I have been meaning to post Grayson's birth story for ummm... the last month and it just hasn't happened yet! Sooo here we go...!
My due date, January 29, came and went all too quickly and I was still pregnant. Four days later (Tuesday, February 2) we were scheduled to be induced. Although it is an old wives' tale that full moons cause women to go into labor, I am a firm believer. Friday, Saturday and Sunday night were all full moons. Each of those nights I had strong contractions about 15 minutes apart. They taught us in our birth classes to wait until contractions are 5 minutes apart for 1 hour before going to the hospital or they might just send you home.
Each night Casey and I decided to get in bed early, trying to get as much sleep as possible in case it was "the night" that I went into labor. We'd be full of anticipation only to wake up the next morning with the contractions slowed to every 45 minutes. By my appointment Monday morning I was convinced Grayson was never going to come out and we were just going to be induced to give him a little help the next morning. I'd been dialated 2 cm for 4 weeks and made little to no progress during that time. By my appointment Monday morning I surprisingly progressed to 3 cm (must have been all those full moon contractions!) but I was still sure nothing was going to happen before 5:30 am.
Casey and I went to dinner with his family Monday night to celebrate our new family member coming the next day. During dinner I started having really strong contractions but didn't time them or think much of it since I'd had them the past 3 nights.
Casey and I went to bed really early in anticipation of Grayson's birth day the following day. We both struggled a little bit following asleep due to the excitement of meeting our sweet son.
Starting about 12:30 am I timed my contractions at 5 minutes apart. I decided to wait and see if I could make it to 5:30 since we were planning to go to the hospital then anyway. Needless to say, as soon as I began dozing off another contraction would start so I was left timing my contractions as Casey snoozed.
He finally woke up about 2:30 am and I immediately asked him if my Lamaze breathing, tossing and turning were keeping him awake. He quickly responded with a firm "NO" and rolled over back to dream land. Not a minute later another contraction coupled with intense breathing began. Casey turned and asked, "why are you breathing like that?" Umm did we go to the same birthing class where we learned this technique? :) I told him "I think this is it! I have been having intense contractions every 5 minutes apart for the past 2 hours!" He then suggested I take a shower in case we needed to head up to the hospital. I did just that and quickly noticed the contractions were much more bearable standing or sitting up as opposed to laying down.
Casey was still sound asleep when I was finished showering, so I decided I would just get ready and let him rest as much as possible since he worked on Monday and we were sure to have a long day ahead. Two hours later I heard his alarm and he hopped out of bed, ready to meet his son. We loaded our bags into the car and were off to the hospital around 5 am, eager to meet our little angel.
Apparently full moons really do put women into labor because the labor floor was CRAZY when we got there! Thankfully I had a scheduled induction and was able to get a room. There was another lady who was scheduled for an induction but had to wait in the waiting room because all the labor & delivery rooms were occupied with women in labor! Crazy!
Anyway, I told the nurse when we got there I thought I'd been in labor since about 12:30 am as my contractions were pretty strong and 5 minutes apart. She said, "oh, that's great!", put us in our room and told me to change into my robe and she'd be back. Two hours passed where Casey and I wondered what we were supposed to be doing because nobody came to check on us and we were just hanging out in the room. We spent time praying, reading, taking pictures and talking. It was such a sweet time for us to prepare our hearts as best we could for the blessing we were about to receive.
A nurse finally came in around 7:30 am to get things started. I answered an endless list of questions, she hooked me up to a fetal and heart rate monitor and started an IV. Around 8 am she checked my cervix before having the anethesiologist come in to begin the pitocin and get my labor "started". Mind you, I had been in labor for close to 8 hours at this point. :)
She checked my cervix and her immediate response was "OH MY GOSH!!". Umm, not exactly what I was expecting to hear her say so I asked her if that was a good OH MY GOSH or a bad OH MY GOSH! She then said, "you are dialated 7 cm!! You are about to have this baby, we are not going to induce you!". Casey and I were both so shocked and so excited! He immediately began calling our families to tell them they might want to come up to the hospital sooner than we expected.
My doctor came by about that time to break my water as he thought they induced me 3 hours earlier. When the nurse told him the situation he graciously decided to wait until I'd recieved my epidural for fear I'd have the baby without it if he went ahead and broke my water. THANK GOODNESS! That epidural is such an amaaaaazing thing. I highly recommend it. :)
Well, I continued to progress very quickly and the time came to begin pushing. Grayson was stuck under my pubic bone, so I pushed for about 1.5 hours with little progress. Once he was born we discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, so each time I pushed his heart rate dropped drastically. Since he was in the birth canal for so long I began swelling really bad. The nurse decided to call in my doctor to help out with the delivery since we were starting to run into complications. He came in and quickly decided to use forceps to help Grayson out. About 3 pushes later and I heard the greatest sound I have ever heard in my life.
There is truly nothing like hearing your baby's precious cry for the first time. Oh my word, I really cannot put into words the feeling of the first instant seeing, touching, kissing and hearing your baby. It is really an out of body experience. Casey and I were rendered speechless with tears of joy streaming down our faces. Time stood still for an instant as we praised God for trusting us with this most precious child. We still daily comment how we can't believe He trusted us with Grayson, His child. What did we ever do to deserve such an incredible gift? Of course, nothing. It is by His grace alone he has continued to bless us. And we are forever and ever thankful. We love our sweet baby boy with all that we are and had absolutely no idea how full of love our hearts could be. Oh, thank you Lord for giving us a tiny glimpse of your love for us.
"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:1-5
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