In her words:
“Saturday May 19th was 3 days before my due date. The weather couldn’t have been better, gorgeous, hot and sunny. My husband and I took our daughter and dog to a neighborhood block party. We had a great day! Then we went grocery shopping, cleaned the house and did laundry. Right before we went to bed I said to Mike, “Everything is done. The baby can make his appearance any time now, we’re ready.” I guess the baby agreed because two hours later I woke up to use the bathroom and a gush of water came rushing out! All alone in the bathroom I said out loud, “Wow! It happened just like in the movies!” My water had broken. I was a little in shock and didn’t wake Mike up for another 20 minutes, I wanted to make sure it really was my water and I wasn’t peeing uncontrollably. When I finally told Mike what I thought had happened he responded with, “What do we do now?” I called the doctor and was told to go to the hospital when contractions had started. I tried to go back to sleep but I was too excited as well as very wet! Around quarter of 4 I started feeling crampy, but no real contractions. I actually wasn’t sure what a contraction would feel like and didn’t know what to expect. This was my first pregnancy, our beautiful daughter is adopted. When the first one came at 5:00 am there was no mistake as to what it was. It lasted about 45 seconds then the second one hit about 2 minutes later. Then they just kept on coming! Every minute or two I had a contraction that lasted 45 seconds to a minute. We left for the hospital at 5:40. By the time we had reached the hospital and checked into triage, I had had 38 contractions. I was 4 centimeters dilated in triage and 6 centimeters an hour later when they moved me upstairs. At this point our birth plan was useless. I had wanted a natural birth without drugs, however, I was begging for an epidural! The contractions hit me hard and fast and never let up. I originally wanted to soak in the tub, get a massage from my husband, bounce on the ball… Nope! I didn’t even want to be touched. I barely tolerated my husband and nurses telling me how to breathe because I was hyperventilating. After the epidural kicked in I was able to relax and even take a little nap. It was magical. A few hours later when it was time to push I was completely numb and couldn’t feel what I was doing. I was upset and discouraged. They reduced my pain medication and let me rest for another hour hoping it would wear off some. It didn’t and I had to “blindly” push with out any feeling. The doctor couched me, but I was still having a difficult time. I began to run a slight fever and the doctor told me she either needed to use the vacuum to help get the baby out or I could have a c-section. I didn’t like either option, but I gave into having the baby vacuumed. Determined not to have a c-section I tried my best and pushed for about an hour and a half and then with one final big push Milo was born!! He arrived at 4:03 pm weighing 7.4 pounds and 20.5 inches long. My favorite moment is when Milo came out and my husband cried. Every time I think of that moment tears come to my eyes. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Milo was perfect, even with his slightly coned head!! We are so grateful to have such a sweet little boy! We feel that our family is complete with our daughter and now our special tiny man. “
