I cannot believe I am sitting here about to write Ethan's birth story! What a journey this has been! I will try not to cry throughout this entry, but I cannot promise anything! :)
It all started after my 40 week appointment on Tuesday, January, 11th. My doctor checked my progress and still highly effaced but still only 1 cm. The doctor explained again how low he was and that she thought we would have him by the weekend. Since that could not be promised we went ahead and scheduled an induction date for Friday, January, 21st. I went home that day wondering when my baby will ever get here. After about 2 hours I started having frequent contractions. There were about 15 min apart but not painful. They continued throughout the day and into the night getting closer together about 5 min apart. By 12:00 a.m. they were so close together about 3 min apart, so we decided to just go to the hospital to see if anything was happening. We were so excited that this could be the day that Ethan was born that we had constant smiles on our faces and Justin was taping our every move with our new camcorder while getting packed up. The weather outside was extremely cold, one of the coldest days of the year. We arrived to the hospital about 2:00 a.m. and I was checked, and still no progress from the day before. The nurse had us walk the hall for 2 hours to see if anything would change. I was checked again about 4:00 a.m. and still no progress. We then went home a little disappointed that we would not be meeting our Son that day.
Though I rarely had a single contraction the entire pregnancy, these contractions kept coming for days! Still low in intensity, I knew they were not the real thing. I kept trying to get my mind off the fact that he was not here yet and to be patient, but the constant contractions made that very difficult. As I passed my due date I began to feel a little sad that Ethan was still not here, and although I was happy he was thriving in my belly, I just wanted to meet my little Son so badly. As the weekend passed and still no baby, on Monday the 17th I began to finally accept that induction just may be the route we have to take, every though it was not how Justin and I envisioned the birth of Ethan. The whole day I barley had any contractions, but felt calm and relaxed and just knew he would eventually arrive soon. As we no longer have cable T.V., I was so excited to watch The Bachelor that night as that has been my pregnancy guilty pleasure. I knew the episode would be full of drama and it would be a good way for me to laugh at silly women (and Justin too, but don't tell him I told you)! As I was laying on the couch 30 min into the show and Justin was sitting beside me playing his favorite game on his phone (Angry Birds.....don't ask) I felt something weird happen inside, before I knew it I had leaped off the couch like a frog (imagine 9 months pregnant and barley able to walk, let alone leap) and stood up and exclaimed, "I think my water just broke!" As I wobbled up the stairs to the bathroom, it was confirmed, my water had broken! I was thankful it was not the typical gush as you would see on the movies, but just a random trickle every now and then. But I was not experiencing any contractions.
Justin and I got just what we wished for! A spontaneous and exciting sign that labor was on it's way! We learned in our birthing class to not act anxious and excited if your water were to break at home if you have a dog, since the amniotic fluid smells like the baby, the dog could associate the smell of the baby with nervous energy. Justin and I were extremely calm and excited, but tried to act as normal as possible re-packing our bags for round #2! By 9:30 we had arrived at the hospital and waited on our labor room to open. We met our nurse named Meagan and she made us feel at ease immediately. She tested my water to make sure it was the real deal, and sure enough we were staying this time! We would be meeting our baby boy soon!!!
Meagan checked me and confirmed high effacement and -1 station, but still only a 1 cm. She explained the effacement is good as that is half the battle. We asked when would be a good time to call our family as they live 4 hours away, she said its hard to tell, but since it's my first baby most likely it will be tomorrow afternoon before he is here. So we decided not to call anyone and let them have a good night of sleep before we called them the next morning. She said she would come back around 2:00 a.m. and recheck me. Then, around 12:30 I began having contractions on my own! They were getting pretty strong, nothing like I had been experiencing from the previous week. It was all I could do to talk through them. We just knew these contractions had to be doing something so we were excited for the nurse to come back. Once I was checked, I now had dilated to 3 cm. and the baby was at a zero station. She said now would be the time to get the epidural if I wanted to get one because I could be in labor for the next 12 hours since I am not progressing real quickly and because everyone in Kansas City decided to go into the labor at the same time! The hospital was packed with every room full. I guess the old wives tales of a full moon and snow storm really can bring on labor! Since I was only at a 3 cm and the contractions were getting terribly painful I wasn't sure if I could handle 12 more hours of contractions without any meds and because they were going to start the pitocin soon which would only bring on more frequent and stronger contractions. Justin and I had hoped to go drug free, but were flexible going into labor because no one really knows what will happen. We agreed we better just get it over with. As the anesthesiologist came into the room I began to shake really hard. I was extremely nervous to get the epidural and a little disappointed in myself at the same time. As I was sitting on the edge of the bed, getting prepped, I was basically convulsing. Once it was over with I had to lay on my side unable to leave the bed, which felt a little unnatural which also made me feel like I made the wrong decision.
