Ryan and I had gone to the doctor the Friday before and the decision was made to go ahead and induce labor for the following Tuesday. Everything was fine and I had progressed enough that we felt comfortable with induction. It was weird knowing we had only a few days left as a family of two but enjoyed our time by eating at our favorite restaurants, sleeping in, spending time with Bennett and taking care of a few last minute things. We also had several house showings on Saturday and an open house so we were busy preparing for that. Our house had been on the market nearly six months with only one offer and that one weekend we received two offers. The timing couldn't have worked out better even though we were busy negotiating the sale and working through all the paperwork. That Monday night Ryan and I went out to eat, finished packing our bags and tried to get some sleep. I think I slept only 3 hours that night as I was anxious and nervous about the next morning. We had to be at the hospital by 5 am and my alarm was set for 3:15 am. The alarm went off and I jumped in the shower and then woke Ryan up so he could get ready. We managed to get out the door by 4:20 with everything we could possible need for the next few days :)
Once we arrived at the hospital everything happened very quickly. We were checked in, comfortable in our room, and had the Pitocin in by 5:45. The first few hours went quickly as nurses were in every 15 minutes or so checking on us and increasing the dosage.
At this point I was having contractions but wasn't in much pain. My doctor came in at 7:30 to break my water and checked my cervix. At that time I was 1-2 cm dilated and 90% effaced. We settled in for what we thought would be a long day as she said typically you would dilate 1-2 cm every 2 hours. Around 8:30 the contractions really started to pick up and I was feeling them more in my back. At 9:20 the nurse checked my cervix again and said I was almost 4 cm dilated and was progressing very quickly. I was actually in quite a bit of pain and asked for the epidural. There were several other women in labor at the same time and I was about 4th on the list to receive the epidural. My nurse slowed down the pitocin as she wanted to make sure I received the epidural before progressing much more. They brought in another doctor to give epidurals and I was able to receive mine at 10 am. I was a little nervous about this but honestly it wasn't bad at all. I started to feel relief instantly but still felt contractions on my right side. The nurse checked me again and I was still almost 4 cm dilated. The nurse said they wouldn't check me again for awhile and we started to relax. My mom was there at this point and we all chatted for the next hour and a half. Around 11:15 Ryan was getting hungry and decided to walk over to a nearby Whataburger to grab a quick lunch. I felt sure that this baby wouldn't be here until late afternoon at the earliest. The nurse came back in at 11:45 to check me again and surprisingly announced that I was 10 cm dilated and that I was ready to push! She then asked where my husband was. Of course I panicked and said he had gone to lunch. My mom called him and he rushed back just in time. They were trying to get a hold of my doctor so we had a little time thankfully. I couldn't believe how fast I had progressed from a 4 to a 10 and I think all the nurses were surprised as well.
I was feeling all sorts of emotions but was more excited than anything else as we were about to meet our baby boy. The doctor came in shortly after Ryan got back and we began pushing. Henry Ryan was born only 15 minutes later at 12:25 pm weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long. He was healthy and absolutely perfect :)
The whole experience was amazing and I can't even describe the love I felt for this child when I held him for the first time.
I was very fortunate to have a great experience and a fairly easy labor and delivery. Throughout the next few days we had quite a few visitors and feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. I'll save that for another post :)
And one more of our sweet boy. I have a feeling you'll be seeing him a whole lot more on this blog :)
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