On Sunday, August 23rd, I woke up with a few contractions (or so I thought because this was my first baby). Trey and I decided not to go to church that morning since it was my due date and just in case something were to happen I didn't want my water breaking in the middle of church, haha. We just relaxed for most of the day and I continued to have contractions and and called my sister later that day to confirm what I was feeling were in fact the real thing. They were far apart but were being pretty consistent and weren't uncomfortable yet so I occupied my time but using my exercise ball and just doing different things. I knew I wanted to stay at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital (I hate hospitals, yuck). Later that evening Trey and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and then visited with our neighbors for a while. My contractions were starting to get uncomfortable but not horrible and were still coming consistently so I decided to take a warm bath to try and relax around 8pm. I was trying a program called hypnobabies and I listened to some of my tracks to help me relax. By about 11pm I was having some pretty good contractions that were close and so I told Trey we better get the car packed and head up to the hospital. I wanted to try and unmedicated birth but knew if there was a chance I did end up needing an epidural I didn't want to be in so much pain that I couldn't sit still for it.
We got to the hospital a little before midnight and they took me back and check my cervix, I was at 3cm at that point and the doctor wanted me to wait about an hour before they checked me in to make sure I was in labor since my water hadn't broken yet. Boy was that a long hour! By that time I was in some pretty good pain and I was trying to use my hypnobabies cues, ect. to relax my body when I got a contractions but nothing was working. By the time they came back I had dilated to 4cm & I knew if I was going to get an epidural I better get one. They checked me into my room (which seemed like it took FOREVER) and got the anesthesiologist to come and give me my epidural. It was after 1am by then and I was shaking pretty good from the i.v. they gave me and all the hormones so it was pretty hard to keep still but with Trey and my nurses help I was able to get my epidural.
They let us rest for a while and my doula (Penny, who was an angel) arrived. My contractions had slowed down since I had gotten my epidural so they gave me some pitocin to see if they would pick back up. I was nervous because my sister's babies didn't like this when she was given it and had ended up having c-sections because it caused their heart rates to drop so I was praying Cade's would stay steady. It helped my contractions pick back up and Cade did well with it also. By around 6/7am my epidural wasn't doing much. I felt like I had a brick sitting on my lower left side because Cade was sitting so low and it was pretty painful. They offered to redo my epidural but once my Dr. came and checked me I was dilated to about an 8 and as long as I was progressing I could deal with the pain knowing it would hopefully be over soon. They broke my water and by then it was a go. I pushed for about 20 minutes or so before he was born (apparently it takes most first time moms quite a bit longer and thank God it didn't for me because pushing is exhausting!).
Our beautiful baby boy was born at 11:10AM, was 6lbs. 13oz. & 19 1/2 in. long. He had blonde hair (must be from his Nana=), and the longest little finger & toes (like daddy), and was just adorable! Our lives will never be the same and we thank God for a healthy baby and uncomplicated delivery! We pray that God give us the wisdom, patience and grace to raise him up!
