Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I know why they call it "labor"

Well...our lives are forever changed - Jackson was born at 12:02 pm on Monday, October 1st. Everyone is wanting to know the story so here goes:

I woke up at 3 am Sunday morning with some 'painful' contractions. I hadnt had many contractions before so it was weird that I could actually feel these. I waited until about 5 am before allowing myself to realize that this might be the real thing since they hadnt let up. They were coming every 10 minutes and were, I'll say uncomfortable bc I now know what REAL PAIN is. I called my dr at 9 am and he told me to go to the hospital when they were 5 min apart for an hour. Ben and I went for a morning walk and did some stuff with my mom around the house and around 4 pm decided to go ahead and head into town since they had been five min apart for a few hours. We got to the hospital and praise the Lord my doctor was on call and was actually already at the hospital. He checked me and I was 2 cm dilated and 90% effaced which is a miracle bc the monday before I was completely closed and nothing! He decided to admit me even though the nurse didnt think I needed to stay (she was not my favorite) but only after I walked the floor for an hour. The contractions started getting pretty painful but I couldnt get any medicine or an epidural until I was 4 cm. FINALLY at 11 pm I was 4 cm and they called the anesthesiologist... WE LOVE HIM. Before going into labor I was so scared of that epidural but not after feeling that pain. It sucked. I was then told to "get some rest" - yeah right... even though I was pain free (numb) I was still concerned about Jackson. The nurse mentioned that his heart beat was dipping slightly with each contraction so any time I was having a contraction I would watch the monitor to see if his heart was ok. I kept being told that if it continued or got worse we'd have to have a c-section... my worst nightmare! My theory was that the monitor shifted when I was contracting and that's why it seemed as though his heart rate was dropping even though he was fine. She kept checking me with no changes. At 3 am I was 4-5 and then at 3:45 she came in to check again and I was at 6! wooohooo. She came back at 4:30 and I was at 7. She then tells me that we'll probably have this baby around 7 am. I super excited and now I really can't sleep. Well, she comes back and checks me and checks me and checks me and every time I'm still 7...no budging. She then tells me again how I'll have to have a c-section if I dont progress. Around 6 am I start feeling some pressure in my stomach again when I'm having contractions but I dont want to say anything bc I'm thinking that I can handle it and that maybe the epidural wearing off will speed up my labor. Boy was I ever WRONG. My dr comes in at 7:15 and breaks my water to try and help me along and then the real pain starts up. My contractions are now a min apart and 2 min long and I CAN FEEL THEM. It was seriously the worst pain of my life. I call for the nurse and tell her that she has to get someone in here NOW... well - the dr is in surgery and I have to wait for him to get out. I wait over 45 min with contractions that registered off of the paper - it was horrible. I was crying and writhing around - just pitiful. I wanted to die. You know how they ask you to rate your pain "1 being nothing and 10 being the worst of your life" yeah, now I know what a 10 is. When that dr walked in with his big pain easing needle the clouds parted and the angels were singing - he's my best friend by the way. Ok, back to the progression. At 10 am I was at 8 and then by 11 I was 9 and by 1120 I was complete and ready to push! Thank goodness bc the numbing shot was wearing off again. My legs were completely numb just not the part that mattered! My sweet wonderful nurse (we're on nurse 3 now) asked me if I could wait for my dr to start pushing and I said no and she said 'Ok, well let's get started then' God bless her. We started pushing a little after 11:30 and at 12:02 Jackson was born. He was so perfect and weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20 in long. According to my dr's timeline he was 6 days early but was on his 'due date' according to his 20 wk ultrasound. Ben was an amazing coach and is an amazing dad - I couldn't ask for a better husband! Oh and my mom actually stayed in the room when I had Jackson. She was over in her own corner but let's be honest that's a big deal. She was a wonderful support and I'm really thankful she was there.

We absolutely adore him and he is such a good baby. He rarely ever cries. He doesnt even cry when he's wet or dirty - I have to constantly check him! Feeding has been a struggle but I think we're getting the hang of it. Thanks to everyone who has been checking on us. We love ya'll and we are so happy to finally be a family of three : )

Oh, and here are the latest pictures of Jackson:

From Jackson II

- Bethany

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Finally!



It's still hard for me to get my mind around this, but at 12:02 PM, October 1st (on his due date) Jackson Benjamin McGhehey made his entry into the world. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and he is 20 inches long. We are so happy, exhausted, overwhelmed etc. but also extremely thankful that it went as smoothly as it did. We give all the credit to God- he turned a scary night into an almost perfect delivery. I'm too tired to write much about the process, but I will write more later on. In the mean time, here are some pictures.

From Jackson