roman in his new car seat and headed to my moms

The first week Roman was home was probably the most stressful. getting up every 2 hours to feed him was exhausting but luckily chase was there to help me out. I really don't think I could have done it without him.