My pregnancy with William was a whirlwind. You can read all about it here. If you read my pregnancy story, you know that I was VERY pregnant up until the day I went into labor, 40 weeks and 5 days. I never really know what to say when people ask how long my “labor” was. I had my last doctor’s appointment on a Friday at 9 a.m. On the way to this appointment, I was having “cramps” (think period cramps), but not thinking much of it, until they were happening every 5 minutes. I wasn’t too worried, because they weren’t bad at all, more of a nuisance than anything. My doctor scheduled me to be induced on Monday, if I hadn’t had the baby by then… She told me to call the hospital when my contractions grew to the pain level of having to “breathe through them.” I don’t know if it was just me, but I HATED when people told me or I read that when you’re having full blown contractions “You’ll Know.” Like, is there not a better way to describe what to expect?! However, after “knowing” what they feel like… I totally get why they say that.
My husband and I had invited our good friends over to have a little birthday celebration. While watching a movie, my “cramps” were getting more heavy. It wasn’t until I was closing my eyes through them, that I was timing the frequency/duration of them. I decided I should call the hospital to check with them on whether or not to come in… I was determined to last as long as I could at home, because I was NOT going to be sent back home, if I could help it. The nurse on the phone told me I should head on over to the hospital based on the two contractions I had during our conversation on the phone.
When we got to the hospital, the nurse was waiting for us, took us into triage, and then after about a half hour admitted us and sent us to labor and delivery. I lasted about 5 hours of very painful contractions… My goal was to go as long as I could without an epidural as possible (I had really wanted to do without, but there was just no way through that pain…). After receiving the epidural, I was able to get a couple hours of rest while we waited on my body to dilate (my husband was very happy about this).
Fast forward a couple hours, and I was feeling a TON of pressure… sure enough it was time! I was expecting a whole team to come in, ready to deliver this baby, but no… just a nurse, and my husband… UHHH WHAT?! No one else? I asked the nurse about my epidural bag, because it was empty, and she said that’s all I was getting because it was time to push…
Well, that wasn’t very long, as I pushed for maybe 10-15 minutes, and she left to go grab the doctor. I looked at my husband like “uhh what?“and told him there was no way I could just “wait” for them to get back… I kept pushing. The doctor finally came in, and only 10 minutes more of pushing, I had a baby boy in my arms. Holy Moly. What an experience. We were blessed with a perfect baby boy, weighing 9 lbs 7 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. Our hearts are so, so full.
After a couple hours with our sweet boy in the delivery room, we were taken to our postpartum room. There we were surrounded by our families waiting to meet our new little peanut. We were the first on both sides to have a baby, so grandparents were “over the moon” in love with William. The short couple days after delivery went by so fast. We were blessed with so much love from family and close friends at the hospital as we learned our new reality. We just couldn’t believe that the perfect little boy in our arms was ours, part of us, and would only make our hearts grow more over the months to come.
Making Beautiful Messes 
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