One year ago today Joshua Philip Taylor entered this world! He has been such a joy and blessing in our lives. I never got a chance to share his birth story on here last year, so I'm going to do that now.Joshua's due date was July 15, 2008. For about the last four weeks of my pregnancy I had plenty of braxton hicks contractions. At 37 weeks I was dilated 3cm and effaced 80%. I stayed the same at my 38 an 39 week appointments. The night before he was born Derek and I went over to a friend's house for dinner. We made plans with our friends Nichole and Greg to get breakfast the next morning. I joked about calling them to let them know we weren't going to make it because I was in labor but never thought that would actually happen.
At 3:40 that morning I woke up with a painful contraction but didn't think much of it because that had been happening for weeks. I got up to use the restroom since I was already awake to see if I could relieve the pain. After getting back in bed I couldn't go back to sleep because I was so uncomfortable and still having contractions. (The contractions I had been having for weeks were sporatic and lasted for what seemed like an hour). Derek noticed my tossing and turning and woke up to see if I was okay. I told him the contractions were coming pretty often and were different than what I had been experiencing. He started timing them, and they were about 10 minutes apart. They went down to 7 minutes apart, so we decided to get up and get ready just in case. By 6:15 we were getting our showers. Derek was still timing them and was able to tell me when I was getting ready to have another contraction and could tell me when it would end since they were about one minute in length. While I was taking my shower (which seemed like it took forever because I kept having to stop for each contraction) we realized that my contractions were not 7 minutes apart anymore but instead were 3.5 minutes apart. I would have one and then have another half way between, and Derek would tell me that it wasn't possible that I was having another one because they were 7 minutes apart. So he just decided I was having two sets of contractions that were 7 minutes apart. I informed him that no, I was having contractions 3.5 minutes apart. I think it took me 20 minutes to finish my shower. After I finished my shower I decided to go downstairs to finish getting ready and Derek informed me that I may not want to as I was about to have another contraction. He was right because right about that time I had another painful contraction and was not about to be able to walk down the stairs. Derek called my doctor's office to see if we needed to go to the hospital. I was disappointed to find out that the doctor on call was the one doctor I didn't want to deliver my baby. I think I may have even cried. (We ended up having a great experience with her, and I wouldn't mind one bit if she delivers all of my babies.) The doctor asked us to head to the hospital to get checked out. Side note....while Derek was loading the car I proceeded to pick up around the house and make our bed. I wasn't about to have company come to my house when it was messy. He fussed at me about this because I was getting ready to give birth to a baby and that was all that mattered at that moment. What can I say? I'm a people pleaser, and I'm stubborn. We left for the hospital around 7:00 am. We had been trying to call my mom for about an hour to warn her the baby might be coming since she was planning to leave for the beach that morning. We finally reached my sister Angel's cell phone on our way to the hospital so that she could tell my mom.
We arrived at the hospital and were checking in by about 7:15. I was taken to a labor and delivery room by 7:30 to be checked. I was 6 cm dilated already and 100% effaced! Crazy! The nurse hooked my up to the monitors which revealed that my contractions were 2 to 4 minutes apart. They started me on an IV antibiotic for Group B Strep and started giving me fluid for an epidural. The nurse also asked if I wanted something to "take the edge off" before I could get an epidural. I said yes but later regretted this decision. They had given me Stadol, and it made me feel so loopy. I couldn't hold my eyes open or focus on anything. The lights in the room were terrible. It made me feel so icky and yucky -- NEVER AGAIN will I agree to something to "take the edge off." I absolutely hated it, and I don't think it even helped with the pain. Sorry baby boy. Luckily it was out of my system and I was back to normal in less than two hours. Sometime around 10:00 am I got my epidural! I was finally able to relax and get some rest. It made me so cold, though. I had to cover up with several blankets. While I was relaxed and resting Derek's parents came in to visit, and Derek continued to call/text/email our friends and family to tell them I was in labor. I switched sides while I was resting to help labor progress. The doctor broke my water when I was 8cm - I think it was around 10:30 am, shortly after my epidural. I was checked around 12:00 pm and was 10cm, so at about 12:10 pm I started pushing with the help of Derek and my nurse. They had to tell me when to push since I couldn't feel my contractions. That was the biggest downside to having an epidural - I was never able to feel the natural urge to push. Dr. Stephenson came in a little later to deliver Joshua. I was having difficulty getting him out. He would get all the way to edge and then go back up. My muscle just wouldn't give; it wasn't budging and I had already torn a little bit. The doctor asked if she could do an episiotomy since my muscle was so tight. She said she never does them but felt I really needed it. I agreed and as soon as she did it I gave another push and Joshua slid right on out at 1:04 pm on July 12, 2008! He was BEAUTIFUL and SO CUTE and immediately began to scream! Derek cut the umbilical cord and then I got to hold my sweet baby boy before he was taken to be measured, weighed, and checked out. He weighed 6 lbs 11.5 oz (was rounded to 12) and was 19 inches long. And most importantly he was healthy!! My mom made it to the hospital right before he was born. Derek went out to the lobby to tell everyone that Joshua Philip Taylor was here!!!!
I still can't believe that was a year ago. It seems like it hasn't been that long. This has been a wonderful year, though!
Happy first birthday sweet baby boy! Your daddy and I love you more than anything! Thank you for bringing us such joy every day!
No comments:
Post a Comment