Well, our bundle of joy Joseph Matthew was born on November 16, 2009 and 9:24pm, weighed in a 7lbs 1oz, 20 inches long. Here is the story....
November 15, 2009- I had a doctors appointment that morning and NOTHING new going on...figures. I was devastated, all I wanted was to meet him/her already. So that night, I went to bed around 1030, I laid there crying....Matt must of knew something was wrong and came into our bedroom only to find me a mess in the dark (haha)....so we talked for a little while as he just laid there next to me, doing what he does best and letting me know that everything will be ok. So I said to him...tell this banana to come out already, with that he puts his hand on my stomach and puts his face down to talk to him/her..he said "You are making mommy a nervous wreck, please come out...all we want to do is meet you...." I kid you not that 10 minutes later I got my very first contraction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It freaked me out SO badly but I'm not sure what freaked me out more the fact that Matt had just asked him/her to come out OR that I actually had my first contraction. People always say...you'll know when you have your first contraction & that it's not just a cramp, ummmm they aren't kidding! So with that, I started having contractions every half hour on the dot and they were PAINFUL and lasted long.....at 3am I SHOT out of bed in pain and was like that's it...I need to call the doctor. My doctor was not the one on call, so she told me to come in first thing when the office opens since my contractions were not that close,we decided that since I had an appointment with OUR doctor at 11am the next day, that we'd just wait it out unless of course the contractions got closer, plus frankly I needed to sleep. So we begin to head out to the doctors around 1030 and holy hell, I got one of my WORST contractions, so much so that I threw myself on the floor grasping to the table b/c I just didn't know what else to do....breathing went out the window!! (I will say during this contraction Matt & I were laughing b/c I literally was going "oh my god, I don't know what to do...I just don't know what to do, help me I don't know what to do" as I'm thrashing down on the floor HAHA!! So dramatic (::insert rolling eyes::). We finally arrive and just as I'm about to be called in, I again begin having a contraction in the middle of the waiting room (that was fun!)...I see my doctor he checks me and goes...."holy cow, you are 4cms already..." I went from a fingertip dilated to 4cm within like 12 hours and that's with only having contractions a half hour apart...however while most people have contractions that are like a minute long, 5 minutes apart...mine were a half hour apart and 5 minutes long....I'm not sure which is worse. So with that...he said "time to go. pack your bags and head on up to the hospital". We went home, packed up, called our parents...and off we were!!!!!!! (I get excited all over again even just writing this)
We arrive at the hospital around noon, Matt goes to check us in and one of the nice little old lady candy stripers takes me up to L&D. Our friend Liz who is a nurse in labor and delivery at Huntington Hospital, called ahead for us to let them know we were coming (I mean, our doctor did too of course) but Liz told them to take good care of me (which I didn't have any doubt they would). I'm taken to my room and was told it was the best room in L&D haha! I get dressed, they hook me up to all the monitors and the nurse leaves the room to go grab something, Matt is still checking me and then all of a sudden I'm in there all by myself and I get by far THE WORST contraction yet, I thought I was going to die (dramatic, again I know) but I'm all alone...so I grab the side bars on the bed and begin to remember my breathing, it's not helping but I am calm, the nurse then walks in and says "this is a good one, I saw it from the monitors out there..." YA THINK!!!! It literally lasted for over 5 minutes, it just was not funny at all.
I don't even remember all the rest of the details, my mother-in-law came up to visit first, it was a good distraction to have her there. About an hour later, my parents arrived. I couldn't wait to see my mom, I needed my mom badly, she stayed with me up until my first push hours later. She kept trying to tell me to sleep, even tried tickling myself like how she did when I was little...it didn't work though, I was to anxious and starving might I add!
*more blurryness*
Finally around 3ish I think, they came up and gave me the epi.............all was right in the world after that. I cried when they made Matt leave the room for it but I had the best nurse and she did awesome distracting me. It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my head.....actually I don't even remember what it felt like...all I remember was an ice cold sensation go down my spine, it was SO weird but never hurt. While I loved the epi, I H A T E D how numb it made my legs...HATED, this coming from a girl who hates when her mouth is numb after a filling. I kept making Matt move my legs, so I knew they were there HAHA!
So the doctor on call was not my doctor however if there was another doctor in the practice that I wanted to delivery my child, it was her. She came in to check on me about every hour. Finally at 4, they decided that since my contractions were ALL over the place that they were going to start pitocin, I was ok with this. This made my contractions speed up, become more consistent & then my epi began to wear off...UMM! They came back and upped my epi, however this made my legs even more numb now, as if they weren't bad enough but I would prefer that then pain!
**as a side note, I want to add that at some point my Dad was so nervous that he was pacing directly outside of the L&D doors, that I finally asked if he could come in and see me to rest assure that I was ok. He doesn't like seeing his kids in pain and this was killing him. How cute is my Dad?**
Fast forward to about 7ish....she came in, checked me out and said "ok, you want to try pushing...." I was ready, I was ready to meet him/her.
So we set ourselves up.......PUSH...10, 9, 8 ,7 ,6 , push push push push 2, 1...breathe...my Mom then leaves. This was to be a moment for just Matt & I to share, i would've been ok if she stayed but she wanted us to have our moment together alone. Next contraction comes...I push and the babies heartbeat DROPS drastically.....so much so that I have to be put on oxygen for the rest of the delivery. (stubborn kid!) My doctor threatens C-Section b/c she doesn't like that his heartbeat dropped so fast and it's only the 2nd push. Panic sets in...I don't want to have a C! She said if it drops like that again with the next push, that she's going to set up the room for a c-section..I talk to the little one and tell him/her we're ok, we can do this.
Next push goes well....so on and so on.....hour and a half later, i'm still pushing.....during one push at this point the babies heartbeat drops again even while I'm on oxygen, she threatens C a again and literally calls to have the room set up :(.....as this happens, I have a strong contraction and she says PUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! She said it was one of my biggest pushes yet, and that he/she is COMING and that she had to be on her sterile outfit QUICKLY! Of course as soon as this happens, he begins to get stuck coming over my pelvis....really?? REALLY??! He/she would progress, get over my pelvis and then progress back down.....here comes the threat again of a C, I wasn't having it...I came this far...he/she is coming out this way. 10 minutes later at 9:24 pm....push,push,push,push,push........Our little baby boy Joseph Matthew was here and in my arms. It was the craziest moment of my life and one I will never, ever, ever forget. I couldn't believe it was a boy and that HE was finally here in my arms. We did it! We really did it.
He is the most precious thing to ever enter our lives and I will cherish that moment forever.
He had to be taken away rather quickly, he had some fluids in his lungs but all was ok. Matt got to tell our families, I love that video. I'll upload that if I can on here. We spent two days in the hospital and then were able to come home, I couldn't wait to be in our home with my little family.
& now here we are 3 months later and all is perfect. Joey is the best little boy, he's smiley, cuddly like his mommy, Daddy can make him smile the best, he's very curious, very alert and has been since day one, very strong and always has been, he began "sleeping through the night" at 3 weeks (how lucky are we??!!!). It's amazing to watch him discover new things...his hands, he stares at his feet trying to figure out what there purpose is, he grabs for things now, doesn't fully grasp them on his own but knows he can. He rocks as if he almost wants to roll over from back to belly, which I think he'll do in the next 2 weeks (he already rolled belly to back for me like 3 times in a row and then never again). He loves when we sing to him, and LOVES his changing table for some crazy reason, we have some of our best conversations on that thing.
I love him so much and don't know what my life was like without him now.
