It's a BOY!

...as most of you know, Hunter is here! It's a boy! We are so blessed with a sweet sweet boy! He arrived 6-6-12 at 2:52 p.m. What a week it has been! So, here's the whole labor and delivery story!!

I went off my meds Monday and knew that I wanted to get this baby out ASAP in hopes I could make it to Emily's wedding which is this next Saturday. So, Tuesday I went on a long walk in the afternoon. I had been having some contractions but not anything too serious. So after dinner, I asked Aunt Carol to go walk with me again, haha. So we walked again and after that the contractions were gettin a little stronger. I had a feeling it would be soon! They were about every 5-6 min apart and I was startin to feel them in my back and stomach so I knew they were the real deal (again). Jared wanted to play church softball that night and I was tryin to wait as long as possible to go to the hospital just to be sure it was active labor and I wouldn't get sent home! So I went and watched Jared play and then we headed to the hospital. It was around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. We got all checked in and headed up to the Labor and Delivery room. The nurse kinda looked at me with a look like "ya you dont look like you're in labor".. but she checked me right away and I was already dialated to a 6-7! I was so happy when I heard the words "you're stayin, and you're gunna have a baby soon!"
So we stayed all night, got up to walk every now and then otherwise tried to get some rest. By morning when they checked me again I was at an 8.. so I was slowly progressing. Dr. Haller came in at 8:30 and broke my water. I had a very easy labor up until this point! The contractions weren't bad at all... I don't know if I just have a high pain tollerance or what but I wasn't bothered by them too much! After she broke my water they did get stronger and I knew it was probably my last chance to get an epidural, so I went ahead and asked for one... big mistake!

The epidural caused more problems than it did help, so I did not have a good experience with this! The Dr. who put it in put it in wrong the first time, so he saw some fluid pooling back there and had to take it out and re-do it. Then the second time he did it, he tapped into the spinal fluid and caused me to have a full on spinal instead of an epidural. The difference is how you are numbed. A spinal is what they do when you have a C-section. So needless to say I was freaking out when I was numbed up to my neck! I got so scared from this feeling of not being able to feel, swallow, or move anything! My heart rate went up to 130 and my BP went down to 80-40. I was so scared!! Since it was a "spinal" and not a normal epidural they had to just let it wear off so that I could feel my legs again in order to push in just a few hours. SO, after ALL THAT, I didn't even get to reep the benefits of having an epidural! They didn't start my bag of meds because they didn't want me to get too numb again... oh well. At least I got an hour relief from contractions out of it all.

So, after all that hustle and bustle was over it was about noon and I started feeling my contractions comin back. They got stronger and stronger and before I knew it I was at a 10 and ready to start pushin! I had a LLOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG hour and a half of pushing and then we got to meet our precious baby boy! The pushing was so horrible though. I had no idea I would have to push for that long! I had it in my head that the pushing part only lasted a half hour or so... But it was definitely worth it when they said "it's a boy" and we got to see him for the first time and hear his beautiful cry! What a little sweetie he is too! I can't get over the love you can have for such a tiny little thing you just meet!

Unfortunately my pain didn't stop there though. Because of my epidural complications I ended up getting a spinal head ache/back ache after all that! THIS WAS HORRIBLE! I wouldn't ever wish this sort of pain upon anyone! Laying flat is the only way to get any head releif, and the back pain never went away no matter what I did. So, I had to go to the ER on Sunday morning and get a blood patch. This is where they take blood from your arm and insert it back into your spinal cavity where the air was pocketing which caused all my pain. So, once they filled that air pocket with blood I had instant relief! I was sent home with a 24 hour bed rest order and I am happy to say I am back to normal today! YAY! I FINALLY get to hold my baby and do all the stuff I've been missing out on! I feel like everyone else has gotten to snuggle with him more than his own mama has :(

So there it is! I had a great time with labor up until that dang epidural! I'm just so happy Hunter is healthy and here! :) We love him so much! Jared is the best daddy to him, it makes my heart melt!