Miles Matterhorn: Birth Story

I've known all along that labor #3 was going to be a fast one! I'd been having contractions since I was 20 weeks pregnant and all that work would mean this baby was going to make a quick entrance. Spoiler alert: I was wrong! :) This birth story is going to be a long one and will possibly be too detailed for many people, but I want to remember it all. 

My Dr. was going to do a membrane sweep for me at my 39 week appointment (on Thursday, February 14) but had to rush away to deliver another baby. I was able to see a midwife in the same practice and she confirmed I was still 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. She performed the (painful!) membrane sweep and sent me home with instructions to walk and stay active to get contractions going. I barely made the 3-minute drive home before the contractions had really picked up in intensity. I was excited that things seemed to be progressing. I couldn't ever time them, however, and spent the next couple days having these irregular but semi-painful contractions. 

Costco Shopping 

On Saturday morning (February 16), our family of 4 went to Costco for some grocery shopping and to have lunch in their food court. Walking around that huge store got my contractions really going and I was having to pause as we shopped because I was really feeling them. I'd been mentally preparing for months to have prodromal labor again (more on that later), so I was working hard to not get my hopes up. We finished shopping and ate lunch before coming home. I lost my mucus plug that afternoon and laid down for a nap, cautiously hoping it might be my last chance to do so before having a baby. 

I woke up a couple hours later with pretty painful, but still irregular contractions. We ate dinner and packed our hospital bags as I tried to find some sort of pattern to the contractions. I couldn't ever really time them well but I could tell they were real (and not just Braxton Hicks) and I also knew I needed to get to the hospital in time to get antibiotics before delivery since I had group B strep. Luke's delivery had gone really quickly, so I felt sure this one would go at least that fast. I asked my friend, Meredith, to come stay the night with the boys and we cleaned the house and did all the last "nesting" things I felt compelled to get done. When we told the boys that we were going to the hospital to have a baby, Peter was ecstatic. He jumped up and down and screamed and was over the moon excited! Luke was just excited that Meredith was coming over. :) 

Peter's sign he made for baby: "I hope you come soon"

We arrived at the hospital just before 8:00 p.m. and were put in the triage room for monitoring. The nurse checked me and determined I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Shortly after arriving, my contractions completely stopped. I was hopeful that I could get them going again once I was able to get up and walk around, climb the stairs, etc. Unfortunately, baby's heart-rate was really high and they wanted to keep me on the monitor until his heart-rate was back in the normal range. I was drinking as much water as possible in hopes that it would help, but a couple hours went by and his heart-rate was still elevated (and I was still not having contractions). 

At this point (around 10:30), the plan was for us to go home as soon as they could lower his heart-rate. They gave me a saline IV and also drew some blood to run labs and make sure I didn't have an infection or some other weird reason for his high heart-rate. A couple more hours went by and just as quickly as they stopped, my contractions started back up again. This time, they were far more intense and closer together than before. Unfortunately, I was still confined to bed and the monitors so I wasn't able to move around or do much to manage the pain besides deep breathing and trying to relax.

39 weeks

The saline helped normalize his heart-rate and my contractions were now 2-3 minutes apart, so I was thrilled that we were already at the hospital and I was really in labor! I was barely able to breathe or talk through the contractions, so about 2:00 a.m. the nurse checked me again. I didn't progress at all in the last several hours of contractions. Despite the fact that I was expecting it, I was pretty disappointed when I realized I was heading into prodromal labor again.

I'd experienced prodromal labor with Luke, which means that you're having real contractions consistently, but your body isn't actually making progress. These lasted almost a full week with Luke before I had her break my water, so I'd already determined I wouldn't wait so long this time. My Dr. had been at the hospital earlier in the evening, and I'd hoped she would come by to see me, but she'd just finished a c-section and went home to get some rest, thinking she might be back to deliver my baby later that night. The nurse told me I could call Dr. Powell's office on Monday and see if they'd get me in earlier than my already scheduled appointment on Wednesday. The prospect of having these intense contractions 2-3 minutes apart for a few more days was just about enough to break me. Plus, I was remembering how quickly I transitioned with Luke and was afraid I wouldn't make it back to the hospital if things moved even quicker this time. I was frustrated that my body wasn't cooperating.

