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On Saturday evening, after busy day I went to bed and fell asleep. The next thing I knew I was having some sort of dream about a burst of water. I woke up and thought—hmm what was that? And then there was a great big burst of water. I jumped up out of bed and ran to the bathroom to try and figure out how to get Terry’s attention. He had been watch
Then I noticed our porch light go on so I knew he was upstairs, so I called his name. He said when I called his name he thought I was mad at him for turning the light on because my last instructions were to not wake me up. Anyway, he came in and I told him my water had broken. We were both really excited because there was no going back now.
I finished packing my bag and Terry called my parents. My mom hadn’t been feeling well so my dad said he would come sleep over at our house. Terry and I left for the hospital and said a prayer along the way that things would go well for us.
They checked me in and got me all situated in a bed. I think it was a couple of hours before they started any pitosin to get my contractions going (I hadn’t had any real ones yet). We tried to sleep but I had a hard time relaxing enough to go to sleep. So I watched reports on Whitney Houston’s funeral and her life.
Just a little side note. The nurses all said it was the snowstorm that was responsible for my being there. They had been really slow at the hospital and then once the snow started they had six woman come in just a few hours. Normally they have 2-3 births a day. I thought that was funny and I was grateful to have been affected by the storm.
At about five my contractions were getting stronger and were hurting enough that they said I could get an epidural. So I got the epidural which always makes me feel so yucky while they are putting it in. I told them I was going to pass out, but I was able to take deep breaths to avoid that.
Anyway, I was feeling pretty good after that but then my contractions pretty much stopped for a few hours. I was having some smaller ones, but I wasn’t dilating. And at about 8:00 the baby’s heartbeat started dipping down really far when I would have those small contractions. I know from past births that this can happen, but his heart rate was going so low it didn’t seem normal.
The nurse kept coming in to try and adjust things or get me to move. She didn’t like his little dips. She decided to call the doctor and he said he thought things were fine so he wouldn’t come in yet. But I started getting really uptight. I thought what if the heartbeat stopped and the doctor wasn’t there to do an emergency c-section. I wondered how they know if the baby is being strangled by the cord. Anyway, I was really getting myself worked up and was ready to do a c-section right then just to make sure our baby was okay. I sat and listened to the heartbeat and would feel so stressed when it would slow down and I would think “Keep beating, keep beating.” And then it would pop back up to normal speed.
I felt like crying and was so worried that something was going to happen here at the last moment before he was born. I said so many prayers during that time for his safety and that I could calm down too and just have faith. At about 9:30 my contractions really started to pick up. During the last hour the baby’s heartbeat stayed more regular and so I was able to relax. Our nurse also came in and sat down and visited with us while I finished dilating. That helped to distract me too. And she was keeping an eye on things while she was there.
Before we knew it I was to a ten and ready to push. I had felt the baby moving down with the contractions over about a ten minute period, so I knew we were getting close. I just have to say how grateful I am for epidurals. It is amazing to go through that and not feel a single thing. My epidural was perfect and I really didn’t feel a single bit of pain (once the guy got the epidural in).
The doctor was called in and everything was set up. Our doctor has a problem with shaky hands so I was praying that he would be able to do his job well. I gave one push and our baby boy was out and I heard his little cry. I felt so much relief and gratitude at that moment I heard that cry. With all of the miscarriages and then the worry early on with this pregnancy, and the little thoughts of what if. . . all throughout the last 38 weeks. I was so grateful to see our healthy little baby boy delivered safely to us.
I am really grateful for Heavenly Father’s blessings and His help. I know this could have easily ended a different way. It could have ended in the first ten weeks. But it didn’t and we have little Eli here and we all love him so much.
He weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 18 inches long. He is a little tiny thing. It has now been a week since he was born and he has been a good little baby. He sleeps and sleeps and I have been able to get some good sleep myself. In fact I had to wake him up last night to eat because he wanted to keep sleeping.
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