a birth story.

when i was 38 weeks, my doctor checked me and told me that the wall had a better chance of giving birth early than i did.  that doc, he's a funny guy!

when i went to my 39 week appointment i was sure that i wasn't dilated at all because nothing had changed or felt different with my body.  i wasn't have contractions or anything.

he checked me and little did i know striped my membranes, then said "if you don't have this baby on your own by 4pm tomorrow call me and i will induce you."

i was in such shock that i didn't even ask him what i was dilated to.

i immediately went home to pack hospital bags.  i had been procrastinating for days, but i figured this stuff was about to get real.  i called matt and my mom and told them the news.  then i went to the pool.

i started having contractions on thursday night, but very spaced and not consistant.

on friday, i had a babysitter all day just in case i went into labor.  matt and i spent the day getting last minute things ready.  i then received a phone call from my doctor saying to come in on saturday morning at 6:30am.  i was so excited!!

friday night i could hardly sleep.  once i finally fell asleep, i woke up with contractions that were closer together and more consistent but i figured since we were going to the hospital in just 2 hours i would just wait it out.  i got out of bed at 4:30 and took a tub until 5:30.   then matt woke up and we got ready for the hospital.

just thinking about the feelings we had at that moment make me smile.  to know that you are going to meet your baby and everything will change.  crazy, crazy!

we then headed to the hospital on full stomachs. i was so worried about being starving all day so i made sure to eat breakfast. haha clearly i was still a pregnant lady at that moment worrying about food.

we were taken to room 122.  the thing i really liked about orem community hospital was that i labored, delivered, and recovered in the same room.  i literally didn't step foot outside my room until we went home.  and the rooms were super big which was nice when lots of visitors came.

my labor&delivery nurse was named nancy and i LOVED her.  she became a good friend to matt and i.    once we were all checked in, i changed into the ever so lovely hospital gown and at 7:30am i was given an IV and started on fluids and pitocin.  the contractions pretty much started immediately but weren't bad at all.  we chatted it up with nancy, matt raided the free snack bar while i chewed on ice chips, we watched some grey's anatomy, and waited for the doctor to come in.

normal face

vs.

contraction face

at 8:30am the dr judd came in to break my water.  that was quite the experience, i think i would be frightened if my water broke on its own the first time. haha at that time i was only dilated to about a 2.5 but i was about 80% effaced.  dr judd predicted that i would have the baby at about 3pm and suggested that i get some rest.

instead matt and i took 10 million pictures.

at about 11am i was dilated to a four and decided that i was ready for my epidural.  i knew from the beginning that i wanted an epidural... i didn't need nor want to feel everything haha i'm no super human and i wasn't ashamed to take the help that was available.

i was super nervous for the epidural because i am terrified of needles.  matt was so excited to watch and has actually considered a career as a cRNA.  the man who stuck me was less than thrilled to be there.  in fact, he wasn't that nice and had horrible bed side manner haha, but we did make him come in on a saturday.  it honestly wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.  it was more uncomfortable than anything, but once my legs started going numb i was feeling good :)

i was finally able to get a little bit of sleep in the afternoon.  at about 3:30 i woke up to some mad contractions.  i pressed the button to give me more epidural medicine but nothing happened.  about a half hour later the nurse came in and i told her i could pretty much feel everything and my legs weren't numb anymore.  she told me to press the button again, and that she would call our friendly cRNA to come give me more.

well, once again the button did nothing.  the nurse came back in and said he wanted her to check my progression again and see how far along i was, because i shouldn't feel anything unless i was ready to deliver.  the nurse checked me and sure enough i was at a 9 and fully effaced. no wonder i could feel those contractions!  every time the nurse checked me she said his head was lower and lower and that baby was in perfect birthing position.

the man came back in and gave me as much meds as he legally could.  but it did nothing for some reason.  the nurse checked me again and i was at a 10.  my doctor wanted me to hang out for about an hour to rest and descend hoping that the baby would come down on it's own and that it would eliminate push time and tearing.

here i am at a 10, thinking that i should relatively feel nothing, but feeling everything.  at this point, my parents are there, matt's parents are there, nurses are coming in and out, and i'm just on my bed saying things like "i'm probably gonna start swearing soon, don't judge me" or "holy mother i think i'm going to die."

everyone in the room could tell that i was trying my hardest to be calm, cool, and collected, but i felt like this thing (my baby :) haha needed to come out of me.  of course, right at this moment some other pregnant girl comes in and is ready to deliver at the exact same time as me and so my nurse and doctor are over in the other room.

this random nurse comes in and says, "i hear your pretty uncomfortable, i'm gonna check you again and see how close you are to start pushing."  so she checks me and says, "oh yes, you need to start pushing."

originally i had planned on only matt and my mom being in the room when i delivered, but at this point i honestly did not care, i just wanted the baby out of me.  it worked out nicely though, because matt's parents had never been in a room before and they were beyond thrilled and happy to be there.  i also had my friend treg there to take pictures.

matt had one of my legs and the random nurse had my other leg and i began pushing.  oh mama.. the hardest thing for me was pushing the full 10 seconds.  i was good until about 6 and then i felt done. i was pushing in sets of 3 and then she let me take a break.  after the first break i was super concerned and said, "are you the one who is going to be delivering my baby?"  she laughed and said no.  then she freaking left the room to go get the doctor and my real nurse and i had a panic, stress moment because i NEEDED to push, but no medical person was in the room.  it was awful.

panic mode

what seemed like a day later, but in reality was probably only a minute or two, the doctor came in along with nurse nancy to get the real party started.  i pushed about six different times totaling up to 15 minutes or so.  all i really remember as i was pushing was that every person in the room that was looking kept saying, "oh my gosh his head is HUGE!!"  which made me extremely nervous for delivering the rest of him haha. as soon as his head came out he shot one arm straight out.  the rest from there was easy.  his little body just slid right out.

it was the most amazing thing.  as soon as i laid eyes on him i was instantly in love.  he literally was and is the most perfect thing i have every laid eyes on.  he had the perfect little button nose and the chubbiest little cheeks.  i would do it all over again in a heart beat.

i was extremely overwhelmed with the spirit of love.  love for my healthy baby, love for my husband, love for my parents and matt's parents.  it was such a peaceful, happy place to be and looking back i am so grateful that i was able to share it with everyone.

mostly matt.

he is and was my rock.  i would have died without him. he was so good to me the whole time at the hospital, and all throughout my pregnancy.  it was so tender to see him hold our son and to see how proud he was of baby brooks.

i love my little family.  it is now complete :)

if you made it through this novel i congratulate you.

also. i have a new "about me" page.

check it out!