Carter's Birth

I was dilated to a 2 and efaced 80% for about two weeks. I was induced 4 days early due to persistent migraines. We went into the Dr. office on Monday and they made an induction appointment right then and there. Kade and I went home, knowing we'd be heading the hospital in just 10 hours. Tuesday, Oct 15th we woke up pretty early. Kade gave me a preisthood blessing (actually for the very first time). It was... AMAZING. At that moment, I had never felt more love from Kade before. Since then, he has shown even more love as he has become an amazing dad! 

We drove the hospital about 7am and got Kneaders for breakfast on the way there. Kade laughed at me for getting a big cinnamon roll and a hot chocolate. I know, healthy right? haha :) We checked in, LDS hospital wasnt busy at all. I just told them my name and they took me to a delivery room. The room was HUGE, very luxurious. The nurse had me get in to the gown and lay in bed. The gown was SO gross...lol. I was temped to buy my own birthing gown (cute ones on Etsy.com but were $50! yikes) ...so i wore their nasty one haha. I felt like i was 300 lbs in that thing. The nurse started the IV - the most painful part of my entire labor and delivery! The tubing in my  hand went all the way down to my wrist IN my vein and hurt SO bad to move my hand at all. That sucked during pushing. 

So... the iv goes in and they start fluids first to get me all hydrated. At 8:30am ish they started the pitosin drip, the hormone that makes contractions happen. Most people experience much harder contractions a short while after the drug starts dripping. Me, Kade and my mom waited and watched the contractions on the monitor... but they didnt get painful. They got closer together, as we could see on the monitor. It was so nice to SEE that. I could feel that they were happening, but not painful. The wonderful nurse, Shannon, came back every 30 min to help me adjust my position and switch to the other side (laying on my side in bed), she also upped the amount of pitosin going in. She told me that the ok amount of pitosin to give is 20 units. She started me off with 2 and then went to 4 then to 6 then back down to 5. The contractions got closer together- per doctors instructions, the nurse had to find the right amount of units to get my contractions at 3 min apart. It was SO nice to just sit there and lay down. It felt SO restful. YES restful during my active labor! UNTIL nurse came in to check my cervix. THAT was the very worst feeling ever ever ever ever! Worst than sharp pain. I was knocked down so hard with that. I thought I was tough till that moment. ... and I was still dilated 2. The drug causing contraction was doing just that.. but wasnt helping the cervix. 

I very much enjoyed the popcicle :) it was the BEST tasting thing i'd ever had! hahahaha.

The man with the epidural came in (since he wasnt busy) and offered to administer my epidural. I said "sure why not". I knew I would want one, though I hadnt even felt any pain yet. He had me sit crossed legged on the bed and position by back in a way that I was very familiar with - thanks to pilates :) I held very still and he STABBED me with is pen. The marking he put on my with his pen was the only uncomfortable part about receiving the epidural. He put a lot of tape on my back to hold it there ... haha. Kade was very smart to go sit far away while the needle/tube went in my back. He didnt watch or even try to -because we wanted him to stay conscious :) Nurse and anesthesiologist told me several times how GREAT of an epidural i got because I was able to bend and lift my legs. It was nice. I didnt feel invalid at all!  

Nurse came and checked my cervix again, about a 3...  didnt even feel a thing when she did that. It was SO nice to not have to feel that awfulness, thank you epidural! An on-call doc came in and broke my water after that. I didnt feel that either. Nor did I feel the "wooosh!", my water just slowly leaked out, not too exciting. The contractions were coming along great! Nurse had to adjust the pitosin a few times because contractions would get too close then not close enough haha... hard to find that sweet spot. All the while, my baby's heart rate wasnt affected! YAY! good baby! wasnt stressed by the harder contractions. I was very pleased at that. 

I enjoyed laying around most the day just chatting with my mom and husband. I loved that, and seeing the progression on the screen. I eventually did feel a couple contractions that were pretty intense! I think around 3:30pm, shannon checked me agian and I was a 6! SUPER exciting that it was finally getting somewhere. I remember being really giggly and hot. 30 min later, nurse came in and she said "yup baby's head is RIGHT THERE"! I couldnt believe it! She said I could reach down and touch him if i wanted to. But... I didnt. haha. Shannon called Dr Macy and let her know to come over now. Macy said "dont push yet" and that was totally fine. I didnt feel any pain, or the urge to push. Shannon prepared me by teaching me how to push. 

