Michael Aaron Jr. - Here at last! (Part II)

Here's the conclusion of my birth story!!

5 am Monday morning (Mar. 1)- I had now been in labor for 23 hours... and I was spent. I mean I was seriously at the point where I couldn't talk through contractions, and in between contractions I just wanted to sit still and focus. That's when we knew I was in active labor. So off to the hospital we went! Btw, the ride there was horrendous... every bump made my cervix and uterus angry lol And they made sure I knew it!

6 am - I was checked and was 4 centimeters dilated. Now everyone in that room seemed to be excited... EXCEPT FOR ME. All I kept thinking was that I was in labor for this long already and still only 4 centimeters?! I was expecting 8 by this time and with this intensity of pain! Oh but wait... the pain got worse.

7am - 3 pm - This was the highest level of pain I have ever been through in my life. At this point I was completely confused. I didn't know what time it was, who's voices I was hearing, I mean I was completely in the zone. My L&D room was dark, and there was Christian music playing on the boom box in the background... the songs I had chosen weeks earlier to help me through this experience. Every so often I would hear nurses come in and say how impressed they were with me and how they couldn't do it, etc. etc. My hubs kept with the positive affirmations and our doula gave us direction with walking the hospital halls, sqautting to bring the baby down into the birth canal, and telling me that I could do it everytime I cried and said I couldn't. (I tell ya, hiring a doula was really the best thing we did since we were so gung ho about having a natural child birth! I just know that I would have given up after like 4 hours if she wasn't there.)

I just realized that I have been saying that I was in labor for 29 hours, but now that I'm re-counting, It was more like 33 or more! I experienced 33 hours medication free.. and the rest - well let me explain: Well ladies and gents... around 3 pm, I was checked again and was ready to hear that I was 10 centimeters and ready to push... what did the doc tell me? 6 centimeters... $%&%&#$!!! At that point I broke down and cried in front of the doc, the nurses, everyone. I tell you hearing that number really broke me down. I totally would have been able to have a FULLY natural child birth if labor ended at like, I don't know, say hour 20... but 30+ hours later my body (and sadly my mind) had completely given up.

4 pm - It was at this faithful hour that I turned to my hubs and said our code word for pain meds - PEANUT BUTTER. As soon as he heard it, he ran like crazy to get the nurses... and a short time after that the epidural was administered.

Initially I was a little heartbroken about my decision. Though I was now pain free, I cried and kept asking my hubby and our doula whether they were disappointed in me. Of course they said that they were super proud of me and that I was like a serious warrior for enduring all that I had. After I did a little grieving for the birth story I was hoping for, I focused on having a healthy baby and avoiding the main concern which was a C-section.

6pm - I dilated from 6 cm to 10 cm and was ready to push! Hip Hip Hurray! Our nurse's shift was over but she had gotten so attached to us and our story that she stayed on for the extra time to be present when Mikey came into this world.

The pushing was nuts! The pressure was serious, and my epi was wearing off so I actually started to feel the contractions again! But that was okay because with pushing, I had a purpose, and I was ready to meet our little guy FINALLY! At 6:53pm Michael Aaron Jr. was born! At the final push, he came flying out (according to my hubby hehe, projectile baby!) and he came out crying! When they placed him on my belly, it was the most amazing thing that I have ever experienced in my life. All the pain was washed away, everything I endured was totally worth it when I looked into his cute face. I was bawling and so was my hubby. It was truly a miracle!

Now I'm sitting here and looking over at my little one.. completely and utterly in love. Ya he doesn't do much as of yet - eat, sleep, poop, and cry - but in just a week, he has brought so much joy into our lives. Joy that we had no clue about before his arrival. Staring into his face, it brings to mind the verse that I would say to myself throughout the pregnancy: 2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" God is sooo good and we are so blessed to have Mikey in our lives! We love him dearly and couldn't ask for anything more!