The best moment of my life... (Henry's Birth Story)

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."  1 Samuel 1:27

I have lived a very blessed life and had many moments of great joy.  However, none can compare to the joy and happiness my heart experienced when Henry entered this world.  

Here is the story of the best moment of my life.

Monday 11/21 @ 8:30 am - Doctor appointment... only 1 cm dilated and fully effaced.  No changes since the week before.  Doctor comments for the third week in a row that baby is "really low".  We talk about induction for the next week if baby doesn't come by then.

The last bump pic taken at 39 weeks.

Monday 11/21 @ 10:30 am - Head back into work, disappointed and very emotional... to say that I was a hot mess is an understatement.  I couldn't look or talk to anyone without crying.  It was so embarrassing!  Luckily, I work mostly with women who are friends of mine.  I was at the point where even sitting in a chair hurt b/c of all the pressure, I had a headache, backache and very bad braxton hicks contractions.

Monday 11/21 @ 5:30 pm - After a very stressful day at work, I head home.  The contractions are more noticeable and I wonder if they are "real" contractions, but decide to not worry about it because I have been wrong before.

Monday 11/21 @ 9:30 pm - Head to bed.

Monday 11/21 @ 10 pm - Wake up to what felt like a water balloon bursting in my bed!  MY WATER BROKE!  I yelled for Jason and we quickly grabbed a few things before heading out the door (the hospital bags and car seat have been ready to go for 3 weeks).  On the way to the hospital I was shaking uncontrollably (which didn't end until an hour or so after delivery) and started having some major contractions.  Eeeekkkk!!!!  They really hurt!

Monday 11/21 @ 10:45 pm - Arrive at hospital and get set up with monitors, iv's, etc.  When the nurse tells me I am 3cm dilated and my contractions are 2-3 min apart, my response is "Oh Sh**!".  I quickly apologize for my profanity and she laughs at me.  I guess she hears much worse than that all the time.  Ha!  I ask for an epidural stat and they put in a request for an anesthesiologist.  There were a bazillion babies being born early that week b/c everyone wanted to be induced and home before the Thanksgiving holiday so it took a little while before the anesthesiologist to get there.  So much pain... I have no clue how women do this naturally!  Kudos to those who have!

Let me make a sidenote here -
Remember my post about the reasons I love my husband... well add to that 
#11. He is my pillar of strength when I am not strong enough to deal with the situation on my own.
He was as involved with the childbirth as I was (mentally anyway), by helping me breathe through the contractions, letting me squeeze his fingers, counting as I pushed, telling me constantly how great I was doing and never leaving my side.  Ladies, I know I have it good and I thank God every day for him.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 12:30 am - Anesthesiologist (the most loved man in the maternity ward) arrives and I finally get relief!  The minute the pain went away is another one of the happiest moments of my life. : )  I actually didn't think the epidural was painful, but maybe that is because the contraction pains were much worse in comparison. 

Tuesday 11/22 @ 1am - I am now at 4cm and baby is at Station +1... pretty low in the birth canal.  Our nurse, Chelsea, spends most of the night chatting with us.  She is close to our age and grew up pretty close to where Jason did.  We discover that we have some mutual friends and spend a good hour or so talking about how much we love our dogs.  She was so kind and made the whole labor experience very calm.  Her shift ended an hour before Henry was born and she stayed so she could meet him.  How sweet! 

Tuesday 11/22 @ 3am - I am now at 6 cm dilated.  Jason and I try to sleep, but for obvious reasons never seem to get any.  We contemplate Henry's middle name, which we are still undecided on.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 5am - I am fully dilated!!!!  Holy cow, that happened fast!  Chelsea calls my doctor and we begin pushing.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 7 am - Have been pushing for almost 2 hours and am exhausted.  Doctor requests that my epidural get turned off so that I can feel the contractions better and push harder.  Eeeeekkkk!  They assure me that the epidural takes a full hour to wear off, so I agree to give it a shot.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 7:20ish - It is all a blur at this point... the doctor tells us that even though I am pushing hard, there isn't much progress because the umbilical cord is wrapped around something and keeps pulling him back in.  Say what????  Talk about scary!  She suggests that forceps be used and is confident she can get him out within a few contractions.  I REALLY didn't want to have to use forceps.  I mean, have you seen the things?  On the other hand, the pain and pressure were really getting to me and I just wanted him out and know that he was okay.  So we agreed... but I requested the epidural be turned back on beforehand.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 7:30ish - Anesthesiologist comes back in to turn on epidural, but by this time there is so much pressure that we don't wait for it to take effect.  Pretty sure I was very audible at this point.

Tuesday 11/22 @ 7:42 am - With the help of the forceps and a few good pushes, HENRY IS BORN!  How I feel when I first look at him is indescribable.  Seriously.... I have typed and retyped what I would say here and nothing fully captures how I felt.  He is perfect and I am in love with him!

Another sidenote - the umbilical cord was wrapped around his leg, but didn't do any damage.  Thank goodness!

Hello World!

Our new family, minus Lucie.

Daddy is an expert swaddler!

Go Cats!

Mini photo sesh on the day we got to come home.

 

Mommy's Little Turkey - coming home on Thanksgiving Day!

Lucie meeting her new brother for the first time.  This was the moment I totally lost my cool and cried like a baby.  Not sure if it was the hormones or just because I had really missed her.  Lucie acted a little odd that night and kept her distance, but came around in the following days.  She likes to sniff Henry and give him an occasional kiss.  :)