Our sweet boy is turning three months next week! I thought I'd take the time to write down all the details I can remember about his birth. It was the most intense experience of my life and it went nothing like how I envisioned it!
September 26th 2017: We checked into labor and delivery around 2:00 am when my contractions were five minutes apart. After they checked us in they said would check my progress in one hour. Preston and I walked/waddled the halls non stop for that hour and I did as many squats and lunges as I could being what felt like 854 weeks pregnant (in reality I was 38 weeks pregnant). At 4:00 am they hooked me back up to the monitors and just before 5:00 am I was at 5 cm and admitted. At 7:00 am we met our nurse for the day, her name was Janice and she becomes important later. At 8:30 we met the on call doctor. My doctor got stuck somewhere else thanks to hurricane Irma. The on call doctor broke my water, which was SO uncomfortable. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. As soon as my water broke my contractions became very painful and two minutes apart. We ordered an epidural at 7:00 am and the anesthesiologist didn't make it to me until almost 11:00. After I got my epidural I fell asleep and woke up around 12:30 for another check to find out that I was 10 cm and baby was coming! Our nurse started setting everything up and getting me ready. At this point I got really, really nervous. Pushing with Harper was rough to say the least and took forever, I was so scared it was going to be awful again. As we were waiting for the doctor I started to feel an insane amount of pressure, the nurses started saying not to push and to relax and breathe but I couldn't focus on anything else. At this point I got really nauseous and ended up throwing up. After being sick the pressure grew and grew and I remember laying there with my eyes closed trying to focus on anything else while we waited for the doctor to come. I remember hearing nurse Janice asking around if any doctor was nearby or on the floor and telling me repeatedly not to push and to just breathe. It was the most intense moments waiting for the doctor and then all of a sudden Janice was tearing the monitors off my belly and asking for blankets. She laid blankets on my stomach and said I could give her one small push. I didn't even get my chin to my chest to push and Cohen was pulled out and on my belly. I honestly laid there in shock for a few seconds. I had NO idea what the heck just happened. My baby was born without a single push. Not one. I didn't even know that was possible! I remember Preston telling me to open my eyes and see how big he was. At that point the on call doctor rushed in, a little bit too late. Everyone started guessing how big he was and after some skin on skin they took him away to check him and weigh him. The nurse announced his weight in grams and all the other nurses and doctor started laughing and then they told us that meant he was 10 pounds 4 ounces. We just love this our big boy. He is seriously the sweetest guy and we're so happy he's here.
