On Sunday
October 28, 2012
at 12:23 PM
our beautiful little boy
Everett Brant Nelson
was born!
*Warning - I might go into a little too much detail on this.
At 2 AM I woke up with really intense contractions. I tried to go back to sleep but the contractions kept getting worse. Finally Clinton woke up and we started to time them. At first they were about 15 minutes apart, but got closer and closer together until they were between 7 and 8 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. [That's when we had our oh-crap-I-think-this-is-it moment.] Clinton pulled the car out and packed it with our hospital bags so we'd be ready to fly when the time came. The contractions hurt! I thought my Braxton Hicks contractions were painful, but I obviously had no idea what was coming. Our doctor told us to wait to come to the hospital until the contractions were 5 minutes apart or less and lasting at least a minute, continuing the pattern for at least an hour. We tried to eat and relax in front of a movie while timing them. By 4:45 AM they started coming every 5 minutes, and at 5:45 we left for the hospital!
The car ride to the hospital wasn't anything like we expected. For some reason I had visions of screaming as my water broke while cops chased us down the freeway. Turns out I was completely wrong [luckily!] and it was actually very relaxing. It was still dark outside and there weren't many cars on the freeway. We talked and laughed and stayed at the speed limit. My contractions were still painful and growing in intensity with each one, but I was trying to breathe through them [while clenching and practically breaking poor Clinton's hand]. We were immediately admitted into labor and delivery. The nurse led us to a nice, big suite and hooked me up to an IV after I changed into my hospital gown. She checked my cervix [almost as painful as the contractions] and I was only at a 2! The nurse advised that I try to relax as much as possible during the contractions because it would help me dilate quicker. She was a little skeptical and said it might just be false labor, but our doctor told her to keep us there and that he was on his way. The nurse went over things while we waited for the doctor - what we were expecting, what we should expect, when I could get the epidural, how long my labor should take, etc.
Clinton held my hand through each contraction and tried to help me relax. Between contractions I played games on my phone to distract myself and Clinton read a book. The nurse added a bag of pitocin to my IV and reminded me that, although ideally they'd wait to give the epidural until I was dilated 4 centimeters, they would give it to me as soon as I asked for it. They even had the anesthesiologist ready and waiting [just like my doctor promised - what a champ]. They gave me some small painkillers, which helped for a while, but I knew it was just going to get worse. Soon the contractions were so painful that I thought my insides were being ripped out of me. I started panicking and begged the nurse to bring the anesthesiologist in as soon as possible. I don't remember much of what happened next because I was in so much pain and the painkillers made me a little dizzy [similar to how you feel when you wake up too early after a late night], but I remember my mom showed up, the doctor checked my cervix [I was dilated to a 3], and the anesthesiologist came in with her cart of goodies. It was so wonderful when the pain went away! I was so relieved I nearly passed out. The early painkillers were still wearing off, but I remember a little later the doctor checked me again and broke my water, speeding up my labor even more. I think I was at either a 4 or 5 at that point. He told us to just wait it out and he'd be back to check on me in a while.
At around 10:30 AM Clinton realized he was starving to death. I was happily drugged and my mom was with me, so Clinton took a quick field trip to get some lunch. He didn't want to eat at the cafeteria [who could blame him?] so he tried going to a few different fast food spots in Layton. We forgot that it was still too early for anything good to be open, so poor Clinton had to come back and be content with hospital food. [He was so sad that Chick-Fil-A wasn't open.] When Clinton got back to my room, he ate while my mom went down to get some lunch. 10 minutes later the doctor came in to check me again. I think he said, "This baby's about to crown," or something like that. We got so excited and asked the doctor if that meant the baby would be born in a few hours. He laughed and told me that it meant it was time to start pushing. I was stunned for a minute - it was actually happening! The nurses were called and started positioning my body so I could push [the entire bottom half of my body was basically Jell-o and flopping around] and Clinton rushed to call my mom and tell her to hurry back! It's time!
My mom got back to the room just in time. It was just after noon and the nurses explained to me what I would need to do - when I had my next contraction they would let me know, and then I needed to push as hard as I could while they counted to 10. Finally the doctor gave the signal and the nurse told me to push. [It's so hard to push when you can't feel half of your body!] I pushed as hard as I could 3 times, then the doctor told me to relax and breathe so I could have energy for the next one. Clinton smiled down at me and held my hand. It was happening! That moment we'd only ever dreamed about was here! His smile was shaky and his eyes looked watery and he was laughing a little. Seeing him like that was so wonderful and I started crying. I looked over at my mom. She looked so excited and I could tell she was starting to tear up as well. Contractions kept coming and I pushed as hard as I could through all of them. Suddenly the doctor said that the baby's head was coming out! My mom pulled Clinton over so he could see it. I pushed harder. The looks on Clinton and my mom's faces made me even more emotional and excited. The doctor told me to push! Push hard! Keep going! Suddenly I heard the most beautiful sound - my little baby started wailing. Nurses started wiping him off while the doctor had Clinton cut the cord. We had asked that we do skin-to-skin contact as soon after birth as possible, so once the cord was cut and they were sure everything was okay, the nurse placed my baby right on my chest. He was still crying his little baby cry until I started talking to him. His cries calmed down to a whimper and he opened his eyes to look at me. He looked so perfect and wonderful and I could hardly believe that this little person was mine.
The nurses wiped the baby down as much as possible while he was on my chest, but soon needed to take him to finish cleaning him up and take his measurements. Clinton watched while my mom snapped pictures and talked about how "that was so cool!" The doctor told me I had only a tiny tear on the inside and it would only take one little stitch [luckily I'd been taking red raspberry leaf - I'm positive that was what helped me not tear badly]. After the baby and I were both taken care of [and after they put a diaper on the baby] they put him back on my chest so I could nurse him. I held him for a while, then the nurse wrapped him up so Clinton could hold his son for the first time. I started crying again as I watched Clinton hold our baby. Everything was so perfect and I was so happy. [I started bawling again as I was writing this 4 days later - I love that moment so much.]
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| Holding little Everett after he was cleaned up. |
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| My little angel! (And my mom's back.) |
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| He's changed so much since 4 days ago. I am still shocked. |
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| Proud daddy. |
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| We thought our hats were a little cuter than the generic hospital hats. |
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