Drake's Birth Story

Hi ladies!

I'm going to post Drake's birth story while I have a minute or two (he's finally sleeping).

It took us 2 1/2 years to get pregnant with him and then I experienced some scary bleeding in the firs trimester, along with some pretty nasty gestational hypertension starting at 32 weeks... so, as much as it could have been A LOT worse, I was nervous the entire pregnancy.

My OB sent me to a specialist to get a detailed U/S to make sure that Drake would be developed enough if I needed to have an emergency C-Section due to my hypertension. I requested to keep him baking as long as possible (assuming the doctors said it would be ok for him) and when the specialist said everything looked good I was put on blood pressure meds under the condition that, should they not work, I would get a C-Section and get Drake out. The meds ended up working and my OB scheduled me to be induced on March 25th, which would have been 39 weeks.

At around 32 weeks I had started experiencing some SERIOUS Braxton Hicks contractions, a few weeks later I got the flu and the contractions got worse. I was put in the hospital but released 24 hours later when they got some fluids in me and the contractions stopped. By the time I went for my 36 week appointment I was already 2 cm dialted. At my 37 week appointment I was 3 cm dialted and the OB moved my induction date up to March 22nd.

On Friday, March 18th, DH and I went out for a nice Italian dinner and walked around Target until I could barely feel my feet. When we got home I was in A LOT of pain (which I had gotten used to because my feet were so swollen and Drake was so low down) so I laid down and fell asleep around 11:30. At 1:00 a.m. I woke up thinking that I had wet the bed or something... I had gotten up in the middle of the night many times during my pregnancy and completely forgotten that I was pregnant until looking in the mirror so the fact that it didn't dawn on me that my water had broken isn't surprising. After about 2 seconds of gushing (sorry, TMI?) I realized what was going on and woke DH up. We grabbed our hospital bags and got in the car. I was a little concerned because I would literally gush water every few seconds and I SOAKED the wheel chair they put me in, but the nurses said I'd "leak" until the delivery, so I guess that's normal...

By the time they got me in a gown and checked me I was about 4 cm dialated. At 3:00 a.m. the anesthesiologist came and gave me my epidural. I had a mini anxiety attack because I have never liked the feeling of being numb and my entire lower body was tingly and strange feeling, but I got over it once I realized that the contractions had gone from excruciating to just intense pressure.

I progressed throughout the early morning and by 7:00 a.m. I was ready to push. The nurse mentioned that Drake's head was still *a little* high and that I could wait to push if I wanted, so I agreed. I was absolutely TERRIFIED to push (I felt like something would go wrong during the delivery for some reason, it was an anxiety/fear that I'd been dealing with for months, so I was NOT anxious to push, even though I was uncomfortable). They allowed me to put off the pushing part for three hours and finally they told me I had to start.

My doctor came in after about 10 minutes of pushing and within 5 minutes of that Drake was born. He came out SCREAMING (it was so cute, he sounded like an angry little lamb) and they laid him on my chest. As soon as I heard him crying and saw his impressive little head of hair I immediately forgot about labor and pregnancy discomfort. It was amazing. It's like my body was supplying my brain roofies .

I had a little tearing so my OB stitched me up and the entire procedure was over in a flash.

So all in all the labor lasted 10 hours and 35 minutes and I pushed for a total of 15 minutes - just 5 minutes if you only count the time the OB was helping deliver.

Drake Aaron was born at 11:35 a.m. on Saturday, March 19th. He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 inches long. He has his father's beautiful blue eyes, my black hair, his father's nose and my lips. I am absolutely in love with him.