The Birth Story

On his official due date I thought it would be fitting to share the birth story.

Warning: this is a really wordy post, but for my memories sake I needed to write it down.

On the morning of Wednesday, January 13th I awoke at 5:00 am because of a backache. In my sleepy stupor I realized that my back hurt, then it would go away, then it would return over and over for about an hour. However, I was too sleepy to actually time anything and I wasn't convinced they were contractions (throughout my 9 months of pregnancy I never experienced a contraction, so I was unsure of what it actually felt like). At 6:00 am I roused Kyle and told him I might be experiencing contractions. He got out the timer and we realized that whatever was making my lower back hurt was occurring every 8 minutes. We decided we would wait until the doctor's office opened at 8:00 am to call and check before heading to the hospital. In my complete denial I got ready for work fully expecting to go to the doctor with false labor and have to return to work.

By 8:00 am the contractions were 6 minutes apart and the doctor instructed me to head to the hospital immediately. I still was not convinced I was in labor, but the back ache was increasing in intensity so we put the bag in the car and headed to the hospital. After the 30 minute drive to the hospital my contractions were 4 minutes apart.

We entered the hospital at 9:00 am and were immediately admitted. We were taken straight to labor and delivery and within minutes I was wearing a hospital gown, fetal monitor, and contraction monitor. At this point, I started to realize that I was indeed in labor. I think I needed to see the contractions on the monitor to realize what was happening. When I arrived at the hospital I was 6 cm dilated. I breathed through the contractions in bed for awhile. Then Kyle and I walked the halls. During the walk the contractions really started to pick up and when we got back to the room I was 8 cm dilated. The contractions were starting to increase in intensity, with very little rest time. At this point I started to shiver and feel nauseous. I decided if I wanted to have some energy following the birth I better get the epidural before it was too late. The anesthesiologist administered the epidural, the doctor broke my water, and within 15 minutes it was time to push.

Thirty minutes later at 1:48 pm Sawyer Maddox entered the world weighing in at 6 lb. 7.5 oz. and 18.5 inches long. Dad cut the umbilical cord and rushed around trying to take pictures of our new little guy. When he was all cleaned up Kyle prayed over him and then I fed him for the first time. After that everything is a whirlwind as the visitors came by the droves.

I was extremely fortunate to have a quick and uneventful labor and delivery experience. And the best part is after all that work we got to take him home with us :)