I woke up Thursday morning feeling like I always did...as if I hadn't slept at all. Three plus nighttime trips to the bathroom will make you feel that way. Since Thursday is my day to watch the little kiddos for exercise group, I snuggled cute babies and tried to teach Mariah how to share (a definite work in progress).
When we got home, Mariah and I went down for our daily naps. We woke up just in time to head over to my friend Chelsey's house for a little lunch date with friends. We had bread bowls with some amazing soup Chelsey had made. Right before leaving Chelsey's house, around 2:00, I felt a contraction. It wasn't painful but definitely wasn't a Braxton Hicks but I didn't think much of it.
Once home Mariah and I played for an hour or so and about every fifteen minutes I was having contractions. I packed a bag for the hospital but kept telling myself that this wasn't the real deal. Still in denial, I tried to put Mariah down for a nap. She was just chatting away in her room so after about 30 minutes I got her up. By this point my contractions were about six minutes apart. I could still do whatever I wanted while they were going on so I wasn't too concerned. But I figured I better let Tanner know just in case things picked up.
I can be somewhat of a procrastinator at times so I hadn't even been to the labor and delivery part of the hospital. I figured it might be a good idea to give them a call and see if there was anything special that I needed to do. While talking to the nurse I told her that I had tested positive for Strep B and she told me that I better head in as soon as possible so they could get me started on the antibiotics.
Tanner was home by this point so we called up my good friend Lisa and she was over in no time and out the door with Mariah. I was afraid Mariah was going to be sad to leave us but she loves Lisa and her little boy Max so much that she was way excited to go.
It was around 5pm and we headed up to the hospital and went straight to Labor and Delivery only to be told that we would need to walk back down to admissions and register. By this point my contractions were about five minutes apart but I was still walking and talking through them.
When we got back to labor and delivery they hooked me up to the monitors to see how my labor was progressing. My contractions slowed down and I was afraid they were going to tell me everything was a false alarm and to go home. Would have been a little embarrassing. But they seemed happy with what they were seeing so they said I could stay! Hooray!
I was able to get up and move around at that point. With Mariah I had the luxury of laboring for two hours in a car and then being put in a bed flat on my back for the rest of my labor; it was awful. I loved being able to move around during my contractions this time. It made it so much easier.
The doctor then came in to see how far I had progressed. I figured I would be around a 5 or 6 in dilation because I felt so good. I was chatting it up with the nurses and trying not to distract Tanner from his studying. I couldn't believe it when the doctor said I was already at an 8! They brought in an exercise ball for me and Tanner massaged my back while I labored there. The contractions were picking up in intensity but nothing I couldn't handle.
The doctor came in and checked me and the position of little mans head. He said I was at a 9 (yay!) but that little man's head was turned a little to the right, not ideal for pushing. He then attempted to rotate his head (definitely felt like he was trying scratch my brain, not pleasant at all). This caused my water to break and the fun and games were definitely over. I was now at the stage where you feel that death is coming. The doctor wanted me lying on my side so that the baby's head would stay in the correct position. He then told me to let him know when I was ready to push. After suffering through some pretty miserable contractions I decided I was done with that business and announced to the room that I was going to push.
Within seconds they had me in position, Tanner was at my side and it was go time. I had to push for two hours with Mariah but it wasn't painful. This was a completely different experience. Basically, I felt like I was splitting in two. In my head I was imagining this pain going on for two hours and I started to feel pretty disheartened. The doctor and nurses kept telling me that it wasn't going to be long and the baby would be there but I just couldn't believe them. Then Tanner looked me in the eye and said, "he's close, you can do it." I love that man, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about the confidence he gave me.
After only two more pushes I had the head out and the rest of him just slipped right out...or at least that is how it is supposed to go. This boy has the shoulders of a linebacker and one of his shoulders was hooked under my pelvis. So while I was pushing the doctor was slipping his bear paw of a hand up under his shoulder to get him out. It was all I could do to not shout very unkind things to him at that moment. But it worked! And at 7:30ish pm (sorry not exact on the time) and ten minutes of pushing, baby boy was born.
Words cannot describe that moment. Such overwhelming joy flooded over me as my precious baby grabbed right on to my finger. At that moment all of my pain was forgotten and I was in heaven. Funny how you can feel so close to death at one instant and then so alive the very next. That is labor and delivery folks.
After pushing what felt like a baby calf out I knew he was going to be big. But when they said 11 lbs 22 in I was shocked. We did not have an infant...we had a three month old. Not exactly sure how that happened, or how he fit in there. The boy must have been extremely flexible. Here's the other shocker, even though I had an episiotomy with Mariah I had no tearing with this lugger. I give all the credit of that to my doctor. To all you Kirksvillians, Dr. Boling is amazing.
After Mariah, I always wondered how a mother could equally love multiple children. I just didn't know if it was possible. But it is. This has helped strengthen my testimony of the love that Heavenly Father has for each of us. Thats the beauty of love, it isn't something that gets measured and distributed and eventually runs out. Perfect love can be in a never-ending supply.
I love my sweet little Chet Tanner Crossley and am so happy and grateful to have him in my life!
