Now.... here's how this all went down!
I had been trying everything to get Hayden to arrive! Walking, bouncing on a yoga ball, eating spicy foods, and a few other things. ; ) I even had Dr. Storck strip my membranes to try and get my little man out! Then on Wednesday, February 16th Paul and I went walking in our neighborhood at night. I was having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, but it was nothing that I hadn't felt already. After our walk, we watched TV and ate dinner.... during all this I bounced on my yoga ball the whole time - nothing. Then we went on another walk and I began having a few more Braxton Hicks contractions, but as soon as we got back home and I sat down on the couch - still nothing! Paul and I both assumed that nothing was going to happen that night... so we went to bed.
At exactly midnight, I woke up with a horrible menstrual cramp that lasted about 30 seconds. I didn't really think anything of it (except for that it hurt worse than normal) because I had been having cramps for a few months. Fifteen minutes later I had the same horrible cramp and felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. When I went to the bathroom I continued having these cramps and they kept getting worse. They were getting extremely painful and seemed like they were getting closer together. I finally decided that I might be having REAL contractions and needed to wake Paul up. After I yelled, no screamed, his name about 8 times I finally woke up Paul at about 12:30. I told him I thought I was having contractions and we needed to go to the hospital. By this time, my contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart and I felt like I was dying! The first thing Paul said was 'OK.. I'm getting in the shower!' I wanted to KILL him.. but, he got a quick shower and shaved before I could even get off the toilet! *warning - this is nasty.. haha* When I did get off the toilet I discovered that I had had my 'bloody show' and knew this was the real deal. I yelled at Paul telling him we had to leave right now! He responded with 'What?? I can't hear you!' Then I used some foul language and repeated myself again. It was go time!
My contractions were now about 5 minutes apart and we decided to call my mom and have her meet us at the hospital. On the way to Baptist, Paul was driving about 110 mph and I was calling my doctor to tell her I was in labor and on my way to the hospital. Contractions were about 4 minutes apart on the ride to the hospital. When we arrived at Baptist, they were 2 minutes apart!! Checking in seemed to take forever! And, triage seemed to take even longer!! When I was wheeled to my labor and delivery room I was in the worse pain I had ever been in in my life. My contractions were so strong and I was having back labor that lasted about 10-15 seconds right after each contraction. I was dilated to 4 at this point. I was squeezing Paul's fingers so hard I thought I might break them because of how much pain I was in!
When they came in with the epidural I was SO relieved! I was dilated to 6cm at this point. I always thought the epidural would be awful... but, it was not bad at all! And as soon as I got it, I felt a small amount of pain from one contraction, then I didn't feel anything! After I got the epidural I felt great! I began talking non-stop! Everyone was telling me to shut up and get some sleep, but I couldn't! Dr. Storck had to come in and break my water at 8cm, then around 8:00am the nurse told me it was almost time for me to start pushing. I began pushing around 8:10- 8:15 and started feeling some stinging. The nurse sat me up and gave me a small dose of my epidural then Dr. Storck walked in and I knew it was time! I will never forget giving birth to my son. It was the best and most memorable time of my life. I was actually kind of sad when it was all over because I felt like it went by so fast! When we first saw our son and heard his cry we began crying and couldn't take our eyes off him. Paul and I were so happy to have Hayden here in our arms!
Every moment since Hayden's arrival has been a blessing from God. I cannot wait to see what our future has in store with our little man. We are so happy to be Hayden's parents and will love him to the moon and back!
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| Hayden Blair Bryant 2-17-11 |
