The Non-Graphic Birth Story

Here it is. The birth story. After my appointment on Monday, which also happened to be my due date, my doctor scheduled me for an induction at 10:00 pm that night. His call for an induction was based upon the results of my NST that day. The test results showed that I had a high fluid level. That, coupled with my increasing blood pressure, was enough for my doctor to schedule me at the hospital.

I was really nervous about having an induction. The fact that my doctors had tried so hard to help me avoid an induction and that I was now having one made me really nervous. I had heard that inductions made for really long, really painful labors and often resulted in a c-section. I really did not want a c-section.

That night Kyle gave me a blessing and we headed to the hospital. I was already contracting when we left. After checking in and filling out a bunch of paper work, I was assigned to a delivery room where I changed and was hooked up to the machines. I was given an IV for fluids and at 10:30 the nurse checked my cervix and gave me my first dose of Cytotec (it dilates your cervix. the plan was to start pitocin at 5:00 am). I measured in at 2 cm and 70% effaced. About the same as at my appointment. Here is a lovely picture of me in my hospital bed. The next one is Kyle getting cozy on his couch. He's so cute! :)

After my nurse left, Kyle finished some homework and we watched Netflix on his computer until 1:30 am. Kyle turned off the computer and went to bed. I, however, got to lay there in the dark watching my contractions on the monitor. Between 3:00 and 3:30 am, I woke up Kyle. My contractions were getting really close together and were super intense. Much worse than any I had experienced up to this point. Kyle finally convinced me to call the nurse and get some pain meds. I thought I was being a wuss and that labor was only going to get worse, but I eventually called my nurse back (Random side note: My labor nurse was Leslie. She was super nice and I absolutely loved her. Just wanted to remember that).

Leslie came in to check my cervix, but she waited until after a contraction had passed. She checked me (I was at a 4), and then she went and got the anesthesiologist. Epidural time! The anesthesiologist was this middle aged foreign guy. He was way cool. I have no idea what nationality he was. I thought he looked Middle Eastern, but Kyle thought he was from some Latin country. Who knows. Anyway, Kyle held my hand the entire time I was getting my epidural. It actually didn't hurt getting the epidural. And I was really glad Kyle's eyes didn't get all huge when he saw the needle because it would have freaked me out (even though I had seen the needle and the whole process before). I know he was thinking "Holy Crap!" the whole time though. :)

Epidurals are awesome! Seriously, they are. I would highly recommend them. Labor was not painful after that. I could still tell when I was contracting, but it did not hurt and it was not uncomfortable. At all. Awesome.

The rest of the night went really quickly. At 5:00 am my water broke. Kyle was curious enough to ask what the "water" was. Basically fetal urine. Yay. I got to lay in towels soaked with Baby's urine until I left the delivery room. Yay. At 5:30 am, I was dilated to 10 cm and began pushing. The nurse asked Kyle to hold my leg up while I pushed. I'm surprised he said yes. He's braver than I thought. It was such a relief to push. It feels so much better than just laying there. And it doesn't hurt. Hollywood lies about this part. Oh, and pushing is exhausting. It is really hard holding your breath for 10 seconds while pushing down as hard as you can. Anyway, the doctor came in around 5:50ish. At 6:10 am, Braxton Kyle Carson was delivered by Dr. Scott Rees.

He didn't cry. At all. I knew something was wrong. My baby wasn't crying. I barely noticed the doctor stitching me up or the nurses massaging my belly. He wasn't crying. Braxton got an 8 on his first APGAR test, then a 9. Still no crying. Maybe a slight wimper. The nurses cleaning him up handed him to Kyle. Kyle brought him over for me to see. I held him for just a few minutes and then he was whisked off to the NICU to watch his respiration and run a few tests. Kyle went with him. The doctor finished stitching me up, cleaned me off, and then left. Here is a picture of Braxton that Kyle took in the NICU.
I was alone. The delivery room was empty. At this point, I broke down and cried. So many emotions swept over me. Euphoria that I had actually given birth (Go me!), gratitude towards our Heavenly Father for this sweet little spirit he had sent to our family, and fear that my sweet little boy couldn't breathe. It was overwhelming. I prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for looking out for me and for the little angel he had sent to us. And then I asked him to watch over my baby. Help him to breathe. Make everything ok.

An hour later, Kyle came back. Braxton was breathing fine, but they were keeping him there for observation. Soon after, Kyle left. He actually went to his 8:00 am accounting classes. I was cleaned up some more, unhooked from the machines, epidural and IV removed, and wheeled down to the Mother/Baby unit. I fell asleep for a couple hours until my mom got there. At 1:00 pm, the nurses finally brought Braxton down to my room. Here are his first pictures with mommy and daddy.

Braxton's first week was pretty eventful. After the NICU, he had his stomach pumped to get rid of all the amniotic fluid he had swallowed and then he had jaundice and spent 3 days in a phototherapy bed. He is healthy now though and we are so grateful to have him in our family. So there it is. The Non-Graphic Birth Story.