The story

(Warning! It's long - for journal purposes)

Thursday (June 11) we went to my last doctor's appointment before I was scheduled to be induced on Monday. They did a non-stress test because I was over 41 weeks. The baby's heart rate wasn't doing something they were looking for, possibly because he was sleeping. Dr. Sanders came in after a while to talk to us and showed us on the chart where there was a slight bump in my contraction line (it went under instead of up like a mountain) and said that where that was and with what the baby's heart rate had done right around that point made them worry that my placenta was starting to calcify from being old. If it calcifies, then not as much oxygen will reach the baby and he didn't want us to have a still birth Monday when they start me. My doctor and his office were going on a trip that weekend and he didn't want to have to worry about me all weekend. He asked us to go home and get our stuff, eat (I could only eat a little if I wanted to), makes calls if we needed to, and then head over to the hospital. I also had Jared give me a blessing before we left. We got to the hospital at 9 pm and he was there waiting for us. After getting changed the nurse came in to get my iv going. I had tested positive for Strep B so they had to give me two doses of antibiotics, 4 hours apart. The nurse tried the first time in my right arm. She had to move around a little trying to get the needle to thread. I started getting light headed and finally she pulled it out. I asked her about numbing it first (they had done that with Crue) so she tried on my other arm and numbed it first. She still couldn't get it in. She called for another nurse and then started trying again. The other nurse came in as the one was trying a third spot. She still couldn't get it so the second nurse put heat packs on my arm to try to get my veins to do better. After a while she came back and tried again. She ended up digging around for a while again but luckily this time I was numb. She finally was able to get it in. I now have 3 bruises from the first three tries. I felt bad for the first nurse, Krista, because she felt so bad and was having the hardest time (she said she's been a nurse for 9 years). The cool thing was the second nurse was Natalie, who was my nurse when Crue was born (I think she was new then) and I was in the same delivery room that I had Crue in. The 3rd nurse, Megan (who was my actual nurse - the other two were just helping) started the Pitocin about the time the first bag of antibiotics was empty. I had been having a few contractions that weren't too bad. It was mostly pressure, not pain. I have had them before and they only last that night and then go away. When I got to the hospital (and they started the Pit) I was dilated to a 5. After the Pitocin kicked in my contractions weren't measuring near as strong on the machine but they sure hurt a lot more. I was going to see if I could deliver without an epidural (basically hold off until I couldn't handle it anymore) because we don't have insurance and the one I had with Crue cost about $1000. My first contraction happened around 11:30 pm. After going to the bathroom around midnight I decided I'd better ask for my epidural because my contractions were getting pretty bad. Megan called for the anethesiologist and I was now doing what I could to make it through the contractions. After a little while I wasn't getting a break between contractions. I could feel the pain in my pelvic area still (a lot of it would go away but not all of it) and knew that another one was about to hit. I asked about the anethesiologist and she told me that he was on his way (she went and checked one of the times). She turned the Pitocin down since I was not getting a break. Shortly after that I felt like I needed to push a little with the contractions. I told Megan and she checked me. I was at a 7. That was when she went to check on the anethesiologist so I could get an epidural before I got to an 8. She turned the Pitocin off at that point. I think she recorded it and walked out. All of a sudden I really felt like pushing and started saying it - loud enough that the nurses could hear. Krista came in (it had been maybe 10 seconds since Megan had left) to check me and I told her Megan just barely checked me and I was a 7. She started to check me while my contraction was about over and I told her I was getting another one. She pulled her hand away and all of a sudden my water breaks. The baby is now crowning and I am unable to stop my body from pushing. She yells for Megan and all three of them are back in the room. They call my doctor (who was at home at the other end of town) and the respitory therapist and are doing everything they can to help me. They had me roll on my left side and for the first time I would feel a break between my contractions. Natalie was by my head talking me through it (like last time), Krista (I think) was holding the baby in until the doctor got there, and Megan was getting other things ready. I heard someone in the hall ask if we needed the anethesiologist and I jokingly said that he was too slow (I think they thought I was mad at him because I couldn't joke very well while in pain). I had gone from a 7 to water breaking, crowning and pushing in 30-45 seconds (not exaggerating). Doctor Sanders called and said he was in the parking lot so they rolled me on my back and he came running in. After about 3 good pushes, the baby came out. It was 12:51 am. I had been in labor for about an hour and a half. They didn't have time to get the bed apart or anything. It was crazy. It was so good though. I would definitely do it again without an epidural if it went that fast or faster. It was a lot of pain but I made it through, and I healed a lot faster. Two hours later I was able to walk over to the recovery room. Later Jared and I were talking about it and Heavenly Father was definitely there helping me. I went really fast which was good considering I didn't have an epidural. Cooper was a lot smaller than Crue (1 lb. 1 oz. smaller) and had a much smaller head, which was good since Crue had gotten stuck on my tailbone. When my water broke, Cooper's head was already past my tailbone so I didn't have to worry about him getting stuck. I think the fluid helped him over my tailbone. With his head being a lot smaller and him just being smaller overall, I didn't tear which was really nice. The doctor told me I just had some scratches. I was especially glad about that since I wasn't numb and was worried about stitches. Also, since we were worried about money, it was sure nice to know that the anethesiologist didn't get there in time so we won't have that expense. It was a really great experience and I'm so grateful for how everything went and for Heavenly Father's help through it all. There were so many times I didn't think I could do it, even though I really had no choice. And most of all I'm grateful for Jared. I felt so bad for how hard I was squeezing his hand but he said it was ok. After Cooper came out Jared was crying and Doctor Sanders asked if dad wanted to cut the cord. He said "If I can see through the tears!". Later he told me he had started crying because of how much pain I was in (I was yelling to get him out of me) and then they were tears of joy when he saw Cooper born. I have the most amazing husband, even though he doesn't believe me. I love seeing him be a dad to our boys. It makes me fall that much more in love with him when I see him playing with Crue or when he's holding Cooper. I love him so much! Plus, he gave us some really, really cute boys. :)