Garrett's Birth Story

My pregnancy was very uneventful and enjoyable. I was never sick and I felt pretty good the whole nine months. I only gained 24 pounds, but toward the end, I could hardly breathe and rolling over in bed was quite a challenge! I kept wondering what my labor and delivery would be like since I had been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy. I had a doctor's visit on my due date, which was March 12. After the examination, he said if nothing happened in the next few days, we would talk about induction.

Two days later, at 4:19 AM, I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. When I moved to get out of bed, I felt a strange popping sensation, then a huge gush. I told my husband I thought my water had broken. He mumbled that it could not be possible because I had not passed my mucous plug (he had been paying attention in childbirth class!). Well, it was my water and I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. I noticed the baby had passed the meconium and the water in the toilet was dark green. I knew this meant my baby would have to be delivered soon.

My mother met us at the hospital at about 5:45 AM. I was having irregular contractions, but overall, things were still going great and I was feeling fine. At around 8 AM, they started a Pitocin drip, and in no time I was having contractions that were less than two minutes apart and were lasting about one minute each. I tried all different kinds of positions and could not get comfortable. It was the kind of pain that makes your teeth hurt! Finally, after about four-and-a-half hours of tears, cursing and pulling my hair out, I had dilated to five centimeters and I was able to get an epidural. I wanted to give the anesthesiologist a big, wet kiss because it was so wonderful. I could not feel the contractions but could still move my legs around.

In the next three hours, I dilated to 10 centimeters, and by around 3 PM I was ready to push. The nurse could not believe how fast things were moving because I had an epidural and it was my first baby. I could feel the urge to push very strongly, and finally she said I could push. I could see the baby's head come out and go back in with every push because I had a mirror down at my feet. Finally, his head crowned and did not retract, so I knew in the next push or two he was coming out. The nurse said she would go call the doctor, but I said, "Oh, no you don't; this child is coming out!" Sure enough, two pushes later he was born. Luckily, the nurse had snagged another doctor who happened to be in the hallway, and he assisted. My doctor made it for the afterbirth.

We did not find out the sex of our baby during the pregnancy. After the baby's head popped out, my husband rushed down to see if we had a boy or girl. The baby slid out on his stomach, and when they turned him over, his cord was between his legs. Finally, my husband yelled that we had a boy. I honestly can say I have never been so overcome with emotion in all of my life. Our baby was absolutely beautiful. My husband and I both had tears in our eyes. It was truly the greatest moment in our lives. I am grateful that I was blessed with a wonderful pregnancy, a relatively easy delivery, and a beautiful baby boy. Garrett was born on March 14, which also happened to be my mother's 50th birthday. What a special gift we all received!