Labor Story

Warning: Long Post and if you are about to have a baby don't let this scare you. It was all worth it in the end.

On Friday morning at around 1:00 a.m., I woke up with menstrual like cramps. I tossed back and forth for a couple hours. J was a little annoyed because he had school the next day and needed some sleep. He moved out to the living room to sleep on the couch. The cramps continued and then I noticed they were turning into contractions. They weren't very painful but they were coming about every ten minutes and lasting about 15-20 seconds. I was still having them consistently until 4:00 a.m. I then decided to call my mom. I told her on the phone I think I am in labor but I am not sure. She kept timing them for me and they slowly started getting closer together but they still only lasted 15-20 seconds. I got in the bath while I was still talking to my mom and the contractions still did not go away. I also got up and walked around. Finally around 6:00 a.m. my mom told me you better go tell J, I think you are in labor and going to have this baby by tonight. Of course my mom was right. Anyway I woke J up and he seemed a little confused and was kind of questioning whether I was really in labor or wondering if it was false labor. I called the hospital and told them my contractions were only lasting like 20 seconds and they said they would really like them to be 45 seconds. J then started timing them and they got up to about 45 seconds. We then called the hospital about an hour later and they said to come in. I have to add this in. J said that one of his library books was due by 10:00 a.m. that morning and he didn't want to get charged a fine so we had to make a quick pit stop there first. Luckily my contractions weren't too bad. Little did I know they were nothing to what was about to come. We got to the hospital and got into the room and I was 3 centimeters dilated. They then moved me into the labor room. They put and IV in right away which I wasn't too thrilled about. In the mean time my mom was trying to catch a flight to get to Oregon by 9:30 p.m. I really hoped she wasn't gonig to make it to the birth because that would mean I was in labor for a long time. I labored for about four more hours and the nursed asked me if I was interested in the epidural. I asked her if she could check me to see how dilated I was. I was a six and a half to seven. I then thought ok I can do this I only have three more centimeters to go. Little did I know I would be laboring for another 7 hours before I got to a ten. The anesthesiologist came in around 5:00 p.m. to tell me a little bit about the epidural and how they would go about it and some of the side effects. When he was talking about the side effects that is when I got this burst of energy and said no thank you. As soon as he left the room I got up and off the bed and started laboring on my feet. Thank you anesthesiologist for persuading me not to get the epidural. The nurse then checked me again and I was still about a 7. I was so disappointed because I had been laboring for a long time since the last time they checked me. I thought to myself there is no way these contractions could get worse, they were so painful. I didn't know what I was in for. Around six I was dilated to about an 8 1/2 and the contractions were getting really hard. I started to feel an urge to push but not too bad yet. At around seven I was feeling like I needed to push and I was dilated to about a 9 1/2. I didn't think it was ever going to end. I was definitely a screamer and I never thought I would be. My sister-in-law told me while I was in my painful contractions two nurses walked in and asked if everything was ok. The pain was indescribable. I was on the toilet trying to go to the bathroom while the midwifes were trying to help me through the contractions. Then I heard the midwife saying ok he is coming let's just deliver him on the toilet. That was not my idea of a delivery nor was it any of the nurse's idea so I said I would rather go to the bed to push. I only had to push through three more contractions and he came out. I was so relieved and exhausted that I had absolutely no emotion. J was uncontrollably crying. He was six pounds fifteen ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Just because I didn't cray after he was born doesn't mean I didn't cry later. I did my fair share on the drive home from the hospital. I just couldn't believe I did it. I was so proud of this baby I brought into this world.

I am so happy to be a mom. He is such a great baby and I feel blessed for that. He only wakes up once in the night to eat and he is starting to sleep longer and longer in the night. I also love how much attention J gives him. There is no doubt that he absolutely loves our baby boy. It is so cute watching him with the baby. We took him on his first outing this last Saturday to to beach. He did such a good job while we walked through the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then we walked around Seaside and looked at the shops. I will say it does make it hard when he has to feed every three hours. It seems like you just get started doing something and he has to eat again. It has definitely been an adjustment, but a good one!!
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