The day our family became perfect!

As mentioned in previous posts, Saturday the 12th we were planning on heading in to the hospital to be induced. Low and behold I wake up early Saturday morning with contractions coming every 5-8 minutes on their own. Finally call the D. Gooden around 7:00 and she says to head on in when we are ready and we will see if something is really going on, and if not we will induce. We had a few things we wanted to take care of first so we didn't head right down. Contractions picked up and I started feeling lots of pressure.  Mom comes over to ride with us.  Which I am so thankful for because she was able to snap some pictures of us leaving and helped keep me calm and laughing.  

Chris on the other hand was pretty nervous!  He kept telling us to quit talking as he was driving down there. 

We finally get down there at 10:00 and I am dilated 3-4cm. Doctor decides I am in labor on my own and can get the epidural whenever I want. Contractions were every 3-4 minutes but they weren't unbearable so I decide to wait on epidural.  The labor/birthing room I was in was nice and big.  My sister finally showed up, so it was her, Chris, and my mom in there with me.  At 11:45 they broke my water. That was the strangest feeling ever! After that, the contractions got REALLY intense.  Chris kept asking me if I was ready for the epidural, but I kept saying no.  It was so cute that he couldn't stand seeing me in pain.  I stuck it out for awhile and was quite proud that I was not a screamer. But  when the tears rolled out uncontrollably I finally decided it was time for the good drugs! :o)

All I can say is the epidural was the best thing ever!!!

My dad and Chris' parents made it to the hospital too.  A little later Cam & Ben joined the party. They took turns coming up and spending time with us.  It really helped the day go quickly.  Around 4:15 I was 6-7cm and she could feel the head right down there. Epidural began to wear off some so they upped it back up. Surprisingly the day was going by really quick. I couldn't believe that I had been in labor for so long. Doctor decided to give me some pitocin to try and speed thing up because I was still at 7cm around 5:30. Contractions were coming every minute but the epidural was slowly wearing off on the right side. By 7:00 my right side was back to feeling everything and I was pretty miserable. Doctor checked and was still at 7cm and my cervix was beginning to swell. She said that we knew all along that he was a big baby and could possibly effect the delivery. She said that even though she could feel his head down there, it was too large to descend anymore thus resulting in not enough pressure to dilate me anymore. She thought the best plan was to shift my position to the right since I had feeling on that side and check again in 40 minutes. If there was no change she thought we should do a c-section. I was devastated.  I barely held the tears in while she was still standing there.  Once she walked out, I lost it. I knew that in the end it would be fine, it just wasn't what I wanted. I just want to take a second to pause and say- to those of you who go 100% all natural with no pain medicine- KUDOS TO YOU!  Those 40 minutes that I had feeling on just the right side were enough to tell me that getting the epidural was a good decision!  I can't imagine feeling that pain on both sides the entire time!

Come 7:40 there was still no change. So off to surgery we went.

 The c-section went smoothly. My surgical team was fantastic. Wyatt was born at 9:15pm. Hearing Wyatt's first little cry completely melted both my and Chris' heart. I got to see a quick glimpse of him before they took him over to check him out. 

He weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. Chris quickly went over to him to take pictures and watch everything that was being done. I hated that I missed those first few moments of his life, but I was glad that Chris could be with him. Very quickly Chris brought Wyatt over to me for the first time. It was the most amazing feeling ever. There are not words to describe the emotions that we were feeling. Chris got to hold Wyatt beside me for the last 20 minutes or so of my surgery. They released my arms so that I could touch him too.

All three of us were taken back to our original labor room for recovery. The nurse quickly stripped Wyatt down to his diaper and we got to spend 30 minutes just bonding skin-to-skin and breastfeeding. It was such a special and intimate moment for the three of us. We then got to introduce him to his family that was waiting downstairs. Around midnight we were taken up to our room that we would remain in until discharge. Wyatt stayed with us the entire time so we had plenty of time to bond.

Overall our labor/delivery experience was a good one. No, I didn't get the delivery I had hoped for and I think part of me will always be sad about that, but I have an amazing son who is perfect in every way. All 3 of us were very well taken care of and the hospital staff were amazing. I will forever cherish this experience and how it has changed my life.  


Here is little video capturing the first days of Wyatt's life.  Enjoy!