The Birth Story of ALS

  It has taken me a little too long to write this up but hey, I have a newborn! I'm probably going to use that excuse for a little too long....Our beautiful, most perfect son was born on February 10, 2014. As I am writing this he is 2 days shy of being 3 weeks old (see I told you it's taken me a long time). So since I have a minute (as A is sleeping away in his swing) here is his birth story:

 
   On February 9th I woke up around 3am with contractions. At the time I didn't exactly know what they were because the contractions I had felt earlier in the week were much different. The earlier ones were a crampy feeling in waves while these were more painful waves. I woke D up to tell him that I might be going into labor soon and I called our Birthing Center to make sure the other happenings (that I will not go into detail about but if you've been through this process, you know...lol) were normal. I was given the all clear and told to go back to bed. That Sunday D and I spent the day lounging around, my early morning contractions had stopped. We figured I was yet again having a false labor. We had already dealt with that a few times the previous week. However, around 4pm I started having contractions again. This time they were actually steady and occurring about 15 minutes apart. They quickly went to 10 then 6-7 and finally to 3-4 minutes apart within 5 hours. When they finally reached 3-4 minutes apart I called our Birthing Center again to let them know. I was told to hang out at home for another 1-2 hours unless my water broke, this was around 10pm. At 11pm, my contractions were still steady and still coming every 3-4 minutes. I told my husband that I was going to use the bathroom and then get ready to go to the Birthing Center. While using the bathroom I suddenly felt a pop! It was like a balloon has burst inside and about 2 seconds later a gush of fluid came. I had always heard that your water breaking would feel like a balloon popping but I never really understood how. But it truly does! And thankfully I was already on the toilet when it happened! Our biggest fear was that it would happen while lying in bed on our barely 2 year old mattress! In fact, D wanted to lay down some plastic down just in case but I didn't let him. Haha


   Finally, we were definitely ready to head to the Birthing Center. D quickly grabbed and loaded our things. We headed in and I was admitted around 11:30pm and was already at 5cm dilated. My plan for this birth was to not get an epidural or to hold out as long as I could. To achieve this goal, D and I had used and wanted to use a birthing ball and imagery. I have to say, while laboring at home this is what I did and it worked! I thought about the vacations we had been on and the beach, these images got me through my contractions easily. When the nurse checked me an hour later I had already dilated to an 8! Still not wanting the epidural I asked if I could labor out of the bed on the birthing ball or anywhere but the bed. Unfortunately because I had progressed so quickly and the midwife was not there yet, I had to stay in the bed. This was the turning point for my contractions because until then I was able to easily get through them. However, not being able to move around made them much worse and I caved. I begged D and the nurse to get the anesthesiologist there, right then! He still had to come from his home and prepare everything, at the time it felt like it was going to be a million years. Eventually he arrived and got everything prepared. By the time he gave me the epidural I was 9cm. I have heard that by that point it's usually too late for an epidural but thankfully they gave it to me anyway because I was in labor for another 4 hours. Even though I originally didn't want the epidural I now look back and I am glad I received it. I do think it slowed down my labor but I was able to take a nap for 3 hours before pushing while my body pushed the baby closer. I honestly don't think I would have made it through pushing if I had not taken a nap.



   At around 4am the nurse and midwife came in to check me. I was very close to 10cm dilated but still had a lip on my cervix. I was told that at 5am I would start pushing. The fear that came over me was intense. I was so scared to push and give birth. I even told D that "I didn't think I wanted to do this", like I had that option haha That hour quickly went by and right at 5am the nurse was there to help me start pushing. I have to say, I have never ever in my entire life worked so hard as I did that morning. Pushing is truly the hardest thing I have ever done. The worst part of it all was the heartburn I had. I'm not joking when I say that my heartburn during my labor and delivery was worse than my contractions. I pushed for an hour and 25 minutes. Toward the end I was getting so tired that I wanted to give up but the midwife told me to give her 3 more pushes. I did and on the last push ALS was born! He arrived onto this Earth at 6:25am. He was perfect! He was then quickly initiated into the Army lifestyle as the morning reveille played right outside our window. ALS was born with a full head of luscious hair (thank goodness because I'm telling you, the heartburn was terrible!) weighing 8lbs 1oz and 21 inches long!
 Here are some photos:

 The last 3 weeks have truly flown by. I cannot believe next week he will already be a month old! The late nights, constant feedings, and diaper changes really do make time go by quickly. haha He is such a blessing and we are enjoying being his parents so much. When I reflect on my labor and delivery experience, I honestly wouldn't have had it any other way. It was an answered prayer that everything went smoothly and with no complications. I even told D that I would give birth to 100 more babies if every experience could be as good as mine was. We quickly decided maybe not 100 but 1 or 2 more, after a few years have gone by and we have regained the energy and hours of sleep we have lost from this one ;)