My birth story...finally!

Today’s post has been a long time coming. I know I have been silent since my 37 week post. Things have been hard. Really hard. I will get to all of that in due time. Right now I would like to focus on my birth story. At some point I will have the strength to post more about recent events but at this time I would like to post about one of the very best days of my entire life. Something happened to me that day. It was perfect. Of course the births of all of my children were amazing and perfect but there was something about May 18th 2010 that was more than perfect. It was amazing. I think my world was complete that day. My life was complete. I knew that what Jason and I were doing was right and what we were doing is what we meant to be doing. My family was complete. It is complete. I love my life.



I woke up feeling just like every day. Tired. The contractions were moving right along just like the last 4-5 days. They were there, they were strong but consistent, they were not. I called Jason several times to tell him that I was feeling like crap but I thought it was just pregnancy crap, not labor crap. I cannot tell you how many times I cursed my doctor for telling me that I would not make it to my next appt. I swear I wanted to give her a piece of my mind. My appointment at this point was less than 24 hours away. The clock was ticking in my head!


I had been monitoring my BP for the last week since we had a high reading at my last appointment so that day I decided to check before I showered. It was high. I took my shower and then took it again. It was still high. The machine I have at home is not always 100% reliable so I called Jason and told him I was heading to the store to have it checked again.

Once I arrived at the store I was greeted by several workers who I have come to know in my daily BP check trips. I talked for a few then I headed over the BP machine. It was high. I called the doc to give them the readings and then everything went SUPER FAST. I will the rest of this in timeline form to make it an easier read for you.

3:00- nurse at OB-GYN tells me to head to ER to be checked. I check the kids overnight bag to make sure everything is in there, check my hospital bag/suitcase for the one millionth time, JUST IN CASE….

At this point I was NOT thinking I was having a baby yet. I swear I wanted to stay home because I just knew I was going to miss the evening with the kids and be sent home babyless.

4:00 Jason is home and we head to ER to be checked. Contractions seem to be getting closer and stronger. I am crabbing the whole time about how I am going to get sent home and I am going to be one of those women that arrive and everything is fine, wasting everyone’s time.

5:00 We arrive at hospital after sitting in traffic due to an accident on the exit ramp. I almost pee my pants running to the bathroom. Get checked in to be monitored.

5:30 They check my BP and it is normal.
WHAT?? Normal? I did not just drive here for them to tell me it was normal and send me home. I KNEW IT!

5:35 they hook me up to the contraction monitor

6:00 the nurse tells me my contractions are 6 minutes apart.
WHAT? How come I do not realize this? How come I am not feeling 6 minutes apart???

6:10 the nurse comes in with some paperwork for me to sign. I thought I was going home. I asked her what they were and she said they were permission to treat papers and she said “You are not leaving here without a baby”. I started bawling. I was not ready for this. For some reason I was not mentally prepared to go through labor yet. I was MORE than ready to meet my Peanut but I was not ready for all the hard work that was required of me. I looked at Jason and he could tell I was not there all the way. He mouthed “I love you” and I saw a little tear drop down his cheek. He was ready to meet Peanut and he knew I could do it. He has seen me do it before and he was so confident in me. His confidence in me is the only thing that got me through!

6:30 they transferred me into another room and asked to hook me up to an IV. I refused the IV fluids but let them put a HepLock in for the just in case. They check me and I am dilated to 3-4cms and I am 90-95% effaced.

6:45 I got to get up and walk around to get the contractions going.

7:45 The contractions stopped. WHAT??? I was scared to tell them because I did not want to be sent home, HAHA! I told you I was scared that I was leaving without a baby!

8:00 back on the bed for monitoring. They promised they would not send me home. They wanted me to rest for a bit.

9:00 The nurse came in to tell me that the doctor wanted my water broken and asked how I felt about that. I told her I was ready to get the show on the road.

9:30 doctor came in to break my water

9:32 heavy contractions started and did not stop!

10:00 Jason can tell that the pain is getting worse for me and that I am not all there in focusing on the contractions. He asks everyone to leave the room (my mom, his mom, my dad and my dads girlfriend, Margo was on the way and his dad would have been there but he had the other kids).

10:01 Jason and I decide that the epidural was needed. I had planned to just go with the flow and see if I could do it. My head was not in the game though. For some reason I just could not concentrate or focus on my breathing. We call the nurse and we are in luck, the anesthesiologist is on the floor already and will be in shortly.

10:10- the wonderful epi arrives.

10:30- I am feeling pretty dang good. The nurse checks me and I am an 8. WHAT? I could have done the 2 extra cm’s and pushed this kid out, dang it! Oh well. I fell great.


FEELING GOOD!

10:50- I feel lots of pressure. Call the nurse- they check me- its time to push.

11:07 doc arrives. I remember telling her she had 53 minutes to get this baby out because I needed to be released on Thursday (having the baby before midnight counts as day one for insurance purposes!). I needed to make it to Nylin’s kindergarten graduation!!!

11:10 doc tells me to practice pushing while she goes and gets the right size gloves.

11:12 baby nurse runs into the hallway to get my doctor because Peanut’s head is out!

11:14 Peanut is born!!!!! Jason yells- “IT’s A BOY!” the next thing I know there is a brand new baby boy on my chest!!





It was so amazing. I could not stop crying, kissing Jason and kissing Jackson John. It was amazing. I felt this amazing rush come over my entire body. You can call it hormones but I call it God showing me that everything is great and I am doing what I was intended to be doing, having amazing kids with my amazing husband. It was all, well, amazing.




We were cleaned up and sent up to our room where we just stared at Jackson and took pictures and just enjoyed our time. It was amazing.

Jackson John, 5-18-2010
7 pounds 11 ounces 20.5 inches