The Story

Before my memory becomes cloudy, I figure I better document Beck's birth. This may be a yawner to most of you, but there may be a few of you out there, like me, who actually like hearing labor stories.

It all started with my Dr. appointment last week. Everything was looking good, still measuring right on schedule and still not progressing at all. The only thing that was concerning was my elevated blood pressure. My dr. wasn't worried because it was still in "normal" range, but I was a little concerned because my blood pressure had been so low the entire pregnancy. The next couple days my swelling continued to get worse and got to the point where my feet and ankles wouldn't go down even if elevated. So on Monday I had one of the PTs that I work with take my blood pressure three different times in the morning...the lowest reading was 140/90 which is where they start to get worried about preclampsia. My normal appointment was set for the next day, but after some prodding from one of my nurse friends, I called my Dr, told him the situation and he said he wanted me to come in that afternoon, "just to be safe."

I called Travis and let him know that I was going in to my appointment early and told him he didn't need to come with me ("I didn't want to make it a big deal"). To which of course he told me he was coming anyway. Travis then proceeded to go home and pack a bag for him, finish packing my bag, got all of Cooper's stuff ready to take to my parents, etc. Just in case. Well it was a good thing he was so prepared, because my BP only got higher when the Dr took it, high enough that it was safer for me and the baby to just take the baby now. He said, "Congrats, you're having a baby tomorrow" all nonchalantly, as I try to take in what he's saying. Travis was ectatic and I was freaking out. This was the one week that wasn't going to work for the baby to come. I still had so much to do. Of course I was excited to have him early, but I also was not mentally prepared! But ready or not, this baby was coming!

They took me downstairs to admit me, and put me on medicine all night to help soften things up a bit since I wasn't dilated or thinned at all. Tuesday morning at 6 am they started the pitocin, then broke my water at 8. Once they broke my water, and upped the pitocin, the contractions came on hard and fast. I got my epidural at 10 and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. It was a long and boring day, I'm not going to lie. The nurse kept on coming in to check me and I was making very little progress all day. Each time she would check me, I would get my hopes up thinking I was going somewhere, but would get answers like "still a 2" or "well, I'll give you a 2+" Talk about depressing. Finally at around 4 pm the Dr. came in and said that he was going to up the pitocin to the highest dose and if that didn't move things along, we would have to started thinking about a C-section. I really didn't want to have a C-section, so I was praying (literally) that I would finally start dilating. Well, something worked because the nurse came in half an hour later and I had her check me because I was feeling some intense pressure, and I had gone from a 2 to a 10 in a half an hour! While the Dr was on his way down I pushed a few times with the nurse, then a few more times with the Dr and little Beck was here!

There really are no words to describe the feeling that I had when they placed him on my stomach. I was in complete awe. As I looked at him for the first time, my breath was literally taken away. He was finally here and he was ours. People say that giving birth is an out of body experience. It really is. You are so focused on the physical aspect of getting the baby here and then all of a sudden everything is relieved and you are the parent of a precios child. Talk about humbling. In one moment, my life changed forever and for the better. He has filled a place in my heart that I never knew existed.

I haven't been able to stop staring at him. He has the most perfect little features and is an absolute angel. We feel so lucky to have him in our lives!