Our baby is here!

So it all started when Will, Wyatt and I went to my regular 39 week OB appointment on 3/11/11. My blood pressure was 154/84 and I had a small amount of protein in my urine, which concerned the OB a bit. She checked me and I was 3.5 cm dilated and then stripped my membranes which dilated me to 4cm. She suggested I get to the hospital within an hour and check in to have our baby.

We rushed home and loaded up the truck and then dropped Wyatt and our dogs off with my dad. We checked in at the hospital at 11am and I started having very mild contractions soon after. My OB had thought we should get my water broken once we arrived, but the hospital staff wanted to start pitocin. I talked to the midwife assigned to me and explained that I wanted to avoid pitocin if possible so we decided to break my water and see if my body would take over. She agreed to this plan and then broke my bag of water at 1pm- my contractions picked up immediately. Will and I walked about the hospital and they got even stronger. Surprisingly my blood pressure just kept getting better and better and no protein showed up again. I then labored in bed for awhile and when the nurse checked my cervix at about 3pm because I felt some pressure down below- I was only dilated to 5-6cm. I started wanting an epidural soon after which was close to 4pm, but got in the tub for about 20 minutes to see if that would help. When I got out of the tub, I was having terrible back contractions and got on my hands and knees in bed. The anesthesiologist arrived and started preparing for my epidural- asking me questions and giving me the lowdown on the procedure (I could barely listen though at this point). But I was so relieved to be getting it.

At this point I got off my hands and knees and laid down, I had some serious butt pressure and felt like I was going to die. My nurse checked me and I heard those dreaded words- "Dr. we aren't going to be needing you after all." And then she stepped out of the room and yelled for staff to bring in the midwife immediately. I had an inkling I was not getting that Epi as I felt a terrible need to start pushing. They told me not to until the midwife arrived (which was just a couple minutes, luckily). Apparently I pushed for 2 contractions and little Grayson Daniel was born at 4:40pm. It felt like a lot longer than 2 contractions worth of pushing as I could feel all the terrible pain of his head and shoulders passing (slowly) through. He was 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. He started crying immediately and had apgars levels of 9/9. Will helped pull him out and put him on my chest. He was very alert and content to snuggle. He has been nursing like a champ and although mama didn't sleep much last night (mostly thanks to being in a hospital), he was easy to soothe and easy to fall in love with.