Cooper's Birth Story: Part 3

Before I could barely blink there were a few different people coming in and getting things set up and my nurse was back giving me instructions on what we would be doing while pushing. They ended up starting me on a very small amount of ptocin because my contractions had slowed somewhat and they were trying to get them closer together for when I was pushing.

I started actually pushing around 12:30 or 12:45 and made it through one contraction of pushing. The baby's heart rate dropped after this and I had to wait through another contraction before trying again. During this time my nurse switched out with my new nurse, Erin. She caught her up to what was going on, stayed through one more contraction of pushing and then left.

My next 2 1/2 hours were spent pushing on my right and left side. We had to wait for every other contraction to push because his hear trate dropped every time and we had to give him and me time to recover. I tried pushing on my back only once because his heart rate dropped way low (I never knew exactly how low because my people knew it would just stress me out more and I knew better than to ask). He did the best on my right side, which is where I did the majority of pushing. He just never made any progress. They could see him moving as I would push but as soon as I quit, he just went right back to where he was.

Zach and Mom were amazing and did their job well of keeping me calm. Zach was calm enough to go out and get some pizza from the waiting room and bring it back to eat while helping me through contractions. It didn't seem so crazy at the time but afterwards this totally cracked me up! I had major reflux during the time I was pushing and at one point threw up because of it. This was not a fun thing but we all survived. The funny thing was when mom and Zach both high tailed it to the other side of the room when they saw what was going on! Erin was the only one who stayed with me in that part.

I was obviously making zero progress, despite my best effort. They called the doctor and he was already on his way back over to check on me. The last couple of contractions before he got there, the baby's heart rate continued to drop a little more and then recover in between. When the doctor got there he said it was time to go ahead and get him out. We would attempt with forceps but only if he could gently turn him, if not he said we'd be headed for the OR.

The next couple of minutes were a blur of nurses getting all the stuff ready for delivery, for the baby and for the doctor. I swear there were like 10 people in there and they all stayed! They all had a different job but they all were literally cheering me on.

A few minutes later... I had my baby boy. It was simply the most incredible experience. I will never have the words to describe the feeling I had when he was born. Instant relief and joy. His first cries were music to my ears.

Cooper's Birth Story: Part 2

Zach updated the fam on the status and gave them instructions to wait a little while before they came. I was miserable... could hardly think straight and did not want people around just yet.

On a side note, I now know the difference between the "fake" contractions and the "real" ones!

The nurse (Melinda) was busy doing stuff in and out of the room. I have no idea what she was doing but I do remember her telling me that there was 3 0r 4 girls in front of me for the epidural line. Boo. I kept telling her that I know I'm a weeny when it comes to pain and I was totally ok with that. I apologized to her but other than that I really couldn't talk.

It seemed like forever but it really wasn't more than 30 minutes or so before the epidural man came in. He was amazing! And not just because he had the meds! He was so patient and kind and talked me and Zach through everything. My nurse was standing in front of me to help me stay still and Zach was holding my hand. The worst part was trying to breathe through contractions and stay still at the same time. I remember jumping after the initial stick but the rest was fine. I laid back down and within 30 minutes was in epidural land. It's a great place to be! The epidural man did a great job because I was still able to have some control of my left leg (none on the right) and was able to help turn myself some. I was also able to tell when I was having contractions, they just didn't hurt anymore!

My nurse had me turn on my left side around 9:30 and checked me again... I was already up to 5cm and she thought I'd be having the baby before her shift ended at 3:00. Mom, Dad, Melanie and Charley all got there sometime after that. I'm not too sure when. I know someone brought Zach some breakfast and I was completely fine with that. In the class we went to the nurse warned us to let our husbands eat even if we couldn't if we didn't want them passing out during delivery.






The morning went by fairly quickly. I was on continuous blood pressure monitoring and of course they were monitoring my contractions which gave my family something to look at. They would say "Oh, you're having a contraction" and I would say "Oh, really" (I could tell before they would tell me that!).


I wanted to put in my contacts because I really didn't want to be wearing my glasses during delivery. I can see so much better in my contacts and I didn't want to be worrying about the glasses staying on my face. Putting in contacts while turned on your side, laying down, and unable to significantly move the bottom part of my body was not an easy thing to do!

The nurse came in and out letting me know that she was monitoring everything out in the hall and just to make sure I was doing ok. She let me know that she was going to be leaving around 1:00 because her son had a golf tournament that she was going to. My new nurse would be Erin. I was not to sure what to think about switching nurses in the middle of all this because I really liked the one I had, but I really didn't have a choice.

The doctor came in around 12:15 and checked me. He said that I was 10cm and ready to start pushing. He said the nurses would help me get all that started and he'd be back. By this point everyone had left my room for the waiting room except for Zach and Mom... my delivery team

Cooper's Birth Story: Part 1

We were told to arrive at the hospital by 9:00 Wednesday night and that they would be expecting us. We had prayer with our families before leaving for the last time just the two of us.


The guy who checked us in was a little surprised that this was our first time checking in. He told us of one girl who had come up there so many times before the actual "time" that they had become friends on facebook. We got to the floor and the nurses station was a zoo. I got a little more nervous! They sent us to our room and said my nurse would be in shortly.

Thankfully, we had taken a class that had given us a tour of the hospital and let us see an actual room. They went over a lot of what to expect and I didn't realize how much that helped me until we were actually in our "for real" room. I really like to scope things out and it helped so much to have actually seen the place before.

We got settled in somewhat and I got in my lovely gown. The nurse came in and started my IV and got me hooked up to the monitors. The IV was actually quite painful. It gave me a little more sympathy for my patients! The nurse said some people say the IV is the worst part of the whole thing. (This was not the case for me.) She gave me my first dose of the medicine to help speed things along and left us alone for a little while. Mom and dad came up to see where the room was and to say hi. After they left, Zach looked up who got kicked off American Idol for me and we tried to rest.

I was nervous, excited, and anxious. I had wires coming from everywhere, my contractions were definitely getting stronger, not to mention I was 10 months pregnant. Rest was not an easy thing to do. They offered to give me something but I was afraid of how I'd react so I said I'd just wait. After the 2nd dose of medicine and the contractions getting stronger, I agreed to let her give me something to help me rest. That stuff worked immediately! It made me a little dizzy, but I was able to rest some. At some point in the early morning hours I vaguely remember the nurse coming in and telling me that she was giving me something to slow down my contractions. I remember thinking at least we're getting somewhere! They were supposed to give me three doses of the medicine but they ended up not needing to.

I got to the point where there was absolutely no way I could rest. The contractions were getting stronger and stronger. I would try and count/breathe through them but it really didn't make me feel better. I thought if this was not the real thing then there was no way I was going to make it. My day nurse came in around 7 and asked if I wanted to take a shower before the doctor came in and I told her I didn't think there was anyway that was going to happen. I was so miserable.

The doctor came in around 7:15 or so and checked me. I was two cm and he was able to go ahead and break my water. He placed the internal monitors and I was able to get rid of the external ones. My contractions were close enough together and strong enough that they did not need to start ptocin which I was so very thankful for! He said that everything looked good and he saw no reason we couldn't have a successful vaginal delivery. He also said that I could have the epidural anytime I was ready. I was more than ready.