Proceed with Caution

While it's still very fresh on my mind, I thought I'd go ahead and tell the story...that's right, the birth story. If you're not interested in that sort of thing, then I suggest you stop reading and come back later when there are precious pictures of our newest addition...if you are, then read on and just be glad it wasn't you!

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Sunday, October 23rd: 4:00am. I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed that I was leaking some sort of fluid, not much, but enough to notice...was my water breaking?! EEK. Well, I figured if it was, that it would continue to do so and that if I were going into labor that I would wake up, so I went back to bed to see what would happen. I did start shaking uncontrollably at the thought of being in labor..I don't know if it was nerves or excitement, but it was weird.

I got back up around 9am and had leaked a little more so I called my doctor to see what she thought. I knew that if your water breaks that it's not always a big gush, but wasn't sure that this was enough to be anything or if I was just getting paranoid/ready. She said to go ahead and come to the hospital to see what was going on. We got all of our stuff ready and headed to the hospital. I hadn't eaten anything (big mistake!) and felt kinda sick when we got there, but other than that, I didn't feel anything as far as contractions go, so I wasn't sure if we'd be taking home a baby that day or not.

After waiting for the lady at admissions to fix the copier for about 20 minutes, we got checked in and headed up to the ole labor and delivery floor. Yikes! We got set up in a room and a nurse came in to do a test to see if I was in fact leaking amniotic fluid or not. The test was negative, but she said they wanted to monitor my contractions and stuff for awhile and that the doctor would come do another test in about an hour. According to the monitor, I was having contractions, but it wasn't anything that I hadn't been feeling for months, so I knew I wasn't in labor. Dr. Kim came in a little later and did an ultrasound and another test and everything looked fine and the test was still negative for amniotic fluid, so they gave me the option of staying and starting labor with Pitocin or going home and waiting some more. I had said through the whole pregnancy that I really didn't want to be induced, but I can't say that it wasn't tempting, since we were already there, to go ahead and get that baby out! However, after they told me that he was head down, but face up and that he'd need to flip for an easier delivery, I knew we needed to go home and wait and try to get him to flip. So, we went home. I was scheduled for a doctor's appointment Monday morning, so I figured I would see how things were then and make a decision as to whether or not I wanted to be induced.

However, I'd been praying that I didn't have to make that decision and God answered that prayer!

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Around 4:00pm. I started feeling a few more contractions than usual and I was feeling a little crampy. It was still nothing that really alarmed me or assured me that I was starting labor, but I was feeling a little discomfort.

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Dinnertime - 7:00pm. As we were eating dinner I was feeling a little more uncomfortable and crampy. I kind of felt like something was going on, and had a gut feeling (literally, ha!) that things were starting to happen, but still no regular or really painful contractions, so we finished dinner and put Arden to bed and started watching a show. During the show I decided to start timing how far apart the contractions were, just to see if there was any sort of regularity even though they weren't painful. They were about 10 to 15 minutes apart but nothing regular.

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10:00pm - I decided I'd take a bath and get clean and relax in case things really picked up. Before getting in the tub, I went to the bathroom and noticed a little blood. At that point, I figured that this was it and that things were really happening! I timed my contractions in the bath and they were about 8 to 10 minutes apart and very slightly uncomfortable. I got out and got dressed and noticed a little more blood as I was drying off. I told William that I was pretty sure things were happening and that I wanted to time my contractions for an hour and see just how consistent they were. He kept suggesting that we just go to bed, get some rest, and see how things go, but I kept insisting that I was pretty sure something was going on. We got in bed and I set my timer. The contractions were getting closer together and were starting to be a little more painful. They were anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes apart and the last couple of the hour hurt pretty bad...let's just say I didn't really want to talk during them. I asked William what he needed to do to get ready and decided to call the doctor and let her know what was going on. William wasn't quite convinced that we shouldn't just try to get some sleep, but I knew that unless I had an epidural, that sleep wasn't in my near future. I got up, got dressed and got all of my things together, called the doctor and finally told William to get dressed and that it was time to go! When I talked to Dr. Kim she said to come on in and that I could get my epidural and be more comfortable.

