My due date came and went, and I was more than a little discouraged. I was hyper aware of anything going on in my body, hoping that whatever I was feeling was a contraction or my water breaking. But no, just lots of kicks and punches from my little guy who was growing bigger and getting more cramped in there every day. I had a doctor's appointment the Thursday after my due date (four days overdue) where I told my doctor I wanted to be induced ASAP. I was still dilated to a 1, as I had been for weeks, and he really wanted to see if I would labor on my own. He said he wanted to wait until I was at least 41 weeks to induce. So we scheduled my induction for the following Monday, the 22nd, in hopes that I would labor on my own before then.
The next few days were awful. I was a grumpy, bloated mess. Poor Stephen was impatient too, and we were trying everything in our power to naturally induce my labor. I was also anxious about the scheduled induction because I knew it would be harder on my body and would possibly make it more difficult for me to go without pain meds, which was my plan. Also, we weren't 100% sure we would be able to get in that day, if too many women labored on their own, they wouldn't have a room for us and we would have to wait a day or two. All we could do was hope and pray that things would go as they should and that we would meet our baby soon.
We got the call Monday evening that we could come in at 7:30pm. We were stoked, and quickly gathered our bags and took off. I was given the first dose of Cytotec at 9:00pm, and would be given another dose every 3 hours through the night to jump start contractions and get things moving.
A little bit of back story here: Stephen started a second job at the end of August, so he was working two full time jobs. One during the day, and one at night. When did he sleep, you ask? He didn't. That was the problem. We found out that he would only have one day and two nights off work for the birth.
So back to the hospital room the night of the induction, I was determined to let Stephen get as much rest as possible, and told myself I wouldn't wake him unless something big was happening or I needed major help. Around 1 am, the contractions started getting serious and it felt as though I couldn't even catch my breath between them. I called in my nurse and asked her how close they were because I was going to call my mom when they were 5 minutes apart. She looked at the monitor but the sensor had slipped off my belly and the computer hadn't been picking up the contractions I'd been having. She fixed the monitors on my belly and left again. I was in a lot of pain, but it was pain I had been mentally preparing myself for. All the while, I let Stephen sleep peacefully :)
Even though I felt like I was going through major contractions all through the night, my body wasn't changing enough and I was still at only a 2 by 7am. When Stephen woke up he would hold my hand through every contraction and remind me to breathe and relax like I had been taught in Lamaze class. But by that time, after laboring for 8 hours by myself and not getting any sleep, I was exhausted. I told Stephen "I changed my mind. I want the epidural." He was surprised, and wanted to make sure I was serious. And I was. I told the nurse right then, and the anesthesiologist was in my room less than 10 minutes later. He gave me what he called a 'moderate dose' and a magical little button I could push if I was in too much pain and wanted a boost.
My mom arrived at 9am, and I vaguely remember asking her if she was mad at me for getting the epidural (I must have been a tad "out of it" from no sleep). She used essential oils to help me relax, help with the pain, and help progress my labor. By 10am I was at a 3 and 80% effaced. As the contractions got stronger I could feel them through the pain meds and reluctantly pushed my magical button. When it had been 15 minutes and I was still in a lot of pain, I called in the nurse and asked her if it had worked because I didn't feel any relief from the extra boost. She looked at the button and saw that it wasn't hooked up! After that was remedied, I was a lot better.
Around noon, my nurse was pretty positive that baby was posterior so she changed my position and about an hour and a half later he was turning himself and I was at an 8. By this point I wanted another boost, but my nurse said if I could get through it and wait it out, it would help when it was time to push if I could feel my contractions. So I held out and breathed through and held Stephen's hand. At 3pm I was at a 10 and started pushing. I couldn't believe how relieving it was and how good it felt to push! Stephen was right there holding my leg and encouraging me. My doctor was needed in his office upstairs, but I kept feeling the urge to push and did so with every contraction. At 3:30 the nurse called the doctor and told him to come down ASAP.
Baby arrived at 3:40pm and immediately peed all over the doctor :) 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. I was crying as soon as I laid eyes on him. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Stephen cut the cord, and baby was placed on my chest and immediately stopped crying. I'll never forget that moment--when he knew I was his mama. I nursed him within the first 15 minutes and loved that closeness that has become so familiar. I've never seen Stephen smile so much, which is saying a lot because he's a pretty happy guy! He was such a proud new dad and just kept saying "Hi, son" over and over. My view of Stephen changed the moment I saw him hold our son for the first time. I didn't know I could love him more than I already did.
It took us until the next day to decide on a name. We had narrowed it down to two that we really liked, but in the end we went with our first instinct and named him Ryker Stephen. It fits him perfectly.
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