Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

Saturday, April 12
I got the second steroid shot, early the next morning. Since my contractions were so few, and far between, I was moved to a different room and taken off the monitor, at about 2pm.

I kept track of my contractions, on my own. My pain level began to increase to about an 8. At about 4 pm, I called in the nurse to notify her that I had contractions at 3:00, 3:15, 3:25, 3:35, and so on.

She hooked me back up to the monitor. At about 5:30, or so, she came in to check me. I was dilated to 8. They hollered for more nurses, and quickly wheeled me back into the same delivery room I had left.

I got my epidural, shortly after arriving in the delivery room. I had to roll over on my side, and kind of curl up in a fetal position. My legs and toes went numb, pretty quickly. I had my hand on my leg, at one point, and thought "Is that a pillow?" before I looked down and realized I was poking my own leg. The epidural worked, perfectly.

I remember being in a really good mood. I was cracking jokes & smiling. My family got to be with me, and my 4 year old brother was lifting my spirits.

I had originally decided I only wanted Anthony & my mom in the room during delivery, but my MIL didn't have any other family or friends to sit with, so I told my husband she could stay, but she had to stay back in the corner. I didn't want anyone new to see my you-know-where that hadn't already, except the nurses & doctors. ;)

Henry managed to hold off until about 8:45, when I suddenly felt like I needed to start pushing. We (Anthony, my mom, my MIL, and I) said goodbye to my dad & Jayce as they headed to the waiting room. All the other nurses and the doctor were next door, where we had just heard a woman hollering "He's coming! Now!" (We, later, found out she hadn't made it from the wheelchair to the bed, before her baby was born!)

So I pushed, while my mother and my husband held my legs up, and nurse Stephanie coached me.
She said, "When you feel like you need to poop, that's when you push." And she told me to push as if I were trying to poop.

Guys. One of my biggest birth-fears was that I would poop while giving birth, and my husband would see that.

I actually did pee, though. That was a bit embarrassing.

In the middle of a push, I noticed my MIL standing beside me, with her phone, camera ready. I stopped, startled, and the nurse asked if I was okay. "Yeah, uh..."
I didn't want to hurt any feelings, but I was kinda uncomfortable. Anthony noticed, and reminded his mom to sit down. She had just gotten excited, and she also knew I had wanted professional photos, and was trying to help. But I didn't dwell on it long. I was a little busy, and quickly turned my attention back to pushing.

I had requested a mirror so I could see all the action. They had brought in a full length, stand-alone mirror. I highly recommend it! So I got to see Henry's little head as he made his way out. It motivated me to push with all my might. I was ready to see my baby boy! I really wasn't feeling much pain at that point.

I pushed and pushed, and when it looked like he was about to come out, the doctor finally made it into the room, and took over.
That's when it really began to hurt. The doctor started, basically, trying to stretch me out. I kept pushing, and then the doctor grabbed Henry's head, and pulled. I'm pretty certain I cried out as I pushed, at that point, and Henry's head emerged.

I took a very short break from pushing, and then started again, so he could get his shoulders out. The doctor pulled on Henry's head, some more, and then he was out! Crying, and squirming, and he looked perfectly healthy, under all the slime and nasty gunk. After the nurses clamped the umbilical cord, Anthony got to let go of my leg, as a nurse relieved him, and the new Daddy severed the cord.

All that was left was to push out the placenta, and then I was done! What a relief! The doctor stitched me up, while the nurses cleaned up Henry, and looked him over. I had only gotten a quick look at him, and then he was carried over to a table. I tried to see him, but there were too many people around him. He was wheeled out, and I was left wondering when I would get to see and hold my son.
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time of birth: 9:35pm
weight: 4 pounds, 7 ounces
length: 16.5 inches
pushing time: 50 min.

Henry's first photo. My mom managed to snap it when a nurse moved out of the way.