The Story: part three

Having my mom work at the hospital that you were born in was one of the greatest blessings. She made sure that I had the best Dr., nurses, and anesthesiologist.

When I finally decided that it was time to get the epidural I mentally prepared myself for the worst pain I had ever felt. I was shaking as the anesthesiologist prepped me for the needle. Steven was sitting in front of me and I kept waiting for the pain... Then all of a sudden the anesthesiologist said, "OK, you're done!" 

I don't know if I had ever been more excited. I could hardly even feel the needle at all and I didn't even know it was going in. Then a couple minutes later I could not feel the contractions any longer. Amazing. It really was such a pleasant experience and I want to be best friends with the anesthesiologist! (If anyone ever needs a good epidural, you let me know!) 

After the epidural I got checked two more times. The first time I was dilated to a 4 and the second time, not much longer later I was dilated to a 6. That was around 12:30 pm... 

After my nurse checked me the second time she told me what I should be feeling about the time I was ready to push. She said that if I felt a lot of pressure down below that I needed to call her. 

My mom and Steven were in the room with me and also some IT people... Apparently the computer that was monitoring you and me was not working so they were all in trying to fix it. About the time that they were in there I started feeling the kind of pressure that my nurse had told me about and I started getting really uncomfortable. However, I didn't want to say anything while the IT people were in there so I just sat there and waited. 

As soon as the male IT people left I looked over to my mom and told her that I was feeling a lot of pressure. Her response? 

"That's normal. You have to feel pressure to know when to push."

I was satisfied with that so I decided that I would wait a little longer... 

But, not even a couple minutes later I told her again that I was feeling A LOT of pressure. 

We then called my nurse into the room and she checked me and I was at a full TEN. The amazing part of this whole story is that I went from a 6 to a 10 in about an hour...

Just then my dad and all three of my little brothers walked into the room. I remember telling them multiple times that they needed to leave so I could get the baby out but for some reason they just hung out in the room for a while and made themselves comfy. Somehow someone finally got them to leave the room and my nurse told me that it was time for me to try pushing. Just then it hit me, I have don't even know how to push... I shared this concern with her but she walked me through it. After a few practice pushes we called the Dr. in and as she came in she said, "Holy SH**! You are ready to push!" You would laugh at this if you knew my doctor. She is incredible and so good at what she does. We were all surprised at how fast everything had gone but I think she was surprised the most. 

This is going to sound so weird but I loved pushing. I loved that I could hear my husband, mom, nurse, and Doctor tell me how great I was doing. I love being praised a little bit...

I remember the last push so well. I felt so strong. I had my eyes closed and I was so focused on pushing that the doctor had to tell me to open my eyes so I could see you. 

At 2:24 PM on December 22, 2010 you were born. You weighed 5 lbs 5 oz and were 18 inches long. I was doing a combination of laughing and crying and I could not take my eyes off of you. I could not believe that I did it and that you actually made it. 

As soon as you were born they took you to the other side of the room was to asses you. Since you were born early they had to make sure that you were OK. After a few minutes of checking you out, you were having some trouble breathing. 

They then unbuttoned the top of my robe and laid your little naked body on my chest and you just looked up at me. Those moments are some of the most precious moments I have ever experienced. There really are no words. It was surreal.

I remember that you just kept your eyes open and were looking all around. 

From that point on we had guest after guest come to see you and it was so fun. 

You have been here for 2 weeks and already I could not imagine my life without you. 

You are such a blessing in our family and we love you so, so much.