So it all started on August 24th, the day before my due date. I lost my mucus plug that morning and then headed to my last doctors appointment. I was only dialed to a 1 and about 70% effaced. We had an induction date for August 29th just in case I went over.. and honestly I was expecting he would never come and I'd have to get induced. Well my doctor did a quick membrane sweep to see if that would help move things along. Well, apparently it did! I had my normal braxton hicks contractions like I did everyday, but now they were accompanied with a cramp achy pain like a period cramp. Braiden and I went about our day and ran some errands. The contractions were starting to become very painful and to the point where I would be in tears sometimes through them! I timed them and they weren't consistent at all. Some 7 minutes apart, 30 minutes, 12 minutes. We then went up to Lehi so Braiden could help my mom and step dad move into their new house. I sat on their living room floor in pain timing my contractions and they slowly were getting closer and closer together while Braiden helped them move in some furniture. Finally they were then consistent 3-5 minutes apart for more than an hour and way too painful and that's when we hoped in Braiden's truck and headed to the hospital!
We got to the hospital around 7:30pm and got checked in to be monitored for an hour to see if this was the real deal. I was still only dialed to 1 when we got there but the hour went by and I was then dialed to a 3! YAY! We were so excited we got to stay and have this baby! Our best friends Jeff and Kenzi went to our house and got our hospital bags because we went straight from my mom's house to the hospital.
I then got my IV, and then the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. I was super nervous for this and held Braiden's hand the whole time. Braiden ended up having indents of my nails on his hands from me squeezing so hard! (Sorry babe!) Then when I was dialed to a 4 they broke my water. Let me tell you, epidurals are AMAZING. My contractions were so painful and once that epidural kicked in it took away all my pain! We then tried to get some rest because we were so tired. Braiden ended up falling asleep but I never fully went to sleep unfortunately due to the shakes. I couldn't help it, my body would just shake and I couldn't get my mind off of it. My nurse told me that it's completely normal and lots of women shake when they're in labor. I just ate some ice chips and listened to some music waiting for baby to come.
Every time they checked me I was thankfully progressing a centimeter every hour and by 2:45 was dialed to a 7!
Around 5am I was dialed to a 9 and I also got super nauseous and threw up- my nurse then gave me some medicine in my IV for the nausea that helped a ton. My cute photographer Charissa showed up and it was go time!
Once I was dialed to a 10 my doctor, Dr. Reese, needed to try to turn Cash's head around because he facing upward instead of down. We waited a bit and Cash still didn't turn his head so around on his own so it was time to push! I started pushing around 7am. Braiden was such a huge help! He was amazing at getting me though all the contractions and pushing. He kept telling me to keep going and encouraged me know when to push harder when I needed to. Pushing was the most exhausting part especially because I was going on no sleep. Cash turned his head a little bit during pushing but ended up turning it around right as he was coming out (because my doctor, Dr. Thorpe, did an episiotomy on me.. woohoo) I could feel a ton of pressure down there which helped me know when to push. I ended up pushing a total of 1.5 hours and he was out! I didn't even realize he was out because I was closing my eyes concentrating on pushing and then they told me to open my eyes and I was in shock that he was actually here! They layed him on me and I immediately started crying. It was the best moment ever finally meeting him. Since he didn't cry right away they had to take him away for a few minutes. Once they got him to cry and breath right, they brought him over to me to do skin-to-skin- which is my absolute favorite! I felt so close to him and was filled with so much love. Cash weighed 7lbs 5 oz and was 19 inches long born at 8:32am.
I absolutely loved my labor and delivery experience. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done but the most rewarding thing in the entire world. We love our sweet Cash Robert and feel so blessed to have him in our lives.
Photography by: Charrisa Lee Photography
