The Day I Became "Mom"

I love birth stories. I think it is so wonderful when a newborn baby is brought into this world.

Mama M is having a blog hop today and she is inviting everyone to share their birth stories. You can check her out here. I am excited to participate and read other blogger's stories. Ever since my baby boy was born I find it very interesting. Every birth story is so unique.
Here is mine...

The due date for my Bradley to be born was December 20Th. In September I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It was overwhelming at first, but then I went to a dietitian and learned exactly what and when I should be eating. That was probably the best diet I had been on in my life and I would love to go back to eating like that again. However, that's for another post. Having gestational diabetes meant that my doctors did not want me to go past my due date for fear that my baby would be bigger. I certainly wanted him before Christmas and my own personal due date was December 14Th. In late November I asked if I could be induce earlier and they seemed a little hesitant but said I could. I was scheduled to go in on Thursday evening, about a week before the due date the doctor's had, to start the induction.

My husband and I were filled with joy and anticipation. Well, maybe a little less joy and more nervous anticipation on my husband's part. You see, he was afraid he might faint. He really does have a problem with anything medical and I felt badly for him but I really needed him with me. Thankfully, he stayed with me the whole time in the labor room. I am so thankful and proud of him for that. And, thankful to God. I prayed about this so much before Bradley was born and He gave David strength to stay with me.

Back to Thursday evening. The weather was stormy and icy that night and we were thankful we could take our time getting to the hospital. When we got there we went into the labor ward and I requested the room with the tub. I wanted to try and have a natural birth, or at least hold off on getting en epidural for as long as possible. We got settled into the room. They gave me a gown to change into, we did some paperwork and then they put Cervidil in me to start the induction by softening the cervix. I ate a sub from the cafeteria, and enjoyed every bite as I anticipated that might be my last meal before labor.

About 9 o'clock I received pain and sleep medication. That wore off around 2 AM. I was starting to have cramps that were getting more intense. I knew that at 5:30 the nurse would come in to remove the Cervidil and I was trying to hold out until then. All throughout the night of course, I have to use the restroom but the nurse had to come and take off the monitors and then wait and put them back on. I never told her I was in pain during these times. Finally, at 5:25, I could stand it no longer and told my husband he NEEDED to call the nurse. She came in and when I told her I had been in pain she was so nice and told me I should have told her sooner. I said I didn't know if it was bad enough to be concerned about but I couldn't stand it much longer. She pulled out the Cervidil and I immediately felt a warm sensation. I never had a baby before, but I knew I did not pee. Well, needless to say, things got interesting from there.
The labor started coming hard and fast. I tried the shower, then the tub. After 20 minutes in the tub, a new, harder kind of contraction came on and I gave up. I asked for the epidural. They hooked me up to fluids and told me I needed to go through the bag before I could get an epidural. They wanted to make sure I was hydrated. Finally at 7:30 I received the epidural and I was SO relieved. I realize it was only 2 hours of hard labor (well, it seemed that way to me), but I don't have a high tolerance for pain. Also, I went from just barely 1 cm at 5:30 AM to between 5-6 cm at 7:30AM....my body was workin'!
My mom arrived at 8:30 and at about 9 I could start pushing. Throughout the whole time of pushing my husband sat by my head, facing me. He would hold my hand between pushing. My mom was at my left side, and she help while I pushed. It was wonderful to have them both there.The epidural was wonderful and I did not feel a thing.
At 11:54 AM my baby boy was born. He weighed 7 lbs 13oz.

While I was waiting for Bradley to come out, I had this nervous feeling inside. The only way I can describe it is, I was nervous about the intense feelings of love I would have for my son. I was so very excited to meet him and I already loved him so much.

I was so relieved and thankful to God that I had an easy delivery. The nurses were so wonderful and even made me want to become a labor and delivery nurse. Just a little. :-)
It has been a little over a year since he was born and I am amazed at how quickly the time has gone by and how much he has grown. His Daddy and I are so proud of him.