Our birth story

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Steven decided it was time to start to be born at 10:17pm on Sunday, September 9 when mommy's water broke. Since nothing was happening yet (no real strong or regular contractions) we decided to just rest at home and see where we would progress.

At about 7:00am we took a walk around the neighborhood because we learned that maybe that would get things going...well it didn't! We finally decided to call the doctor at 8:30 and he suggested that we start heading toward the hospital but there was no rush. So we took our time gathering some final items, loading the car seat, and getting Kira ready to go to her uncle's house. We finally got on the road, dropped Kira and arrived at the hospital around 11:30.

We headed up to Labor and Delivery - at the front desk they looked at us like we were in the wrong place since I was all smiles and walking easily. When the found out my water broke they sent us to a triage room to get my vitals and do their inital assessment. I was only 3 cm and 80% and it had been almost 12 hours since my water broke. However, we kind of lied to the hospital about the timing because I didn't want them to start the clock on us too early...keep that a secret!

A regular room finally opened up and we were moved to our LDR (Labor, Delivery, Recovery) room. We found out there that the Doctor wanted to get me started on a Pitocin drip to start progress - I was really disappointed at that because I wanted to do as much on my own as possible. However, at that point (it was almost 1pm) I was ready to get things moving along.

We started the drip, played yahtzee, sat on the birth ball, and finally discovered that laying on my side was the trick ... but in some ways it was too much the trick as my contractions eventually started to come so quickly that I couldn't use my relaxation techniques between them to relax. At this point I had only progressed to 4cm and still at 80%.

By this time, about 8pm, I was so tired but my body still kept going - this baby needed to get born! Eventually I progressed to 6cm and then stalled there for awhile. Finally, I got through transistion - I can remember my whole body shaking violently during contractions. Hopefully those memories will fade soon!

Finally at about midnight I had the urge push but our doctor hadn't arrived yet. The nurses tried to hold me off but I couldn't - finally, one of them said "we don't get paid for this but here we go!". And then like magic the doctor showed up. I pushed for about an hour and half during which the doctor tried to use the vacuum extractor twice. I distinctly remember at one point hearing a really loud pop - it was kind of scary especailly recognizing that the pop was it coming off my baby's head. At that time our doctor called in the obstrecian on duty to assist with the final attempt at suctioning the baby out before we would be taken for a cesearan. That was pretty scary - Tommy and I were really worried about the baby and making sure nothing was wrong but every one convinced us that one more shot at suction was going to be much better than surgery.

So we tried - I don't think I have ever screamed so loud in my life! I remember the nurse telling me - just get mad, get really really mad. I dd because after about six pushes and a lot of suction our baby was born! I remember looking up and seeing the doctors holding the baby by his right arm and leg trying to get the umbilical cord cut (Tommy didn't get to do it but in the end that was the least of his worries). The nurse kept asking "what is it - boy or girl?" and our doctor hurriedly looked down and said "Boy"!

At 1:58am on September 11 we had our little Steven and he was healthy. He did get quite a bruise and a bit of head trauma. He got his lungs cleared and a good prognosis from the nurses.

I finally got to hold him and love him and it was wonderful! It was a long 28 hours but in the end we had a healthy boy who we can't wait to see grow up!

One special note - Granddad Steve and Grandma Nancy arrived at the hospital around 6pm and waited the whole night in the family room. It was really special to have Granddad Steve be the first one to hold Steven (besides his mom and dad)!