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11:30pm: We're on the way to the hospital! As we were getting in the car, I had a pretty intense contraction. I had another one on the way to the hospital and then another one once we got there. Keep in mind, we only live 5 minutes from the place, so they were getting pretty close together and pretty intense! William dropped me off at the front to check in and went to park. I had a couple of contractions while signing in and was getting QUITE uncomfortable. The girl got me checked in quickly and asked if I needed a wheelchair to get up to labor and delivery. I said that I'd be fine so we proceeded to walk down the hall. I had to stop several times to get through a contraction, but we made it up to labor and delivery and got into our room. Let's just say by the time I got undressed and into the bed that I was HURTING! Very intense and frequent contractions are no fun! I was also shaking uncontrollably through this whole process. The nurse said she'd check me and then get my IV started so that I could get my epidural. When she checked me I was already almost 9cm!!! NO WAY! I freaked out and said "Does this mean I can't get my epidural?!" More shaking. She said that they would try and that the anesthesiologist that was on call was close and he was fast, so there was hope! As I'm contracting and signing papers and freaking out and trying to breathe and pushing William's comforting hand off of me (apparently I don't want to be touched when I'm in pain), the nurse attempts to get in my IV. Of course she missed with the first hand (happened with Arden too and I could have killed someone!) and had to poke me again. The second attempt wasn't much better and after blood squirted across the room and ran down my hand and onto the floor, the IV was in and moments later a 12 year old, I mean the anesthesiologist, came in! I promise I thought he was like an intern coming in to learn how to do an IV or something, but no, he was there to stick a huge needle in my spine. At that point, I didn't care who did it, (note: I don't have anything against young doctors, he was awesome - quick and precise - he just didn't look like what I'd expect) so I was glad he was there. He got the epidural in so quickly and it was almost instant relief. AHHH. Ok nurse, I can speak to you now and Ok husband, you can hold my hand now. The nurse checked me again after the epidural was in and I was complete...that's right, already 10cm! My water hadn't broken yet, so it wasn't quite time to push, but it was getting close!

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Monday, October 24th: around 2:30am - We had been resting for a little while since I had gotten my epidural and were just relaxing when the nurse came in to have me turn over because the baby's heart rate was dropping. She said that she would go get Dr. Kim and see if she wanted to break my water so that I could start pushing. A little while later, Dr. Kim and 3 nurses came in and started getting things ready. She broke my water and asked if I was ready to push...well I guess so! Uncontrollable shaking again. I couldn't feel a darn thing so it was quite humorous trying to sit up in the bed and get into position. I finally managed and they told me to push. Big breath. 3 pushes that didn't feel like pushing at all. Break. Big breath. 3 more pushes and the promise that they could see the head. Break. Big breath. 1 push, head out, tight cord around neck, wait, cut the cord, freak out, 1 more push and he was outta there! In less than 10 minutes of pushing, Porter Charles Lott entered the world at 3:18am! I was a little scared, but they reassured me that he was fine and moments later we heard him scream! Music.

He weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. He has dark hair and eyes and a powerful pair of lungs! They got him cleaned up and checked and got me stitched up (I tore some, but not terribly) and cleaned up and I finally got to hold him. I fed him and then they came in to give him a bath. After his bath, while we were just waiting around, I mentioned to William that I felt kind of nauseated. A couple of seconds later I said "yeah, right now, I feel sick right now, get a bucket, hurry, right now and BLEHHH" Just in time William grabbed a bucket so that I could throw up - one last Hurrah! for this pregnancy, I guess! Perfect. I felt better though and they were ready to get us to our recovery room. I didn't have all the feeling in my legs back yet and my left leg was really taking awhile, but I managed to get into a wheelchair and head over to the recovery room to rest and yes, recover! The end. (and by the way, I did eventually get all the feeling back in my legs and everywhere else)