Rachel's Baby is Here

She posted this to her Facebook Page early this morning:

After 38 hours of labor, Eli Gary Costenbader was delivered by Caesarean Section at 10:18 a.m. on Friday, July 16, 2010! 7.5 pounds, 20 inches long with a full head of dark brown hair, blue eyes and his daddy's chin :O) We are so thrilled, delighted and over the moon! We will be headed home from the hospital on Monday morning. It's been quite a ride! I will post pictures once we get home and get settled in.

Yay! Congratulations to Rachel and her hubby! Welcome to the world, Eli!

Congraulations Rachel, to you and your family. Hope you recover quickly from the CS. Enjoy, enjoy enjoy your little boy.

Welcome Eli! My Mother's only advice to me was to love and enjoy the baby! So I pass that on to you. Hope you feel better soon after the delivery. Oh my!

If anyone wants to "friend" Rachel on FB and hasn't done so, I'm sure she'd welcome you. She is Rachel Costenbader.

Check this out:

And this is Eli by himself:

OOOOOOHHH!!!! BABY JOY!!!!! What a little snuggly guy. Beautiful,

What an adorable baby. I know Rachel and her family must be enjoying this time in their lives immensely.

What a beautiful little guy! Welcome to this wonderful crazy world Eli, and congrats to Rachel and her entire family!

What a beautiful picture of Rachel's face. What a darling little boy.

Lovely photos, and congratulations Rachel - 38 hours!! before they made the decision for CS? Yikes! But it looks like it was worth it. Well done.

I really can't even begin to express how thrilled I am for Rachel and family. What a lucky little boy to have those dear parents.

Congratulations, what a heart warming picture of mom and baby.

Laurie, I don't have the details, but I'm guessing that it was still a natural birth. Rachel went home on Monday and I think they keep you longer if you've had cesarean surgery.

I think on fb she said it was a c section. they boot you out really fast now!

Oh, did she? I stand corrected then. Duh. I posted that at top.

Oops. Brain not so much engaged right now. :-)

This message was edited Jul 20, 2010 5:27 PM

Katie - isn't it your post that opened this thread, with the info about the 38 hours and the CS? Right at the top? That's where I got the information and the sensation of great/yikes.

Rachel, congratulations. Now comes the fun part.

Kathy, go easy on yourself. You just experienced some immense losses in your life, and your brain is overloaded with issues of the heart and memories of a lifetime so cannot be expected to recall details of current life, even the obvious or important, until you have had much time to heal.

Laurie, I had that same reaction. 38 hours!!!!! Yikes!!!! I knew Rachael is a woman of strength, joy, and fortitude, but 38 hours is one H*** of a lot to endure.

This message was edited Jul 21, 2010 7:59 AM

My first thought is "OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW........." and the following pictures is "Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhh..."

Oh my! What a cute little guy! Congratulations Rachel & family, and enjoy this special time.

Steve put it so well!!!!!
What a lovely pic of mom and baby! Congratulations to the whole family!

That's a really long time to be in labor and then have a c-section. It makes it so much harder to recover because by the time you get to the operating table, you're completely spent. I had 3 c-sections with 0 hours of labor. Recovery was a snap for me because I went in totally fresh and rested. (Well, as rested as you can get 9 months preggers.) Many c-sections, tho, come after hours and days of labor and it really takes a lot out of the mom.

(I think I'm the only mother of 3 who's never experienced labor. That is one club I'm happy to NOT be a member of!)

Thanks, Holly. But holy cow - you'd think I'd remember what I just posted. :-)

Yes, Laurie, you are absolutely right. See my post just above yours. Poor Rachel did have a C-section. Thank goodness she's young is all I can say. :-)

Rachel get a new OBGYN!

OOH, should have seen this thread before I posted on the other one. That's what I get for spending so little time on the computer lately.

OOH my! What a beautiful babe! And what a beautiful mom holding him! Those photos are priceless. I cannot WAIT to see him! Auntie Melissa is coming, Eli! Can't wait to meet you in person, finally!

This message was edited Jul 21, 2010 8:22 PM

I love the name Eli. Eli Eli Eli. Fantastic!

I saw Katie, I think we just crossed. Would it be wonderful if new mums could forget 38 hours of labour as easily as we forget postings - what a plan. Let's hope it is so.

38 hours of labor is just too much. Poor kid. But what a nice little baby after that!

Maybe she was drugged for all of it! (I would have been.)

GET A NEW GYN!

Sofer, I agree.

Now, now -- we're only hearing a small snippet of the whole experience. I, for one, don't want a blow-by-blow account, and the end result is healthy mom and healthy babe, so all is well.

I have to often choose to wait as a veterinarian or do a C-sec. I elect the Csec after only a few hours so the babies (in my career) are alive and healthy. Waiting is painful and risky.

Congratulations! Glad Mom is home and adorable baby Eli is doing well. Beautiful photos.

Congratulations Rachel! I am an OB/Gyn nurse and the recipient of 2 sections.I'm with ya Steve!

Congrats Rachel. Wish you the best. Scrappy will be a good big brother. Heidi

Thanks everyone!!!

My OB decided to induce me at 38 weeks because my blood pressure went from 116/78 in week 37 to 172/118 by week 38. They felt that Eli was ready to go so they checked me into the hospital at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16th. That night wasn't to bad, the contractions where pretty light. I got an epidural on the 17th around 1 p.m. Things where progressing nicely until I stalled out at 9 cm around 4 a.m. on the 18th. By 9 a.m. they decided that I wasn't going to dilate to 10 cm in the amount of time they wanted and I was absolutely exhausted so we opted for the C-section. He was worth every single minute of it :0)

I am healing well, I have to keep reminding myself not to overdue it. The doctors tell me that once I get to 6 weeks postpartum I can start lifting, vacuuming and gardening again.

Hope your all enjoying your summer!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Eli and I.