Dr Macy called and said she was 5 min away and we could start pushing. Pushing wasnt anything like what you see on tv. Also, not like anything I had prepared for. I'm a pilates girl and I thought pushing a baby out would be like pilates breathing. Nope. She had me take in a big breath and HOLD IT IN - very very foreign to me. But it worked, yay. anyway.. mom and kade were on both sides of me helping me hold my legs up. I felt super good about myself that i was strong enough to hold my legs MOSTLY by myself and flexible enough to have them way high and wide (like the nurse said to do). We went 45 minutes pushing 10 seconds with a holding breath. I could really FEEL when a push was effective or not. I could definitely feel him coming down further and further. The last 3 pushes were so hard. Pushing was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done! Baby had a bit of an alien head from hanging out in the birth canal a little while. During one of the last couple pushes, my mom shook my shoulder and said "look look!" I opened my eyes while pushing, it was all a blur, my eyes couldnt focus and i couldnt see anything anyway. I moved the gown that obstructed my veiw. I saw just the very very tip of his head and I got ALL the motivation in the world to get this job done! I wantd to have him and see him  and hold him!!! Next push he finally came out, it was the coolest feeling EVER!! That big WOOSH like I was a 200lb water baloon that just got popped haha! 

The moment he arrived, Dr Macy said "what a chunker"! as she held him up, he cried, I cried. Seeing him... i INSTANTLY started bawling! He immediately went right to my arms. I was so tuned out of everything around me. I vaguely remember Nurse covered him with a blanket.him being wiped off, doc stitching me, my mom taking pictures... what is clear in my memory was his beautiful wide eyes looking right at Kade and I. Kade was right by myside as we held little Carter. That exact position he laid, is his go to now everytime :) 

first family photo

The rest of the story hardly matters :) That first family photo is the result of all that work. We had a baby. We created and brought that little boy into this world and it was the very best day of my life. THAT moment was the one I had always wondered if it would trump the love I felt on our wedding day. The love between me and Kade was so much more than what we felt getting married. Back then we were just getting in the water... but THIS day, we were well in the deep end :) Real love just keeps growing. 

first phone pic :) 

Mom took pic of me taking a phone pic. Carter stared up at daddy, so adorable! 

 just a few min after birth

8 lbs 1 oz

getting his first shot, daddy never left his side

The after math.... well, Dr was sewing me up when they took baby to go get the shots and the eye goo. That's when I returned to reality. This pic above is the view from my bed, of course I couldnt take my eyes off my boys :)   ... and then i felt the tugging of the stitching. OUCH! Doc numbed me with a local to finish the job. I had no idea I had even torn at all till that moment. That made me very happy that I didnt know about the tearing. That would have been hard for me to continue pushing. Macy finished up and then the nurse took over. She pushed on my stomach SO HARD, ugh it was really really really close to the pain of having teh cervix checked! PUKE! When she was done, I took my hand on my belly and pushed in... further and further and futher till i touched my spine! SO COOL! Didnt hurt. Just felt like i was sticking my hand in a big ball of bread dough, haha! I sat up and nurse ripped the tape off my back. Felt like a WHOLE back waxing. That was the only moment I yelled in pain. I almost scooted myself right off the bed! I nursed baby for the first time before getting out of that bed. WOW WOW WOW THAT HURT. Wasnt expecting it to feel quite so terrible, but baby latched perfectly so i was very happy! Plus, it was just the cutest damn in thing in the world to see him nurse! Is that weird?! its awesome :) haha ... Kade and Shannon helped me put on my yoga pants and nursing tank. I stood up (with them holding me, afraid I'd fall over) and sat in the wheel chair to be taken to our room. 

As the nurse wheeled me down the all way heading to our room, baby in my arms, she said "this is for you little Carter". The nursing staff played a luluby on the overhead speakers. That was my first overwhelming proud mamma moment. It was so powerful! I felt like a prom queen on the back of a convertible, driving into the football stadium. I held my boy and listened to the song that announced his arrival. I teared up. I looked down at him and felt so proud of the work I had done to get him here. 

Kade has been the most amazing husband and father! He does EVERYTHING I could ever need him to do for me and is very attentive to Carter. The first night in the hospital, he got up every time baby cried and soothed him, letting me sleep. 

that is the position he laid in when he first went to my arms. Told ya, its his go to now :) 

made that shirt for kade and gave it to him in the hospital :) 

first outfit :)