When we arrived at the hospital, they checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm! The contractions weren't that bad so I decided to wait for the epidural. Around 9:30 Dr. Twelves came in and broke my water. The contractions really didn't get any worse. I actually thought I could handle them better. She checked me and I was dilated to 7 cm.
My mom and Kristy arrived to take pictures and video the event. The doctor thought we would be having this baby by noon! I decided I would be doing it without pain medication. It's not that bad! I got up, walked around, bounced on the yoga ball and thought of the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting when they ask the blonde what her pain level is and she says, "I'm smiling so it must be a one." I was however very nervous to push a little human out of me so I asked Nathan to give me a blessing. I knew everything would be okay. They checked me again at 10:43 and I was 8 cm!
11:52 They checked me again. Still at an 8. Shortly after, Rick arrived. At 12:02 They started me on pitocin.
Nathan started to freak out a little bit that I wasn't medicated yet. I told him it wasn't that bad and he didn't believe me. Around 1:30 I hit the #7 on the pain scale, but I was determined to go unmedicated. Nathan got even more anxious at my refusal. At 2:24 they checked me again and I was at an 8+. They increased the pitocin to get things moving a little more. They also decided to put in an internal monitor to get a more accurate look at my contractions.
4:20 rolled around, still at 8+. They decided to increase the pitocin because the contractions weren't as strong as they should be to get baby out efficiently. At 5:08 I finally decided to take a little pain medication, mostly to calm the nerves of Nathan. It helped me so that I could take a nap. They increased the pitocin and checked me. Still at 8+.
5:40 the nurse mentioned that a c-section is a high possibility. I decide on the epidural so I can sleep and just in case the c-section had to happen. At 7:20 I go a new nurse, Kristen. She checked me, no progress. They start me on antibiotics for the Strep B.
8:00 the doctor is called and will be in around 8:30. (My doctor, Dr. Hutchison was off that day so Dr. Beardall was going to come in instead.) No improvement and baby started showing late decelerations. At 8:30 the doctor arrived and said that we would need to have a c-section. I had hard time with it. I cried and felt like a failure. But I soon felt peace. I had received a blessing and knew things were going to be okay. It didn't matter how he got her as long as he and I were both safe.
At 8:40 I was off the the OR. They gave me more concentrated epidural to really numb everything. The did a test to make sure I couldn't feel anything and then began cutting me open. Nathan said it was really cool to watch. A few tugs and pulls later and our baby was born at 8:57 pm. As soon as they pulled him out the doctor lifted him up so I could see him. I started bawling. And I knew right then that his name would be Carson. (I just had to convince Nathan of it!) He weighed in at 8lb 10 oz and 21 inches long. He did have a big head at 35.5 cm (average was 34).
As soon as I was stitched up, they wheeled us back into our room so that Carson could meet Grandma and Aunt Kristy. He was perfect! He has the cutest little dimple in his chin, just like Nathan. He hardly cried at all. Just as happy as could be in my arms. We did skin to skin right away and I nursed him for a few minutes. It was all such a wonderful and beautiful experience! It's amazing to me how miraculous life really is. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father and him entrusting us to be Carson's parents.
