Before I start to forget, it is important for me to tell our birth story…

It was Monday, March 31, and I had my 39 week OB appointment that day. I woke up more swollen than usual. None of my shoes fit me, so I had to walk into my OB appointment in flip flops. My hemorrhoid problems had accelerated, and I was more than miserable. I’m sure it was written all over my face. I was having irregular contractions, and that had been going on for over a week at this point. They were getting stronger and much more painful, but they never found a pattern to throw me into active labor. I was ready to have my baby!

Well, the OB did an internal to check my progress and found that I was already 4 cm dilated! That was all it took. She told me, “When you can’t fit into your shoes anymore, it’s time to have a baby!” At first, I thought she was joking, so I kind of laughed her off. Then, I hear her in the hall calling the hospital and giving them my name with induction orders!!!!!!!! WOOHOO! It was real! We were having a baby that day! I quickly jumped off the exam table, threw on my clothes, and immediately text messaged Sean to come home ASAP. We were to be at the hospital as soon as possible to get things started. This sudden rush of adrenaline rushed over me, and I kicked everything into high gear. The nurses all met me at the door on my way out to wish me luck, the OB was smiling from ear to ear, and I was relieved, scared and anxious all at the same time.

Sean met me at home, and we threw our bags into the car. I put the dogs up and picked up the house the best I could, and we were off to the hospital! The entire way up there we were both making phone calls. I had to call dad and mom to tell them to head down to GA as soon as they could. I think dad was in shock when I called him and told him it was time. He kind of stuttered over the phone, and I imagine his face was like a deer in headlights.

We arrived at the hospital and went to the admissions desk to get signed in. Then, they sent us up to labor & delivery with our room number and paperwork. Once we got to the right floor, the secretary escorted us to our room, and we tried to settle in as much as possible. I felt like crying and giggling all at once. HA! I was fearful of the IV and the epidural, but I knew my son was worth every moment of pain, so I gritted my teeth and held Sean’s hand and got through it. Our nurses were all so wonderful!

The funny thing about it was as soon as we walked in the hospital, I started having contractions! Go figure! The nurse let me labor on my own before administering Pitocin to see if my body would pick up the pace with the contractions I was already having. But they never got strong enough, so we started the induction process sometime that evening. I had to be closely monitored, so I had a blood pressure cuff on, an IV in my hand, a heart rate detector on my finger, a heart rate detector for the baby on my tummy, and a contraction detector on my tummy. It was a major ordeal to have to get up and go to the bathroom!

My OB came in to check me, and I was still dilated at 4 cm, so he suggested breaking my water. The nurse gave me some advice that we decided to follow: Pitocin is manageable until they break your water, so get your epidural before they break your water! So, I shared this with my OB, and he was more than happy to wait until my epidural was in. The anesthesiologist was very nice, and she helped calm me down while talking me through the entire procedure. Everything went perfectly, and in a few minutes, I was numb from the waist down. Once they broke my water, my contractions intensified tremendously. Since I wasn’t in pain, I allowed Sean’s mom, my brother and sister-in-law and my parents to come visit for awhile. I started getting rather sleepy, so after about an hour, they went to the waiting room to hang out while Sean and I caught a little nap.

A nap…. or so we thought!!!!! All of the sudden, I felt pain, and I mean PAIN! I was breathing the best I could, but the contractions were right on top of one another without any break for me to catch my breath and recover. I thought this epidural was suppose to help! Then it occured to me that maybe I was already in transition? It had only been 50 minutes since I was at 4 cm - how could I possibly be almost ready to push?! The anesthesiologist came back in the room to give me another dose of medicine, and the nurse came in at my request to check me just to make sure. Low and behold - I was 10 cm!!!!!!!!!! It was time to push! I couldn’t believe what a fast labor this was!

Sean and the nurse helped hold my legs for me while I learned how to push correctly. It’s very difficult to push effectively when you can’t feel anything! Finally, the nurse suggest using the stirrups, and that solved the problem real fast. I pushed for about an hour, and it was finally time for the final moments of Jack’s birth. The OB came in, nurses were shuffling around all over the room, and Sean and I just looked at each other with the biggest grins on our faces. We were about to meet our son! Jack’s heart rate kept decelerating as I would push, although it would recover quickly. The OB didn’t like the look of that, so he attached a vacuum to his head to help move things along a little faster. The cord was wrapped around Jack’s neck, which was causing those decelerations. But he came out perfectly healthy! With one last push, our son was born. The OB allowed Sean to cut his umbilical cord, and Jack was placed on my stomach. I was so amazed! This was our son!

They took him over to the warmer to clean him up. Sean wanted to stay with me as they were stitching me up, but I told him to go over with Jack. I didn’t want him to be left alone for a second! Jackson Ryan was 20.5″ long and weighed 7 lbs. 8.4 oz. He even had a perfectly round head - no cone head babies for us - haha! I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Soon after the birth, we both got cleaned up, and they brought Jack over to me for the first time. We immediately started breastfeeding, and he latched on right away. It was like he was teaching me how to do it! I was so amazed at the whole experience. There is nothing in this world that could ever compare to that moment in our lives. How God brings two people together and allows us to create a life is beyond my amazement and comprehension. It’s one of the most beautiful events any two people could ever share together. I’m so proud of my husband and my son. God has truly blessed me far beyond what I ever deserved.