Here goes the birth story.....

Okay, I wanted to document all the details of the birth story before I forget the details. Friday the 26th I went to the doctor and I was dialated to two centimeters and fifty percent effaced. The doctore stripped my membranes. He was concerned about Liam being to big and was going to do an ultra sound on Monday and if he was too big I was going to have to do a C-section. That whole night I was having contractions and cramping but no big surprise because I was having those for the past three months. So, in the morning I woke Ryan up about 6:30 am and said we should time the contractions. They were about 7 minutes apart so we started getting ready to go to the hospital and then my water broke. I told Ryan to kick it in high gear. The contractions became very intense and mostly in my lower back. When we arrived at the hospital about 8am I was dying from the labor pain. Mind you, I planned for months to go natural and we had all our birthing tools and skills ready to go. For three hours, I labored with the pain. The contractions were about 1 1/2-2 minutes apart after my water broke until I delivered. I was unable to bear the pain and requested an epidural. The best decision of my life. I felt like I was actually able to enjoy the labor after that point and was not in a hypnotic trance from the pain anymore. It was like a warm rush of relief all over my body. About 11am the doctor came and I was dialated to 4 centimeters. Liam kept sitting on his umbilical cord and his heart rate kept dropping so they had to do an amnioinfusion where they put fluids in the womb to help cushion things. I was also being monitored with the gestational diabetes and they were worried he was going to be very big. I took medication to help control my blood sugar during the pregnancy.

At 1pm I was fully dialated and began pushing. However, due to the drugs and extreme fatigue my pushing was not very effective. I pushed for an hour an the dr. let me rest for almost two hours and I took a nap. I began pushing for another hour an a half before Liam was born. Liam had pooped in the womb and there was meconium and so they had respriatory specialists on hand right when he was born. Liam came out and there was a rush of fluid and meconium that splashed all over him and he was immediately worked on and they pumped his stomach. Liam was not breathing well and had to be rushed to the special care nursery for care. Ryan went with him while I pushed out the placenta which was also stubborn.

Finally, after two hours Liam came back to the room and I was able to try to breast feed with no success. Fifteen minutes later the nurse came back in and said it was urgent that he be taken due to a serious infection after getting the blood work back. Liam had to be hooked to an IV and oxygen for the rest of his stay at the hospital. We were unable to hold him that night because he was so sick and unable to be picked up.

He made a remarkable recovery and was able to come home that Monday night with us. We are so blessed that he had not had any other health concerns since returning home and he is gaining weight and seems to be a healthy and happy little baby boy! I have been recovering well and have not had any further complications. Labor and delivery is a remarkable process and I couldn't imagine what it would be like until I experienced it. I had my husband, my sister (Steph), and friend (Amy) in the delivery room to help. Steph video recorded the labor and delivery and it was very neat for me to go back and watch it. My dad was there the entire time in the waiting room and was so supportive after the delivery while Ryan was in the nursery with Liam. Thanks everyone for all your support. Ryan's mother, Penny, came on Sunday from Oakland and spent a week with us and was so amazing and helped us out so much. We didn't have many visitors at the hospital because only a handful of people could visit Liam but we had alot of support once we came home.

Welcome to the world Liam. We waited so long for you and now I can't believe you are here!!!!!!!