Monday, October 19th I woke up at about 6:45am to my water breaking. So I woke up Mike and we quickly grabbed a few things and Mike took a 15min. shower that he will never live down! Then we were off to American Fork Hospital. I was still only dilated to a 1 so the immediately put me on Pitocin. I was not a fan of that idea because I was planning on going natural and I did not need anything else to make my contractions more intense but the doctor knows best. So they started it about 45 min after I was admitted. I handled the contractions until about 1pm but with them upping my pitocin I started to loose it. My contractions were so close and so intense that I wasn't sure where I would ever get the energy to push this baby out when it was time. So at that point the nurse checked me and told me I was only at a strong 3 centimeters dilated and since the baby's heart rate was good they were going to up my pitocin again. I was feeling a little discouraged so I asked Mike what he thought about me getting an epidural. Before he could answer, I had a doosy of a contraction and was yelling that I didn't care I wanted an epidural right away. Before Mike could even take in the situation, my best friend Ashley was out the door getting the Anesthesiologist. I was so lucky that he was actually right outside the door and came in immediately. He did a great job. I didn't feel a thing when he was inserting the epidural. Within about 10 minutes I had complete relief! By 7pm I was dilated to a 10 but had to wait to push for a little bit because there were 13 women in labor at the same time and 3 of them were ready to push at the same time I was. Since they were all on baby number 3 and 4 they got to go first because the would be faster. So the nurse came in and started having me push. It was the most intense experience that Mike and I had ever had together. He was the best coach ever. I could not have asked for more. He was so loving, sweet and helpful. I could not have imagined going through that with anyone else by my side. Like I mentioned in my other post, I pushed for two and a half hours. While I was pushing I spiked a fever which gave both James and I an infection. Not to mention I kept throwing up. And on top of all that he had the cord wrapped around his neck. I obviously couldn't see what was going on but Mike said that the doctor was amazing at getting James out and getting the cord off his neck. At this point I still had no clue that there was anything wrong. I thought it was weird that there were so many nurses in my room but this was my first baby so I didn't know what was normal. They cleaned him up quick and then let me hold him for about a minute (if it was even that long). Then they rushed him off to the NICU (intensive care unit for babies). He was born at 10:06pm and I didn't get to see him until about 1am. That was such a sweet moment. It was just Me, Mike and James. It was so nice to have some time as a family. I can't even put into words what that moment was like. My world could not be more perfect. That night they started both of us on a bunch of antibiotics and fluids. On Thursday morning we finally got to go home. What an experience! As hard as it all was I would do it again and again...and I will! I could not imagine feeling so much love for someone I just met. I also did not know how this experience would bond Mike and I so close together. I feel closer to him than anyone in the world. He truly is my best friend and the love of my life. James is such a blessing to our little family. We love having him around!
