Doesn't Everyone Love a Good Birth Story?

All right, here's the story:

On Wednesday the 12th I was feeling pretty crappy, although not really labour-ish; I was getting the usual amount of annoying contractions, but they tapered off in the afternoon. At about 8:30 that night I started getting them again, not much stronger, but a little more regular so I decided to time them. They were between 9 and 11 minutes apart for 30 minutes or so, then 7 minutes apart but still not any stronger. Remembering how quickly I progressed with Roanen (less than 3 hours from the first minor contraction to him being out) I called my mom to have her come over just in case. I went to lie down when she got here and dozed for about an hour. I only got 3 contractions in that hour but one of them felt real enough to get me pretty anxious. When Russ came to bed at about 11:30 the contractions came back, still not very strong but closer together at 5 minutes. We ended up calling the hospital at around 12:30 to let them know we were coming in and we arrived around 1:00 AM. In the car the contractions were about 2 minutes apart, but I was still feeling good and talking through some. Once we got to the hospital I immediately felt better anxiety-wise, mostly because I hated just lying around at home trying to decide if I really was in labour or not.
The nurse checked me and determined that I was 5-6 cm dilated and having contractions 1.5 minutes apart. I still felt really good and walked the halls for 15 minutes before my doctor showed up (or rather came blasting through the doorway at full speed because he didn't make it in time for Roanen's birth and knew he'd never hear the end of it if he missed this one), checked me, pronounced me 5 cm ( I liked the nurse's assessment better) and broke my water with a little difficulty since the baby's head was incredibly low. We just hung out for half an hour or so and the contactions got stronger but still bearable. I was checked again - 8 cm - and then the contractions got quite a bit stronger so I stopped talking and definitely stopped smiling. 5 or 6 contractions later I had to push and the head came out 1st push, body came out 2nd push at 2:37 AM. I opened my eyes to check it out and immediately spotted some very familiar parts. A BOY? How did that happen? Russ then confirmed that he was QUITE a boy (very important evidently) and we got to examine him and send him over to the nurse for weighing, etc. 6 lbs, 10 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, and apparently a little premature, despite my beliefs otherwise. We didn't have a name for a boy right away, but (I) eventually decided on Tristan Craig, a name that Russ and both my parents had agreed was british and faggy. Too bad.
Anyway, we came home on Friday night after almost no sleep, a bed that constantly adjusted itself, and 2 days of nauseating hospital food. Tristan is not a good nurser, is very sleepy, and mostly refuses to sleep by himself which should be a lot of fun once I'm home alone with all the boys. We're looking forward to the next year :) Sorry, no photos at the moment because my computer sucks and doesn't have enough space left to upload them. He's cute though ;) Looks just like a skinny version of newborn Roanen, but with Russ' nose.

*STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT REALLY GORY DETAILS*

Things have been pretty crazy since getting home. On Sunday morning we brought Tristan in to the hospital to get his weight checked and he had only lost 50 grams, which was ok, especially since I couldn't seem to get him to nurse more than 2 minutes at a time before he passed back out. He didn't seem too jaundiced to the doctor, so we were just told to bring him in to the office for another check on Tuesday. We then proceeded to go grocery shoppping, where I began to feel really sore in my hips and sacrum and crampy again. By the time we got home I felt just about as bad as when I was pregnant and decided that I had pushed myself a little too much (although I didn't really think I went too crazy with the activity). *GROSS PART BEGINS HERE* I then noticed that I had passed what looked like a small piece of the placenta. The doctor had mentioned that there was a spot that didn't look like it had separated very cleanly, so I assumed it was that and didn't really worry. However, I did notice that the cramping that I got when I nursed that had gone away after the first day returned, but no big deal. On Tuesday morning, after a rough night with Roanen (Tristan has been much easier to deal with at night since he's been sleeping in bed with us - go figure) I woke up with horrible cramping that felt just about as bad as end-of-labour contractions, but in the smaller area that my uterus is now in, and a constant pain rather than coming in waves. I called for Russ to get me some Tylenol, then ended up asking him to call obstetrics at the hospital to see what I should do. They told us to immediately go into emergency since I could start hemmorhaging - fun! Russ had to get all the kids ready and into the car since I was pretty much just doubled over in pain, then we got going. The tylenol had kicked in by this point so I was feeling better, but still concerned. We spend 2 1/4 hours at the hospital getting blood taken and having - get this - an INTERNAL pelvic exam (totally the best thing to have 5 days after giving birth and getting stitches) to be informed that I'll need an ultrasound and that I have tissue blocking my cervix that won't let my uterus tighten and close. Ultrasound is this afternoon and the doctor informed me that I may have to get a D&C tomorrow if it hasn't cleared up. So fun. Anyway, we had to go from the hospital to the doctor's office for Tristan's check, and he had only gained a little bit of weight and was looking more jaundiced so we had to go BACK to the hospital for blood tests for him. Meanwhile the kids were exhausted and Josey was completely freaking out about everything. Russ was totally stressed and for once looking forward to going back to work. We had a pretty low-key afternoon and were relieved to hear that although Tristan's bilirubin levels were high, they were below the point at which he would have to be readmitted to the hospital to bask (or scream) under the UV lights. We still have to get him another blood test today, but he's not as sleepy and is nursing for longer periods so I'm assuming that things are getting better. He even spent from 5:30 to 7:30 in his own bed this morning, and had a half-hour nap in there as well. Hopefully things will get on track soon and I'll feel a little less stressed.
I'll try to update soon, but no promises.