Baby's Closet Ready & Waiting 

After the nurse checked me around 2:00, she went to update Dr. Powell on my progress, or lack thereof. I should mention that I'd talked to my Dr. several times already about the fact that my body has never got into labor on its own and I've always needed a little nudge via induction or having my water broken. She agreed that it was likely I'd need that help again when the time came. I'd also shared that I didn't want to let prodromal labor go on as long as I had with Luke and she said she didn't see a need for that either. The nurse returned to my room and told me that she wasn't allowed to admit me to the hospital because I wasn't in active labor, but Dr. Powell was giving me the choice regarding our next move. If I wanted to go home and labor there, she was good with that, and if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital, she'd come by in the morning and break my water so baby could be born that day. It wasn't a hard decision for me!

Around 2:30 a.m., we were admitted to a room. We hadn't slept at all in triage, so we were completely exhausted. I was nervous at this point because I couldn't imagine going into labor already feeling so worn out. Once we were settled in the room, (around 3:30) I asked for an IV dose of Fentanyl so I could (hopefully) get a little sleep before Dr. Powell came to break my water in a few hours. My contractions had settled down a bit by this time and I was able to nap between nurses coming in to check on me.

Baby #3 took us to Minivan Status!

Dr. Powell came in around 9:00 a.m. and at this point, I was 4 cm, 75%, and a -2 station. She said I'd made good progress while I was sleeping and this was the first time I realized how helpful rest was to my labor progress. She broke my water and then went to church services. She left us with instructions to page her if things went crazy fast. My labor with Luke was exponentially faster than Peter's so I was sure the same thing would happen this time. I received my 3rd round of antibiotics around 10:00 a.m. and got up to walk around/bounce on the ball/get this show on the road!

At noon, the nurse came in to check me and, again, I was disappointed to find out I was still 4 cm and had made no progress since having my water broken. Dr. Powell had the nurse start a round of Pitocin. I had a really bad experience with Pitocin in labor with Peter and I was terrified of it in my labor with Luke (which is why it took me so long to agree to her breaking my water). I'd decided to get an epidural this time around, so I asked for it at the same time they started Pitocin. Right after she'd started the Pitocin, the nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was in surgery for the next hour and a half and he would come to place the epidural when he finished. It's safe to say I wasn't thrilled. This is not how I planned it! ;)

I quickly decided I needed to make a new game plan so I went into ultimate relaxation mode. The lights were dimmed. Kory turned on some relaxing spa music. I bounced on the ball and leaned onto the foot of the hospital bed. During contractions, I breathed deeply, moaned a little, and had Kory apply pressure to my lower back. I tried not to watch the clock but found myself looking at it after almost every contraction, longing for it to be 1:30 already. About 1:15, I asked for another IV dose of Fentanyl because the contractions were STRONG and I hoped it could take the edge off while I waited for the epidural.

Final Ultrasound at 34 weeks

When I'd had the first dose, it made me feel a little weird, but I fell asleep so quickly I barely noticed the effects. (Side note: I looked up Fentanyl to make sure I was spelling it correctly and found this description. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiod that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.) This stuff is potent indeed. By the time the anesthesiologist came in, I was high as a kite. I was aware of everything happening but I was SO drugged and could barely focus on anyone or anything. The plus side is that I didn't even feel the epidural being placed and it was totally pain-free.

At 2:00 p.m. the nurse checked me again and I was still 4 cm. In the past 18 hours, I'd progressed 1 cm, so I felt pretty sure I'd have time to nap for a few hours and then deliver later that evening. I think I fell asleep around 2:15 p.m. after the nurses upped my Pitocin and got the peanut ball situated between my legs. At 3:00, two nurses woke me up to turn me over and rotate the ball. I was immediately frustrated that the epidural wasn't working correctly. I could feel the contractions again! One nurse decided to check me again and she told me I was 9.75 cm and what I was feeling was my body pushing baby out! She told me not to bear down or push at all and she quickly headed out to call Dr. Powell and tell her to get to the hospital ASAP.

