Mason's Birth Story

I'm going to do this as fast as I can, since Mason is in between feedings and Mr. H will need a break soon. So I may leave a few things out, but I'll try to get as much detail as possible.

Wednesday night we were admitted to Floyd at 6pm. I was set up very quickly, and was getting ready to start Cytotec (an inducting medication) later that evening. After a few hours of being monitored though, the nurses were surprised to see that I was having consistent contractions on my own that apparently I couldn't feel.

After talking to my doctor, they decided to skip the Cytotec and go straight to the Pitocin. I was pretty happy about this, because I know it would make things go a little quicker. So after being at the hospital for 2 hours, I was on the Pitocin drip to get things started.

I slept throughout the night, and sometime Thursday morning the doc came in to check my dilation. I was at 3 cm! Progress was happening. Of course I was on pain meds for the contractions, so I continued to sleep throughout the day. Sometime after a nap, the doctor said it was time to break my water. After that, the contractions started getting stronger, but still managable. After my pain medication had worn off, I paged the nurse to give me another boost. She suggested getting the epidural, but I was very hesitant to do so. After some convincing, I decided to go ahead and get it. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

Around 5pm the nurse checked my progress, and I was at 5cm. I heard the news, new it would still be awhile, and drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the doctor being in the room asking me when I was last checked. I told her I wasn't sure since I had been napping, so she decided to check me again. She laughed and announced "Well you are fully dilated and +1 station!". Mason was on the way! She wanted me to continue to labor some more, but I didn't think it would be for 2 more hours. I started to panic since Mr. H was sleeping, and Mom and Steph weren't in the room at the moment. So I hollered (yes, hollered) at Mr. H to run and get them, since I was thinking it was going to be any minute.

The nurse checked me one more time when I asked her if I could get a little more meds in my epidural. She literally told me not to cough or sneeze, as it could potentially make Mason come out on his own. She called the doctor, who was 10 minutes away, and said she would call as soon as she got to the hospital to have me start pushing. We got the phone call, and delivery began. I've heard horror stories of women having to push for 2+ hours. I pushed once and the nurses told me I had to stop and wait on the doctor to get there, since the baby would come in the next push or two. I was pretty amazed.

Two pushes later, and Mason was born at 7:47 pm on September 3, 2009, weighing 8lbs 13.6oz and measuring 19 inches long. Mr. H and Mom were in the delivery room with me and were very, very supportive. When I saw him for the first time, I cried. It was so wonderful to see my little man and hear his little donkey cry. (Yes, he sounded like a little donkey.) I never thought I could fall in love so quickly with someone. He is a beautiful little man who I love with all my heart. I've never in my life experienced something so wonderful.

As far as how life with a newborn has been going, I will post that later. It is tiring and wonderful at the same time. But I've got to get ready for Mason's first doctor's appointment today. So once I have some free time I can post how that went.

Thanks to everyone who has been so kind to help us out. From letting us shower or nap, to getting us the things we need but don't have time to get, to keeping us company from going stir crazy, we appreciate everything everyone has done. It means the world to us that we have such a wonderful support system of family and friends who will go out of their way for Mr. H, Mason, and myself. So a huge thanks to everyone from our new little family.