The BEST day!

Well, I am a little late posting all about the BEST day of mine n Dev's lives, and need to actually rewind a couple days before.. So I will be starting with June 19! :)

June 19 we had our normal, weekly doctor appointment. I was 40 weeks the Sunday before, so I was REALLY hoping for some progress, or any kind of good news!! We got to the appointment, and I was told I was 80% effaced, and dilated to a 2 1/2... Booooo... Absolutely NO change from the week before. I had warned Dev earlier that day that if there was NO change, there was a huge chance I was gonna loose it and cry the rest of the night! LOL!! Well, after my doctor told us there was no change, he asked how we would like to have a baby that Saturday! He was on call, and would like to induce us! UM HECK YES!!! No way I was gonna say no to that! I was OVER being pregnant at this point, and wanted nothing more than to meet our precious baby boy!! :):) So we went and met with the nurse, and set up our induction for Saturday, June 23 at 7:30 AM! YAY!!!

The next day we both went to work.. That was a LONG day.. LOL! Dev called me about half way through and said "ummmm, so how bout if we both start our leave tomorrow?? I can't stand being at work, and can't focus at all anymore".. LOL!! I agreed 100%! Dev was able to take a full 2 weeks off with us, and I get 10 (woowoo!!). So we both got our leave approved, and that night did extreme cleaning! I cleaned the carpets while Dev cleaned the floors on his hands and knees (I hurt way too much to be down like that), the ceiling fans, and the heater vents.. The next day we grocery shopped, cleaned out both our cars, and washed them, did LOTS of yardwork, and after a LONG day grabbed a pizza and relaxed a bit.. Friday we got up and went to breakfast, kinda a last date for the 2 of us for a while.. :) We got home and cleaned the entire house TOP to BOTTOM, and finished all the laundry.  That night Dev had a softball game, then my awesome fam took us to dinner! :) It was a really nice day spent majority with just me n Dev! :) That night we got home about 11, and TRIED our hardest to sleep! LOL!

We were up at 5 AM on Saturday, showered and got ready.. I ate some plain toast and juice (YAY.. lol) then we sat outside watching our first baby, Tankers playing in the yard! I was instructed to call the hospital at 6:30 to see IF I was still supposed to come up and check in at 7:30.. Well, the lady I spoke to told me to call back at 7:30 to see if I needed to be there at 8. I told her we were about 35 minutes away, so I would like to call earlier.. She told me to call at 7:15.. LOL. Safe to say we were both on edge, and SUPER anxious!! I called back, and was told to be there at 8:30! My sister slept over the night before so she could take care of Tank (safe to say they are the best of friends.. lol), she got up and talked to us for a bit, Dev loaded up the car and we were off!! We were both on pins and needles pretty much the entire drive to the hospital, so it was a pretty quiet ride.. It all seemed SO real, and yet, I don't think it was FULLY setting in YET. We got to the hospital a few minutes early, so we slowly unloaded our stuff and walked in to the hospital. We got inside, checked in and got put in our delivery room! :) Then we waited!!!

At about 9 (but what seemed like ages) the nurse came in to check my status.. STILL no change.. SIGH... LOL. Thats okay, couldn't let it get me too down, I knew what was coming SOON!! She came back in to give me my IV (this NEVER goes well..). She had to insert it right below my thumb, on the side of my wrist.. I have no big veins in my hands, or arms. Everyone always misses, collapses my vein, and it usually takes multiple attempts to get it in.. Once that was in, my doctor came in! Dev and I were a little quiet, as we were both still nervous about what was to come.. We were VERY excited, and very confident, but at the same time nervous for the unknown! Once my doctor came in the entire mood in the room changed. We were both SO excited, and so sure of everything! At about 10:30 my doctor attempted to break my water.. He told me I didn't have very much fluid, so they attached a monitor to the top of Brax's head in hopes that his wiggling would break the water a little more.. They then started the pitocin.. That stuff was INTENSE!! I was having NO contractions (that I could feel), then immediately went to having contractions about 5-7 minutes apart that were strong.. I was able to breathe through them and catch my breath in between before the next contraction hit... At this point the anesthesiologist came in to explain the epidural procedure, and told me (more or less) not to be a hero.. To be comfortable for the process, and get the meds as soon as I wanted! There is a rumor the epidural slows down labor, and he explained it in fact does.. By about 20-45 minutes.. So if NOT being in pain was worth that extra time, get it as soon as I felt I needed.. That was a relief! About an hour later, my contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes apart, and HARD.. I was really struggling with them.. And poor Dev was struggling watching me go through them. The nurse came in and told me I was a 3, and about 90% effaced.. I was slightly disapointed.. I thought with how bad my contractions were I would be much further along.. I asked for the epidural to make the next few hours a little more pleasant! :)

I was more scared for the epidural than anything.. I was having anxiety about it WEEKS before my delivery.. LOL.. I am a HUGE wuss with needles (could be thanks to my bad veins, and how many times I've been poked, and missed.. Haha). The anesthesiologist came back in and BOOM, it was done so quick!! Within 10 minutes, I couldn't lift my right leg, and could barely lift my left.. LOL. I was having more and more contractions, and they were getting bigger and bigger, but this mama couldn't feel a THING and that was GREAT!!! :) About 2 hours after having the epidural, I had a reaction.. Some of the fluid had traveled up my spine, and caused my right eye to sag, and my pupils to be dilated HUGE! Luckily, there was no problem, it wasn't serious and wore off before Brax arrived!!