Our last view of baby in the womb 

Much to all of our surprise, I immediately burst into tears and began shaking uncontrollably! I was so scared to deliver this baby. This was going way too fast (after going way too slow)! Pushing both my other babies out had been pretty traumatic for me--Peter's because it was SO long and difficult and Luke's because it was SO quick and painful. I so badly wanted to think sweet thoughts about meeting my baby but instead was overwhelmed by fear. Kory and my nurse, Diane, were so kind and comforting to me as I worked through these emotions.

Dr. Powell arrived around 3:20 p.m., confirmed I was 10 cm and went to change into her scrubs. As she and the nurses prepared for delivery, I felt a sudden peace wash over me. Dr. Powell is an incredibly calm and patient woman. She's exactly the provider I needed in that moment. My body continued to push baby down and I laid on that hospital bed, trying to soak in the final moments before my life was forever changed.

Excited Big Brothers

I probably would have called you a liar if you told me this would be my experience...but I sincerely enjoyed the pushing phase of this delivery! It was so calm and serene in that room. The spa music was still playing, the lights were dimmed low, and there were 4 people in the room besides me: Kory, Dr. Powell and 2 wonderful nurses. Between contractions, we were talking and joking and just enjoying the moment. Dr. Powell asked if we were going to have more kids and I joked that this was probably not the best time for that question. I commented on how calm the room was at one point and one of the nurses agreed that this was how she wished all deliveries could be. I was holding my breath, focused on pushing until a nurse mentioned that she could see his dark hair and it completely took my breath away! I teared up and was overcome by emotion. I remember thinking "there's actually a real baby in there!"

I've heard people say before that what you feel when delivering a baby is pressure, not pain. That had not been my experience previously, but I finally understand what they mean. It was not painful at all but I could feel the pressure and progress with every push. After 13 minutes of pushing, Miles Matterhorn Mereness was born at 3:55 p.m.!

He weighed 7 lb. 11 oz. and measured 19.75 inches long.

Pretty soon after he was born, while Miles and I were doing skin to skin, a woman across the hall was in the final stages of labor and she started screaming. I flashed back to Luke's delivery and remembered being in her shoes and then immediately thanked God for the incredibly redemptive delivery I was able to have with Miles. I spent a lot of my pregnancy struggling with fear surrounding labor and delivery and I'm immensely thankful that I got to experience such a beautiful entrance into the world. 

Luke Rainier: Birth Story

It's been about three weeks since Luke was born, so I want to get his birth story written down while the details are still fresh in my mind. I had a very long, difficult delivery with Peter (28 hours, 4 hours pushing) and for the past two years, everyone (myself included) has said that the second delivery HAD to be easier. It was...sort of. This labor lasted many days, so the story isn't short. You've been warned. =)

Heading into my 39 week Dr. appointment

My body began making progress as early as 36 weeks. I was having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions and my Dr. confirmed that I was beginning to make progress towards labor. I'd spent the whole pregnancy feeling like this baby was going to be late, but when I was 3.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced at my 39 week appointment, I started to feel like maybe this was going to happen sooner rather than later.

My Dr. did a membrane sweep for me at my 39 week appointment (November 16) to see if we could give my body a little nudge towards labor. I had lower back pain and mild contractions all afternoon, but was trying not to get my hopes up. I started timing contractions that evening at 6:00 and they were not very consistent or strong, but they also never let up. I finally went to bed about 11:00, deciding they weren't real, but I had a very hard time sleeping because of excitement and ongoing contractions. I decided to start timing them again at midnight because it felt like they were happening really frequently.

I was diagnosed as Group B Strep positive this pregnancy which means that I needed to arrive at the hospital in time to receive at least one dose of antibiotics before giving birth (two doses is preferable). My Dr. asked me to come into the hospital when my contractions were consistently 5-7 minutes apart for one hour. When I began timing my contractions at midnight, they were 4 minutes apart for a solid hour. I decided to wake Kory up and tell him we needed to get going, since they were already closer than my Dr. had recommended. If things did move quickly, I was afraid we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time.

Taken just as we were leaving for the hospital.

