Liam's Birth Story

Many of you have been asking about Liam's birth story so I am taking a few minutes to write it out. I feel really blessed to have had the labor experience that I had. And I love my little boy so much! So here we go...

I woke up on Friday morning around 4:30 because I could feel myself "leaking." I rushed to the bathroom and sure enough I had been leaking. I wasn't 100% positive that my water had broken because it was more of a trickle than a gush and I wasn't experiencing any contractions. I called the midwife and she said to wait an hour to see what happened. I kept leaking so I thought, "this has to be it." Still no contractions though. I decided to take a shower and around then I started feeling something, it was around 6am. I began timing the contractions on my phone and they were about two to three minutes apart. They started getting stronger and all I could think about was, "we have to get to the hospital...now." I had planned on staying at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital but I just knew we had to go even though I had only really been in labor a couple of hours. Alex got my mom up (she had flown in on Wednesday) and we all got ready to go. I forced down some breakfast, Alex dropped of Jaxon at Shannon's house, we all piled into the car and went on our way.

In the zone, hah. 

By 8:30am I was all checked into the hospital and sitting in a bed in the labor and delivery suite. I was already dilated about 9 1/2 centimeters. I was surprised and happy to hear that bit of news...but also terrified because that meant I wasn't allowed to start pushing yet and with the intense pain I was in I wasn't sure I could last another minute. I kept waiting for someone to offer me an epidural, but they had all read my birth plan and knew I didn't want that. One of the nurses suggested I try sitting in the hot tub so I did. It was nice but I kept feeling the urge to push...and sometimes I couldn't even hold back and my body would start instinctively pushing. I got out and just tried to breathe through the contractions. Everyone was so encouraging and  supportive. The midwife and nurses kept telling me I was doing a great job. Alex was by my side the whole time telling me I could do it. My mom became the official photographer and I could see her pacing back and forth and praying on my behalf. I really didn't think I could make it, but all these people believed in me and it helped me a lot. By 9:30am I was fully dilated and ready to push. It was such a relief to finally be able to push. They set up a mirror in front of me so I could see the progress. When I first saw his head beginning to peep out I was so happy but I quickly became frustrated because his head would peek out and then go back in. I started praying that with each next contraction he would finally pop out. It took an hour of pushing and my handsome man was born at 10:33am. Alex and I were both sobbing. I couldn't believe it. All these months of anticipation and we finally had our son. They immediately placed him on my chest where we marveled at him. He was perfect. They let him stay on my chest for as long as I wanted which I was really appreciative of. The midwife delivered my placenta and stitched me up (yeah, ouch) and I barely noticed what was going on because I was just staring at my beautiful boy in my arms.

In love!

Everyone has commented how fast my labor was...and it was...but it's seriously the most intense pain I've ever felt...and it was worth it. I wouldn't say I'm ready to do it all over again. Give me a couple years to recuperate. But everything I've gone through these past ten months has been worth it to have my little man. He's pretty awesome.