 Dev called and updated my fam after the epidural was complete, and within a half hour my mom and sisters were up at the hospital! :) At this point, they checked me again, and I was at a 5 1/2, and ALMOST complete! YAY PROGRESS!!!! They told me it would still be a few hours, this was at about 4. Another hour passed, and my Dad was now up at the hospital as well!

At this time, the nurses noticed each time I had a contraction Brax's heart rate would drop WAY down.. They kept coming in and changing my position in the bed hoping this would help.. They noticed when I would lay on my left side, his heart rate would drop even more.. They weren't sure if he was on his cord, if part of his cord had dried out, or what? At this point they assigned a nurse to only watch his heart, and then take his print out to my doctor to decide what to do.. They also hooked me up to oxygen, and told me to breathe really deep and slow to ensure Brax was getting all the oxygen he needed.. I was really freaking out at this point.. They told me it wasn't dropping bad enough that they weren't really worried, so I shouldn't worry.. The nurse came back in and said he was okay, my doctor wasn't too concerned, and she checked me again. WELL, after a short hour, I was dilated to a 9, and was COMPLETE!!! She said we would probably begin pushing in a half hour! HOLY COW!!!! Now we were excited!!! :)

At this point, they switched nurses, and the new nurse came in and told me I was complete! And we were going to start pushing to see if we could get Brax moving down! I was really nervous, but REALLY ready! :) I pushed and pushed and pushed, but felt like I was getting nowhere since I couldn't feel anything that was going on.. Dev and my mom each held a leg, while my Dad hid in a corner (lol) and one sister recorded, and the other took pictures. My awesome sisters also helped push up my back and shoulders. :) It was a team effort! :) I pushed with just the nurse for about 45 minutes, and she said it was time for my doctor to come in! YAY!!! It was really time!!! :)

My doctor came in, and said "so, are we ready to have a baby?? are you guys ready to REALLY be parents??", LOL! Dev and I both laughed and said we were MORE than ready!! Dev said it will be nice to have our baby here in his nursery, so we can stop looking at his empty room! LOL! My doctor watched me push with my next contraction and said I was doing GREAT! :) And it was on! I was pushing my little heart out with every contraction! My doctor told me each time I pushed they could see the top of Brax's head, but he wasn't getting past my pelvic bone.. He asked if he could cut me a bit to help him (sorry if thats TMI.. lol..) and I agreed... UMM ouch, hello 3 degree episiotomy... I pushed and pushed and that still wasn't enough. My doctor then asked if he could attach the vacuum to Brax's head to kind of glide him out. I agreed! I wanted him to be here!! I was worried to death about his heart, and was getting exhausted!! It felt like I had been pushing for days!! He told me on the next round of pushes, Brax should be out!! I was SO excited!! I gathered ALL my strength and pushed as hard as I possibly could!!! 2 more pushes, and Brax was here!!! 45 minutes of pushing, and he arrived at 8:05 PM! We all instantly started bawling! It was the most amazing, special feeling of my entire life! I felt like my heart was going to explode with happiness!

Brax came out with his cord wrapped around his neck, and my doctor instantly removed it and Dev cut the cord! :) Brax was screaming, but instantly stopped as soon as he was laid on my chest, and heard my voice.. He locked his eyes to mine, and just stared.. The nurses said they had never seen anything like that.. And continued to make him cry! LOL! He instantly recognized his mama, and it was love at first sight! I just sat there comforting, loving and snuggling him! After a while, they took Brax over to measure him, weigh him, give him his shots, etc.. Brax was not super happy about this, but again, he instantly stopped crying as soon as he saw Dev. They locked eyes and just started at each other.. It was so special! :)

Brax weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 21 inches long, and has a FULL head of hair! His hair came out CURLY and pretty much automatically went into a faux hawk just like his daddy as soon as it dried!! LOL! :) He is absolutely PERFECT, and owns both mine and Dev's hearts.. As well as our entire families! He is the best baby EVER, and we couldn't love him more! I need to make another post ALL about him, and how our 2 weeks being home have been, as well as post pictures!!!  :)

Also, I just have to say how LUCKY I am to have such an amazing support system in my Husband.. I am so incredibly lucky to get to call him ALL MINE for the rest of forever.. He was so great through the whole delivery.. He kept me calm, supported me 110%, and fed me ice and slushees all day! LOL!! He is truly the most amazing husband EVER!!! And he is just as amazing at being a Daddy! Brax absolutely ADORES him!! He is so wonderful, and helps me SO much!!! Me n Brax are lucky to have him in our lives!!!