You made that look easy, Ian's story

Welcome to the world:
Ian
Birthdate: June 12, 2008
Time: 10:12am
Weight: 7lbs 12oz
Height: 20"




Wednesday night I had been having contractions, but this was nothing new. Every night around 9pm I would have contractions. They weren't painful and they'd never regulate, just annoying Braxton Hicks type contractions. Honestly, it was getting old pretty quickly. When I went to the doctor the day before I was almost 4cm dialated and 75% thinned out, but I walked around at 4cm for weeks with Aiden...so while I was happy about progress I wasn't getting my hopes up.
While the annoying contractions were going on Wednesday night I went ahead and got the last of my bag packed. Better safe then sorry. Around 9:30 I tried to go to bed but couldn't sleep. I came downstairs and started timing my contractions, they were getting stronger but still 8-11 minutes apart. Around 12am I gave up and went to bed, accepting the fact that this baby was not coming.
An hour and a half later, roughly, real contractions started. I ignored the first couple b/c I was just plain annoyed. I figured they'd just stop like they always did and I didn't feel like getting out of bed. Around 1:45am I gave in and went downstairs. Sure enough, I started timing them and they worked out to be 3-4 minutes apart. I called the doctor and woke Jared up around 2:30. The conversation with Jared went something like this:

Me: Hun, just a heads up, I think we're having a baby
Him: Okay, how far apart are your contractions?
Me: 4 minutes
Him: Okay *rolls over*

I go to get Aiden up to which he replies "But I'm tired and it's still dark out!"

Jared is still in bed, I flip the light on "Oh, we need to go now?"
**he later admitted that while he asked about contractions, he had no idea what 4 minutes vs. 10 mins apart means**
He also wanted to know if he had time to make coffee. Um, yes you probably do...but no, lets go!
I called my parents and Steph from 831 Photography to let them know we were on our way. I know others wanted to know when I went in to labor but I didn't think they really wanted to know badly enough that it warranted a 3am wake up call.

We get to the hospital and they plop my butt in a wheel chair and off we go.

Things progressed relatively fast from there, fast for giving birth anyway. They checked me, I was 6cm at that point. The nurse got my IV in on the second try, which is pretty good considering my veins suck but she could have got it on the first try if she would have just listened to me and used my left hand, the only place anyone has ever managed to get an IV in me.
The times are all blurred but I was getting my epidural when my parents showed up, which by the way they didn't get on the first try! Yea, it's painful and with Aiden they had me sit on the side of the bed and lean way over...this time they had me laying on my side and wanted me to curl my knees up and push my back out. Um, did you happen to see the belly? Curling is a little difficult. At any rate they did get the drugs going and after the weird tingly in my legs and my entire lower half became numb, the fun started.
I pretty much stalled at 8cm, even after they broke my water. They ended up giving me a few shots of pitocin to get me going and then after about 5-6 rounds of pushing...there he was. Ian.

Of course I hear the doctor say 'he's got some dark hair' as he's crowning and I'm thinking "WHAT?" If he wasn't emerging from my body I wouldn't think he was my kid. I was bald, Aiden was bald, Jared was blonde...where on earth did this dark haired baby come from?! At any rate, he was perfect as could be! 10 fingers and 10 toes, none of which are webbed. Yes, two of Jared's toes are slightly webbed.


As for the recovery, it was fairly uneventful. Although one thing I forgot about...the itching. OMG the itching. Once the epidural starts to wear off your chest itches like you wouldn't believe. It is the most annoying thing ever...I guess if I'd ever been in to drugs I might understand what it's like to go through withdraw.


The nurses kept telling me how easy I made it look and that I needed to come back and try for a girl. Not a bad idea but talk to me in a few years. As for it being easy...it was. I think giving birth is one of the easiest most natural things I have ever done in my life. It's also the most amazing thing I have ever done and it makes me a little sad that there is a chance, a very good chance, that I will never do it again. All the aches and pains of pregnancy, all the annoying sleepless nights before the baby gets here, the lack of appetite, the wanting to eat everything in site...all the whining and complaining...totally and completely worth it. There is absolutely nothing else like it...and to hold that baby for the first time, to watch him open his little eyes to a whole new world, it's surreal. It's like nothing else and I don't think anyone can truly appreciate it the way a mother does, not even dad.

**All pictures courtesy of 831 Photography**
(another post about why I had a professional photographer there and slideshows coming later)