*sigh*

I never realized how rare it is to have two hands when you have a baby. So I'm taking this opportunity while Carter is napping to fill y'all in on my birthing experience! I'll try to keep it short!! :)

June 29th:

Jack flew in town, and I started feeling contractions. I walked thirty minutes on the treadmill, and later made myself a smoothie with a tablespoon of Castor Oil to try and induce labor.

June 30th:

I woke up at about 4 am because I was having some intense abdominal pain. I told my Mom, and we decided to get ready and head over to my grandma's house(where Jack was staying) to start timing contractions. They started getting less intense and less regular, so I took some more Castor OIl to try to boost them up again. Lots of family had come over because we were all excited about my early morning contraction pain, so we decided to go swimming and then have dinner. The contractions started kicking in again halfway through swimming, so we went back to my grandma's and started timing my contractions again while we ate dinner. They were consistent enough that we decided that we were going to head to the hospital after dinner.

When we got there they hooked me up to machines to monitor contractions and babies heart rate and found out that I was 3 centimeters dilated. Then, a couple minutes after I checked in my water broke! So things started happening very quickly from there. We got into our room, I got my epidural, and a few hours later I was 9 centimeters!

July 1st:

After that things started getting kind of scary. I was in a lot of pain, because once the baby drops into the birth canal the epidural is less effective. Also, Ping-Pong's heart rate kept on dropping as delivery approached. At one point they had me on my hands and knees with an oxygen mask trying to regulate it! My Mom was in the corner of the room praying because she was so worried!

Next thing I knew I was pushing, and they had me in some weird positions! First I was on one side pushing... then they flipped me over and tried the other way... and then they had me on my back! After probably 30 minutes of pushing my doctor told me that every time I pushed, the baby's heart rate was dropping. So they decided to do an assisted birth using forceps, and if that didn't work they were going to rush me in for a C-section. Luckily, after one contraction and the assistance of forceps, Carter Richard came out! He arrived at 2:51 am, was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 13.8 ounces.

I can't believe how tired I was after the delivery. I felt like I had been hit by a freight train, and I'm pretty sure Jack and my Mom were as mentally tired as I was physically. It was so worth it though. I am already so in love with this little boy. He is such a blessing and a joy. I'm so excited to watch him grow and help him along the way, and I am so excited to keep you all updated as he grows and develops.


Skin Time with Daddy


Me and Carter sleeping