Our Big Day

I apologize for the delay in making this post, but we've kind of had our hands full... we did just have a baby here! haha So much has happened in the last week and a half I don't even know where to start! I'll start at the beginning... Having my first contractions....

It's Tuesday night, May 25th, and James and I are growing impatient... We're dying to meet Carson. We go to dinner at Chipolte (a little Mexican grill similar to Qudoba, Moe's, etc.) I am not a big spicy foods person but I did go out on a limb and try the medium salsa.... it was yummy and it had a little bit of a kick. I am saying this "little kick" is what started my labor!!! Later that night at about 8:30pm the contractions started. It took us both a while to be convinced that "contractions" were what I was actually experiencing. Even later into the night, about 1 o'clock or so we made the call to my doctor, "Um, I think I'm in labor...?" (Let me just say that was a weird call to make), took showers, and got all packed up for the hospital. My contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart...Was this really it? We got to the hospital and the nurses said I was only 1.5cm dilated so they sent us out for a late night stroll around the hospital. They told us not to come back for an hour....That was one LONG hour. We returned back to our room hoping to hear that I was further dilated, was I you ask....Nope. So with that the nurse sent us back home with instructions to come back when the contractions got either closer together, or more painful. Great. By the time we actually got home it was about 6:00am (on Wednesday) and we were completely exhausted from a night of no sleep.

We come home and go straight to bed, and let me tell you it's nearly impossible to sleep when you have a contraction every 5 min. James heads off to work around lunch time and leaves me home to "contract" all day. I'm pretty sure I laid in bed ALL day waking up every 5-7 minutes to write down when each contraction occurred. After a day FULL of contractions I was convinced that they were getting stronger, and more painful. I called my doctor around 7:00pm Wednesday night to see what we should do. She told us to take a big walk around the neighborhood and if the contractions continued to pack up and come to the hospital again. Our walk was somewhat painful....every 5-7 minutes I was doubled over in pain. The contractions weren't stopping. We got to the hospital around 10 o'clock hoping, and praying this was REALLY "it". Once we got all checked in, again, the nurse came in and said I was 2 cm dilated...Woo hoo, we're making progress! The nurses wanted to make sure I was going to continue to progress so I had to lay there for about an hour, when she came back we were SO relieved to hear that I was 3 cm dilated, and that we weren't going to be sent home. Ohmygosh, we really ARE going to have a baby.

At 3 cm they offered me a dose of a pain medicine they referred to as a "cocktail" Yum, I gladly accepted. It was wonderful, and I was feeling good. After another hour or so they came back to check me again and I was 4 cm dilated, and we were told the epidural was on its way! Yay! The epidural didn't hurt, and it was the strangest feeling EVER when it started to kick it. My legs were literally numb, and felt non existent...awesome. They told us to get some rest because we were going to be having a baby soon! We got to sleep for a couple hours which was nice! When I was 5 cm dilated they were concerned that the epidural was making the contractions weaker so they gave me a very small dose of Petocin to insure they kept coming strong. A couple hours later the nurse came in, did her little check, and told us we were 10 cm dilated, and 100% effaced....Oh my gosh! We were in shock....The time was finally here!!

After a couple hours of "laboring down" (allowing Carson to move himself down even further, which means less work for Mommy) I was glad to hear that our little man did a great job and did some of the work for me! He loves his mommy already :) About an hour and a half of pushing later they were laying a blue baby on my belly. Blue? Yes, blue. I think the first thing I said after seeing him was, "Ohmygosh, is he supposed to be blue?" (I have a hilarious picture of myself making the most scared face ever as they laid him on my belly...I will never forget that moment!) The nurses reassured me that this was completely normal and that it would change quickly. We spent the next 20 minutes or so with him on my chest getting a little "skin to skin" time with Mom. AMAZING! He was now a pink baby, whew. James and I were beaming. He was perfect, and he was OURS. What a surreal feeling :)
After 9 months of waiting we finally were holding our sweet baby boy! He was born on May 27,2010 at 9:43am. He weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz and was 21.5 inches long. We are so in love.