Time to breathe

Hey everyone,

We are doing so well and we really appreciate everyone's support, and I'm glad you are enjoying the updates!

Hudson is pretty darn cute and adorable, if I say so myself! He has so far been really well behaved - he barely cries, and usually is just chillin', looking around, playing with his hands, and making rooting motions with his mouth. He hasn't caught on to the breast feeding yet, but I'm sure its coming soon.

Well, what can I say about our (really, Nicole's) labor experience. The most impressive thing was how dang painful those contractions were after her water broke. Man, I just am not used to people being in that much pain...I am so glad it was, in retrospective, a short period of time.

As you know, it all started around 10am when Nicole's induction was started. From 10 to 7pm, Nicole was really not changing much. She was still hanging out, talking, drinking, and visiting with her mom and Jeannie. At 7pm, Dr. Chappell (who was wonderful), was checking Nicole. Still, she was 2cm, but as she was feeling the membranes, pop! Her water broke around 7:30pm. Her contractions immediately started getting stronger, and stronger, and PAINFUL! I think the combination of pitocin and having her membranes ruptured really caused some intense contractions. She was contracting predictably, every 2 minutes, and could barely tolerate the intensity. She got 1 dose of Stadol which took the edge off for about 30 minutes, and she looked a little more calm. Once the Stadol wore off, Nicole was begging for more pain medicine or for the epidural to start. Around 8:30 she was checked, and was 4cm. Yes, progress! We decided on the epidural, so anesthesia was called and another hour went by until the epidural was fully placed. Right as the epidural was finished, Nicole said..."I feel like I have to push!" So around 9:30pm, she was checked again, and all of a sudden she was fully dilated!!! So we did a little preparation, and we pushed for about an hour. The epidural definitely helped - Nicole felt so much better, relaxed, and just felt pressure but no more pain! Nicole was an awesome pusher - I was watching the whole time (a strange sight), and with every push I could see Hudson getting closer and closer to joining the world. Finally at 11:38pm Hudson Cole Cheng was born!

He wasn't really crying for the first 30 seconds, but then he let out a small cry, and then some huge cries! He has lungs like a horse! He was crying for a good few minutes until he got under the warmer, and then he instantly stopped crying and started looking around at us, at me...it was amazing! He cried for a good few minutes, but after being under the warmer he instantly stopped, and began looking around, playing with his hands and feet, and making cute rooting movements. He had us wrapped around his finger ever since then! We stayed in the delivery room til about 1:30, when we moved to the recovery room. Tried breast feeding but were unsuccessful, then decided to have Hudson go to the nursery and called it a night.

We slept from 2 to 6 am, and today has been a bit of a whirlwind. Barbara had a doctor's appt at UNC, so she and I went there while Jeannie and Nicole chilled at UNC. Now were back, and just getting used to the idea of being parents!

All in all, June 17th was an exciting day for us. We introduced our baby boy into the world, and found out where the next phase of our lives will be. We're looking forward to sharing Hudson with all of you, and can't wait for you to meet him!

Love,
Nicole, Alan, Hudson, and Sofie