Birth Story

**Warning: Some content below may be a little too "girly" for some to handle**

Sunday, we were finally able to move back home after having our hardwood floors refinished. We were taking turns staying with my parents and the in-laws. We really appreciated them taking us in, but I was so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed that night. The next day was the baby's due date, but I was expecting to be a little late as most first baby's are. Little did I know I would only be sleeping in my bed for 3 hours. I was woken up just after 1am by a sort of "pop" feeling. At first I just thought it was the baby moving, but then came an almost menstral type cramp. Could it be? Yes, my water broke. For the next hour my contractions were about 10 minutes apart closing in on 5 minutes apart in the next couple hours. I was definitely in active labor and working very hard. I told Byron to call the midwife and see if she thought we could head over to the hospital. She pretty much told him that he called way too early and that we would be spending at least 12 hours laboring at home before we would head over (we live an hour away from the hospital). She told him to tell me to just try to sleep through the contactions because I would be having a long day. Yeah right. I remember from our Bradly class talking about the different stages of labor. I was expecting to be eased into labor. They said in early first stage to try to distract myself by folding laundry or cleaning or going for a walk. Um...yeah...I think I just skipped that whole part and went straight into active labor. My contractions steadily got closer together and longer and stronger. At 8am I told my husband to call the midwife again and tell her we had to leave for the hospital. She tossed the idea of coming to the office first, but then agreed it would be okay to head to the hospital and we headed out on our one hour drive during rush hour traffic. Thank God for Columbus day because it ended up being smooth sailing on the way there. Byron continued to time my contractions in the car. Some being as close as a minute apart. The worst pain of my life. Yes, I believe I was going through transition on my way to the hospital (the hardest and shortest part of labor). We finally get there and they monitor me in triage. They find that I'm already 7 cm dialated! Holy cow. After 20 minutes of monitoring they admit me to the alternative birth room. My midwife still hasn't arrived there. I get into the bathroom and get on my hands and kneesg. I'm in such pain that I'm screeming now. Byron thought I comfortable on the bed, so I make my way there. My midwife finally gets there and checks to see that I'm already 9 1/2 cm dialated. What?! Minutes later I am ready push. This baby is coming! The nurse, midwife and Byron were there with me through it all. Byron never leaving my side and encouraging me the whole way through. I never thought I'd be able to do it. I was terrified. But I just had to psych myself and say "I'm the only one that can do this. I just have to let my body do what it was made to do and push this baby out." After the head came out the whole baby followed very quickly. "It's a boy" Byron says. He was directly put on my chest. The most beautiful boy. I couldn't hold back the tears. "Hold your baby, Byron. It's a boy. You wanted a boy." I said. As I looked up, tears (may or may not have been) were falling from his cheek. We did it! I couldn't have done it without my coach, Byron. Gideon Anthony Gehrig entered into the world on October 12, 2009 at 12:35 pm. Weighing in at 7lbs 15oz and 19 inches long. Full head of dark hair. Gorgeous. Within a half an hour I was breastfeeding our baby. He latched right away and has been a good eater ever since. Byron took the baby to get weighed and bathed as I remained in our suit of a hospital room to recover. He also got in trouble for walking in the hallway with our baby without it being in it's "crib." It was the most amazing experience of our lives. All in all I beleive we had a fantastic natural birth experience. I didn't give into the drugs, which I feared that I might. The only thing I might have changed was leaving for the hospital a tad bit eariler :). Byron is such a great father already. He just can't seem to put him down. He's been doing laundry, dishes, keeping things tidy around the house. He changes diapers, bathes, and rocks the little man to sleep. He's really taking care of us over here. It's going to be hard when he goes back to work next week.

Thanks to all our friends and family who prayed for us through it all. We felt them and definitely needed them.