He's Finally Here!

     The wait is finally over!  My little man was born today, Wendesday, June 27th at 2:37am.  I have yet to have an office hours baby.  They've all been born in the wee hours of the morning.  So, it was no surprise that this little guy decided to make an early morning appearance as well.
     Tuesday was just like any other day during the pregnancy.  It was filled with heart burn, indigestion, kids running around wild, and me just being a little tired and more than ready for our family to grow!  I did have a few contractions during the day, but nothing that told me it was time.  I'd been having some contractions for about a week and the doctor assured me that it was just my body getting ready.  I did have a doctor appointment that morning and was dilated to 3. 
     For those of you who haven't had a child, you need to get dilated to a 10 before you're ready to deliver.  Just because I was at a 3, was no indication that he was coming anytime soon.  I'd been dilated at a 2 for about a week, so I wasn't getting my hopes up.  Honestly, I've been ready for awhile but the idea of having a July 4th baby was really exciting.  That would only be 2 days after my due date, so I wouldn't have to wait too long. 
     I really wanted a July baby because Chloe was born in June.  I've never wanted to have my children's birthdays too close together.  Birthdays are special and the idea of having the kids share their special days, never seemed like a good idea to me.  So I was really hoping for the little guy to hold off until July.  Oh well!
     The night continued like every other night.  Wrestling Lily to get ready for bed, repeatedly reminding the kids to brush their teeth, my mother-in-law checking in on me and Ryan asking about a 100 times if I was ok!  Yes it was really nice that they care about me, but trust me I'll let someone know when I go into labor.  There's no hiding the faces that I make during a contraction! 
     After finally getting the kids to bed, it was my turn to crash.  Unfortunately, my resting didn't last very long.  I was awoken to some pretty painful contractions around 12:30am.  I waited for a few of them to pass and kept track of how long inbetween.  I quickly realized that the contractions were about 8 minutes apart, were getting longer, and were stronger!  I went downstairs, got Ryan, and told him, "He's coming tonight!  We need to get the kids up and we need to hurry!"
     The hurry part worried Ryan.  With our other three kids, my labors were short and the deliveries were even shorter.  We had joked about how we might not make it this time, because the doctor got there just in time for Chloe and Lily to be born.  Tonight, we were in a definite hurry.  By the time we got the kids loaded into the car, my contractions were 4 minutes apart and it took 25 minutes to get to the hospital!
     I have to say that our kids were wonderful!  They were talking all the way to the hospital and staying quiet during the contractions.  Ryan kept his cool and got us all there safely.  We even beat my parents to the hospital.  Which is amazing in itself, because we're late FOR EVERYTHING!  This did make me nervous- what would we do if I needed to deliver and my family wasn't there to watch the kids?  I don't think watching your mom deliver a sibling would be the right thing- I really think it would scar them for life!

     I got to my room, was checked by the nurse, and it was verified that I was in full labor at 1:30am (just 1 hour after beginning strong contractions)!  DUH.  I'm pretty sure the heavy panting, the sweating, the grunting, and the terrified look of pain on my face would have been confirmation enough.  But obviously, I'm not in the medical field.

     I was already dilated to 7, almost an 8 and the contractions were only a couple of minutes apart.  The on-call doctor was called in and the nurses were honestly running around getting the room ready.  I was told there was no time for an epidural but I could use something to help a little with the pain.  (I've never had an epidural or a pain killer during my other pregnancies.  I'm not judging, just letting you know that I elected to go without.  I had had some moments when I questioned that decision!)
     Eventually my parents, sisters, and in-laws got there.  Now we were just waiting for the doctor.  Seriously, I think she was coming from another state.  It took FOREVER!  At one point, I asked the nurse "When is she getting here?  What is taking so long?  I don't think I can wait any long!"  The nurse checked and I was at 9, still no doctor.  I then asked "Where is she coming from?"  The nurse giggled "From her home!"  She was great, she knew when to joke and when to talk me through the contractions.  I had an awesome nursing staff.

     Finally the doctor arrived.  She broke my water and I instantly had the urge to push.  There was just one problem...I was still at a nine and my cervix wasn't ready.  By body was contracting and pushing, but I wasn't physically ready for the baby to be born.  The labor had happened so quickly that not everything was ready for the delivery.  The AWESOME on-call doctor was able to keep me calm and help my body get ready.  She told me that I couldn't push yet because I would tear my cervix and explained that that was something that was much more painful than the contractions!  I was able to think through the contractions and calm my body down...a little.  After a few more contractions, I was fully ready to deliver my son.

     I was 2 pushes into the delivery, when my son's head appeared.  His cord was wrapped tight around his little neck.  Very calmly, the doctor told me not to push and explained why.  I had my legs up, was already pushing and now I had to stop.  Knowing to stop and actually stopping are two very different things.  My husband and the nurse kept talking to me as the doctor did her thing.  She had to put two clamps on the cord and cut the cord before my son was fully delivered.  Calmy the doctor said "I'm sorry Dad, but I'll need to be the one to cut the cord this time!"  Ryan, my wonderful husband, just smiled and looked me in the eyes and said "It's ok!"

   One push later and our beautiful son was born.  He was perfect.  He had all ten fingers and toes.  (sorry Andrew!)  A head full of hair.  He cried right away.  Our family was finally complete.  The doctor looked at me and asked "What's his name mom?"  I smiled, looked at my little man and said "I don't know!"