William's Birth Story

What are you looking at?

This story begins at 3:30 in the morning on December 13th, 2012. Daniel and I were keeping our usual, night owl sleep schedule and playing, of all things, Mario Party on our "new" Nintendo 64, I know, we are children. It was a particularly rousing game, that I completely would have won had Daniel not received all the bonus stars (you call this trivial, I call it an unfortunate game-changer). I would like to think that I laughed myself into labor, because within the next hour or so, I began to have what I would consider actual contractions. Kind of uncomfortable, but nothing that I couldn't handle.

Night Number One: I'm pretty restless, between the dull achiness that has crept into my back and hips and trying to time the waves of pain. I only get about five hours of sleep. I wake up at ten in the morning and text my mom to ask her opinion. I figure she would know what to do, considering she's done this twice and my experiences are pretty much limited to watching A Baby Story and reading books on childbirth (neither of which offer a clear answer on what labor is, may I add). She tells me to take a shower, eat something, and attempt to time them. I do all of this. The shower was incredibly painful, since the contractions wouldn't ease up, I didn't have much of an appetite, and I still couldn't get a clear pattern with timing. At three in the afternoon, I went to my ultrasound appointment.

At my appointment, I learn that I have gone from 1 centimeter to 3.5 in less than a week. For those of you who haven't had babies, this is pretty good news. Even the OB was surprised, since he was the one who checked me just six days prior. I felt pretty accomplished. He tells me that he doesn't expect me to make it to my due date and that due to amniotic fluid levels that are a little lower than they like, I might be induced by the end of the week. They also tell me that William has a big head (oh, goody...) and will probably weigh 5 pounds, 14 ounces. We leave the appointment and decide to go walking around the track. All bundled up, I managed to walk one whole mile before it became too unbearable.

Night Number Two: Things really start to get rolling now. I can barely make it through a contraction without making some sort of sound. At first, I was happy with just clenching my fists. Then came squeezing Daniel's hand, followed by breathing techniques. After several hours of this, I can barely walk or talk with each wave. This is the real thing. After about an hour and a half of timing them, we leave for the hospital. It's 3:30 in the morning on December 14th, 2012. At the hospital, I am admitted at 4 centimeters. I'm told that I have technically been in labor for the past 24 hours, which makes me pretty proud of myself.

Things get a little serious for a while, when William decides that with each contraction, he's going to act up. His heart rate goes down with each one, making the nurses keep a close eye on both of us and I am given oxygen to help him out, as well as being told to lay on my right side (it's the only side I can lay on that he will stay under the monitor, ornery little thing). Daniel and I are prepared for the chance of an emergency C-section, but the doctor hoped it wouldn't come to that. At around 5:30 am, my family arrives and at 6:30 and 6 centimeters, I thankfully receive an epidural. At this point, nothing was helping the contractions except to make little whimpering sounds and suck at the oxygen mask. I had given up all show of being tough, despite what Daniel tells me. After the epidural, my water is broken and I am given extra saline to supplement the amniotic fluid, hoping to give the baby some extra cushion.

I continued to progress throughout the entire day, several new visitors, and two shifts of nurses and anesthesiologists. My final nurse, Brenda, was the one who helped deliver William and she was AWESOME. Like, I would most certainly give her a medal. It was also cool that I went to high school with both of her sons, which gave me, her, and my mom something to talk about while I was high off labor and the epidural. Which did I mention was fantastic? Around 11, I am told my baby should be born within the hour. Except I got to nine centimeters and refused to budge (I have a stubborn little guy in there).

Finally, at around 2 in the afternoon, I was able to start the hard work. And believe me, it was the hardest thing in the entire world, no matter how good they were telling me I was doing. All I could focus on was getting my little one into the world. But, as the day had foretold, that would be easier said than done. The doctor had to perform a vacuum extraction, which pretty much was an air-pressurized suction cup attached to baby's head to help him find his way out. After an hour of pushing, and with the help of a doctor, five nurses, my mom, and Daniel, at 2:53 baby William Emerson was born, weighing a little bitty 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and measuring 17 inches long. He was, and still is, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

The star of the show.

Daddy and baby, meeting for the second time.