Paul was so great, he held me through my contractions, let me lean on him and squeeze him, held my hand while I was trying to stay still through contactions while they were putting the epidural in, just was such a trooper! My nurse Kim was awesome too! She really helped me by talking to me and telling me that I was doing a good job, and that I could do this. After I was relaxed and pain-free, Paul was able to go eat, and he also got me flavored ice chips! I had green apple, grape, and cherry! That was so fun, better than no flavor! While we were eating ice chips, Kim, Paul and I watched Brian Regan, our favorite comedian, and we got her laughing and quoting him too, it was so hilarious! We actually gave her a copy of the DVD we were watching so she could watch it at home. I was able to dialate the last 4 cm in 2 and a half hours, thanks to the epidural, and at 6:40, they wanted me to try some "practice pushes". I asked for a mirror, I wanted to see the action! They got me a mirror, and I started pushing. Kim left at 7, her shift was over, and I was really sad that she wasn't going to be there for the birth, but the new nurses came in (2 of the 4 that were in there were pregnant).
The only problem was, the epidural worked so well that I couldn't tell when I was having a contraction! They had to look at the moniter to tell me when to push. I pushed and pushed, and the mirror was so helpful. I could tell what was working and what wasn't by the mear fact that I could see his head! Wow, it was so cool to see his head come out a little, then back in, but not as far, then out a little more, and back in just a little. Finally, I heard the doctor say, "ok Hailey, give me one more big push, I need everything you can give me!" so I did, and I actually felt his body leave mine! They put him on my chest, and he stayed there for a good 10-15 minutes! I had asked them to do all the shots and eye drops and everything in my arms, because I knew that they could, and I had worked so hard to bring this life into the world, and I wanted to hold my prize! I just held my new baby, and looked at him and cried and said happy birthday, and just basked in the moment of this brand-new life with my husband. They finally had to take him, because he was blowing bubbles, and that is a sign that he had inhaled some amniotic fluid. The doctor who had delivered Heath had told me to give it all I had, because his heart rate had gone down due to the cord being around his neck, and getting squished by his head coming out, so he wasn't getting oxygen, and so she told me to push as hard as I could, and she pulled on him too, to get him out. Paul was a little worried at seeing the doctor pull on his head so hard. When he finally came out, he took a big breath, and swallowed some fluid, so after I got to snuggle him for a little bit, they took him and in the same room, put a tiny tube down his throat to suck out the fluid. He recovered just fine, and then they weighed and measured him. They tell me " he was born at 7:46 PM, he is 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long"....HOLY COW! No wonder I was so uncomfortable! And all this time, I am still spread-eagle, and at this point I look down, and the doctor is sewing me up, I had tore pretty good trying to get my big baby out! After I had recovered enough to walk, we got to go to our room, and enjoy our precious son! Now, because we did not have maternity coverage on our insurance, we were only able to stay 24 hours after he was born. But those 24 hours were packed with visitors! We didn't sleep at all, because we wanted him in the room with us, and we just relaxed with him in our arms. But the next day we had visitors in and out all day, it was fun to show him off! He was a little bruised up from his trip down the birth canal, but we were so in love with him!
