Our baby boy: A birth story

I thought I would go ahead and write this all down while it is still fresh on my mind. I had such an incredible labor and delivery experience. Because of a few hours of pain, I have this sweet little baby who will one day call me mama. I am so blessed to have had such a smooth (and short!) labor and delivery!

How we got the ball rolling
Wednesday August 8th at 9:40 AM, Nate and I went to my last prenatal appointment with my midwife. I was still only dilated to 1.5 cm. I think she added on the .5 to make me feel better. While she was checking me, she went ahead and stripped my membranes again. (That's number 3. Not the funnest experience of my life.) Once again, my abdomen measurement was off, but this time it was off by 3 weeks. So they performed some non-stress tests on me to make sure the baby was doing fine. He passed them all...but just barely. Sue,  the midwife I had just met with, thought we should be better safe than sorry and ordered an induction for that day! We were gonna have a baby that day! What the heck?! The funny thing is, we had sat down that morning and had a serious discussion with our baby and told him we were ready for him to come and not to wait any longer. I guess he listened. We went home, showered and got all of our bags ready to go. I was a little sad my mom would miss it all by just a day, but I was so ready for him to arrive.

Arriving at the hospital

Labor
We arrived at the hospital at 1:30 PM. We did a lot of waiting.

Getting his baby book updated

By 3:00 PM they were ready to put in the IV. I really and truly hated this part. Somehow over the years I have become a real wuss when it comes to needles. The first nurse poked me twice but my veins weren't interested in cooperating. A second nurse came in and got me in the forearm. Awesome. This whole event really put me in a bad mood. This photo really captures how I felt.

At 3:30, the midwife on call, Dena, came in and inserted my Cytotec which was meant to ripen (soften?) my cervix for delivery. I was still only dilated to 1 cm, but 80% effaced. She tried to open me up to a 2, so she could break my water, but no luck. The plan was at this point to be dilated a few more centimeters in 3 hours so they could start the Pitocin, which would start my labor.

Our amazing hospital had wi-fi so we watched an episode of Lost until 5:00 when I was having really strong contractions. The pain everyone talks about isn't a joke. I just couldn't imagine how I would survive through each one. Since I had a good bit of back labor, Nate rubbed my back until his fingers were numb. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. I can't imagine going through labor without him. He was so encouraging. Big yoga breathes were a big help too. An interesting thing about labor I hadn't read or heard about much was being cold and getting the shakes. I couldn't control them at times. I'm pretty sure I looked pretty crazy at times. Shaking my head back and forth, slamming it on the bed...the whole nine yards. I am proud to say I didn't scream or cry like I thought I would. Just a lot of moaning and groaning.

At 6:30 the nurse checked me and I was still 1 cm. I almost cried at this point. All of those contractions for nothing?! However, the baby was at a +1 station, meaning he was super far down. Apparently, this is somewhat rare. I asked her to call the anesthesiologist. I felt kind of like a wimp for only going a couple hours before the epidural, but I knew I would be happier. I couldn't wait for him to arrive.

Before he (the anesthesiologist) arrived, the contractions came increasingly more frequent and extremely painful. The nurse put counter-pressure on my knees which really helped. Nate tried this but he wasn't as skilled as the nurse. At least he tried! He kept squeezing my hands and encouraging me. Sometimes just making constant eye contact with him during a contraction helped me through it.

At 7:40 an angel came in the room. The anesthesiologist! He was super skilled and I felt better within ten minutes. I was really on cloud nine after that. Right before he left, he looked at the monitor and asked how that last contraction felt. What contraction? :)

After the epidural :)

Immediately after that, Dena came checked me and I was at 5 cm!! Finally! She tried to break my water, but couldn't find my bag. That explained the spill I had on the way to the bathroom a few hours before! Because I was so far along, she decided to wait on the Pitocin, I probably wouldn't need it.

At 8:52, the nurse checked me and I was 8 centimeters! She said she would come back and check me in an hour. I thought she was crazy because I knew the baby would be coming really fast after that. Luckily Dena came in ten minutes later and I was at 10! The baby was coming now!

Delivery
By the time they got everything in my room set up for delivery, Dena could see the baby's head! The preparations got a little frantic after that! They lifted my bed up super high and let my legs rest on the stir-ups. With a nurse on my left and Nate on my right, they lifted my legs up and I pulled them towards me during active pushing. At the last minute, I asked if they had a mirror so I could see the baby. I had heard of women doing this during labor and I always thought it was weird. But at that moment, I knew I wanted to see everything. The "urge" to push that everyone talks about is so real. It's like nothing I have ever experienced. The nurse counted out ten seconds for each push and I thought I would die each time. Having the mirror was really motivational because I could see the results of each push. Nate kept up his role as motivational coach. "You're doing awesome! He's coming out an inch after each push!" I knew he was lying, but it helped just the same.

The baby crowned forever. Suddenly his heart rate was down in the 90s and then the 80s. Everyone in the room was telling me this had to be the push. But he barely moved. Then his heart rate was in the 70s. I started praying out loud and pushing with strength that didn't belong to me. But nothing. Despite hating episiotomies, Dena had to cut me a little. By the next push Bridger Donald Parr entered the world. They placed his gray and blue body into my arms as Nate cut the cord. They rushed him into the corner to clear his lungs. I watched as they weighed him and Dena sewed me up. Soon enough he was wrapped up in my arms and I couldn't believe he was mine. My little boy had finally come! I kept telling him over and over how happy I was to have him in my arms.

At only 3 days old, he has filled us with a love and wonder indescribable. We love just sitting and watching him. I am so happy to be a mommy. I am so grateful he is ours forever.

Bridger Donald Parr
Born 8.8.12 at 10:02 PM
8 lbs. 8 oz. 21.5 inches