The nurse decided to let me go without the pitocin as long as possible and she would come back at 5:00 a.m. and check me to see if I had progressed. Justin and I both felt holding off on the pitocin would be the best thing for the baby. The hours that passed from 3:00-5:00 went really, really slow as the contractions became more intense. I did not want to up my epidural meds as I wanted the least amount of medicine in me as possible, so I left my "magic button" alone as I breathed slowly through my contractions. At 5:00 a.m. the nurse came back with the doctor on call to check me. Yep, still at a 3. The doctor said she will be going off call at 7 a.m. and most likely I will be delivering with my doctor who would be taking over at 7 a.m. I was happy to know my doctor would be delivering Ethan, but at the same time I was just fine if it where Dr. Lombard as she made me feel very comfortable. The doctor said it is time to start the pitocin since my water broke at 7:30 p.m. the night before, they do not like to let the labor last any longer than 18 hours or the baby could be in harm. So we agreed to start the pitocin since it was our last option.
Once we started the pitocin, the contractions were coming 2 times faster and stronger than before. I could not believe how intense the contractions where. I had to give in and start pressing the magic button as I knew I had a LONG way to go before I was fully dilated. Justin was the best coach in the world and guided me through every contraction holding my hand and encouraging me through every painful second. I could not believe how intense the pain was, even with an epidural! I then and there realized it was the best decision for me to get the medication because it was so painful. I began to tell Justin I didn't know if I could take this pain anymore as the nurse walked in the room. We told her how intense the pain was and she suggested we call the anesthesiologist back in the room to up my dosage. Then the nurse said, "Before we do that, lets check to see where we are at this point." Expecting to be a mere 4 cm. the nurse looked me in the eyes and said, "You are complete!" I asked, "what do you mean by complete?" Meagan replied, "You are ready to have this baby and turned off the pitocin!!!" I looked at her with total disbelief! The nurse looked at Justin and said, now would be the time to call the family. The nurse then left to call Dr. Lombard back to the hospital who had left to go home as she never would have thought I would have progressed from 3 cm. to 10 cm. in a small hour 1/2 time frame! Justin excited as could be then called the family and told them we would start pushing shortly.
When the nurse came back into the room she said she would teach me to do some practice pushing. She began to demonstrate how to push, then she abruptly advised me to lay back down, close my legs and lay on my side as she saw Ethan's head ready to come out!!! She said it looks like he has blondish hair! We couldn't believe he was so low and he wanted to be delivered so quickly! We were so happy his head was visible, but scared because the doctor had not arrived yet. The nurse kept her cool and even though we could sense a little bit of fear as she was in charge until the doctor arrived. Justin also was the most nervous he had been through the entire process as everything was happening so fast and we had to wait almost 20 minutes before the doctor arrived.
It was time for the nurses to change shifts right at 7:00 when the doctor came into the room. We instantly loved our new nurse as well, Jamie, but didn't want to see Meagan leave so close to Ethan being born. Happily, she choose to stick around to witness his birth even though it was time for her to go home. By 7:03 a.m. all of the staff was in the room and I was ready to push! I could not believe the time had come! I pictured myself for months crying at this point being scared out of my mind, but I had an enormous sense of calmness over my body and the room was so peaceful and inviting that it was such a magical experience. Justin stayed by my side the entire time and kept encouraging me along with all the nurses and the doctor. I felt so empowered and proud of myself that I was actually giving life to my precious baby. The feelings of creating life are just indescribable.
I pushed through 3 contractions, however in the beginning I was not sure exactly where I needed to push so I believe it could have gone even faster had I known what I knew by the end. The doctor said, we can see his little ears, keep pushing and that gave me so much strength. Then the Doctor said, "look at your baby, Mommy" as his head was completely visible and I could still feel him kicking inside of my body! He had already started crying even before his whole body came out! I gave it one more push and he was free! Ethan was born at 7:19 a.m. on January, 18th 2011. He was so big I thought to myself! I instantly saw Justin in Ethan as I saw my baby for the first time. I had always wanted a mini version of my amazing husband and now I had it. Ethan came out very feisty, more of my trait we believe! He first grabbed onto Dr. Lombard's scrubs with a tight grip, begging "please don't drop me!" Then as she was toweling him off, he would not let go of the towel! Justin was then able to cut the umbilical cord, which he did a fantastic job! As they laid Ethan on my chest, the life that had been created and been with me for over 9 months, I was in love with him so much it hurt as well as Justin.
Ethan was soon taken away to be checked out to make sure he was he was healthy and Daddy followed him taking lots of pictures as I was being worked on. All I remember was staring at my baby and being so thankful he was healthy, not even paying any attention as to what was going on with me. Ethan weighed 7. lb. 13 oz. and measured 19 1/2 inches. He was a big and strong alert precious baby boy! He was eventually brought back to me and I began to feed him. Ethan latched like a champion on the first try and I could not have been more proud! Soon, our pediatrician came to visit us which we didn't expect, but were very thankful. He wanted to make sure Ethan was healthy from his perspective to give us peace of mind which he did. Then our original OBGYN came in to get a peek at Ethan and said, "if only he would have waited one more hour I could have delivered him!" It was great to see her as well. We felt very supported and encouraged by the hospital staff and the doctors, it could not have gone any better than it did. We were told we were the talk of the labor wing with our awesome delivery story!
We are so thankful our baby boy is here and Justin and I are so proud to be parents! We could not be more in love with Ethan than we already are. We are now a family, it's now the 3 of us (4 including Miley)! We look forward to an amazing journey with this little boy that we love so much and know we are going to create so many amazing memories together. Ethan is just perfect.
