"I Want an Epidural"

Looking back on my labor and delivery, I would not change a thing. I feel like we made all the right decisions and had a great experience. I'll definitely do it again.

My birth plan went like this:

1) We want a healthy baby and will do whatever necessary to make that happen.
2) I want an epidural.
3) I want an epidural.
4) I want an epidural.

Did I mention that I wanted an epidural?

We got all checked in and the nurse came to start my IV. In all honesty, that was the worst part. I have never felt pain like that before. It was unbelievably awful. We watched the last of the Chilean miners being rescued and went back to sleep.

My contractions started to hurt but I wanted to hold out as long as possible without the epidural since it's been known to slow down labor. I got to a 4 and said I was ready.

The anesthesiologist came in and I gave him a thumbs up and said "You're my best friend". He said he hears that a lot. Once it kicked in, it was smooth sailing. I slept most of the time and only woke up to throw up. That was not so much fun but it paid off in the end. (Explanation to follow)

I woke up around 4:00 and knew that I was ready to go. I told my nurse and she checked and said I was at 9 3/4 and I could start pushing. My family headed to the waiting room and their wait began. My doctor came to check on me a few times which was really great. His office is on the same floor as labor and delivery at the hospital so he was able to come check on me throughout the day. I would push during contractions and fall asleep between contractions. It worked out pretty well. I will venture to say that the best sight I have ever seen in my entire life was when my doctor walked in wearing his scrubs. I knew we were close. As I mentioned before, I threw up five times. My doctor commented that they were some of my best pushes. So I guess it was worth it. I pushed for awhile and he said I wasn't going to get him out on my own so he gave me a choice: forceps or a c-section. I wanted to avoid a c-section if I could so he used the forceps and out he came! All 9 lbs. 10 oz. of him. When my doctor kept commenting on his size I knew I had a linebacker on my hands. I ended up pushing for 2 hours and 22 minutes. But as they all say, when the doctor laid him on my stomach, it was all worth it. Because he was so big, the trauma to my body was pretty devastating. I'll stop there for your sake. Just know that it was rough.

We were able to go home on Saturday, 10/16, and start our life as a family of 3!

One Proud Daddy!



Just a couple hours old