After packing the final items in our bags, we called our babysitter to come stay with Peter and headed in to the Family Birth Place. We arrived at the hospital about 1:15 a.m. My contractions weren't terribly strong but they were very consistent at 4 minutes apart. By 3:00 a.m., I was dilated to 4.5 cm and was admitted to the hospital. Every nurse that came in our room said, "We're going to have a baby today!" and "Today's a great day to have a baby!" There was some small nagging voice in my head that kept saying something didn't feel right or maybe today wasn't the day, but I didn't pay much attention to it. 

Feeling good while laboring

I  slept a little bit, walked the halls many times, bounced on the birth ball, took several baths, and worked through the morning to get this labor going. I eventually progressed to 5 cm with contractions 2-3 minutes apart. That was as far as I got. By about noon, my Dr. was telling me that we could stay at the hospital and she could break my water to help things move along. We didn't feel comfortable with this option because if breaking my water didn't help me progress, they would have to give me Pitocin, which I SO desperately wanted to avoid. We ultimately decided to leave the hospital and come home. It was so hard to make that decision because it felt like I had failed (and I was a little embarrassed since lots of people knew I was at the hospital in labor), but Kory and I both had peace about it and knew it was better to let my body progress in its own time. We left the hospital about 1:30 p.m. and came back home. 

I spent the next two days having contractions almost all day and night. I kept wondering if labor was progressing when the contractions would get really strong. I finally did some research and learned about prodromal labor. Essentially, my body was contracting and making small progress towards labor, but there was no change in dilation to show for it. This can go on for days or weeks. Many believe this happens when the baby isn't in an optimal position for delivery, so your body works and works to get baby in a good position, and then when it can't, it takes a break before contracting some more. I don't know for sure if this is what happened to me, but it makes a lot of sense that this could have been the issue. I spent the next several days trying to relax, help baby get in a good position, and focus on anything besides labor. 

My parents arrived in Roseburg on Saturday, November 19. We spent the weekend hanging out with them and enjoying a relaxing few days together. Peter was a great distraction for me and I was able to go about regular life for the most part during these days. My contractions continued all day and night. They were pretty manageable in the day, but would intensify greatly when I would go for a walk and when I was laying in bed in the middle of the night. 

On the afternoon of Monday, November 21, I went in for my 40 week appointment (though it was technically the day before my due date). After 5 solid days of contractions, I discovered that I had zero change in my dilation. I was pretty disappointed, but not too surprised as I still had this nagging 
feeling that this wasn't the real thing yet. My gut feeling was that my body would need a little help to get started with active labor. When I asked my Dr. what her opinion was, she said that I would likely continue to contract for the next week or two and then we'd have to induce at that point. We decided 
that waiting for the sake of waiting was silly. My parents were already here. We found out that our insurance changed the next week and if baby didn't arrive before that change, we'd have to pay two deductibles in 2016. No thank you! Let's have this baby!

I went home to shower and re-pack our hospital bags. I called Kory home from work and we went to the hospital about 4:15 p.m. so they could start my antibiotics. We didn't tell anyone that we were going to the hospital besides my parents, who had Peter at our house. We thought it would be a fun surprise to just call/text people and tell them that baby was here, whenever that happened.  

 

39 weeks, 6 days: headed to the hospital for the 2nd time

Dr. Powell broke my water about 6:15 p.m. She gave me 4 hours to make progress on my own before we had to talk about Pitocin. I was SO determined that I would do this naturally--without Pitocin or pain medication. Once again, I spent the next few hours walking and bouncing and swaying and bathing. My contractions were definitely increasing in intensity and I was no longer able to walk or talk through them. About 9:45 p.m. I got my second dose of antibiotics and I was dilated to a 6. I was in a lot of pain by now, so I was really discouraged to learn that I'd only progressed 1 cm in the past 4 hours. (I know that dilation isn't the best way to determine progress in labor, but I still felt like this meant I had a LONG way to go.)

I decided to get in the bathtub again as that had been the most soothing thing for my contractions thus far. The jets in the tub felt amazing but things started moving really fast at this point. I was quickly in so much pain that I couldn't open my eyes or focus on anything but getting through each contraction. I was using my Lamaze breathing and relaxation techniques, but it didn't feel like they were helping much anymore.

I recognized that I was anxious and dependent and had all the signs of transition and I remember wondering at one point if I was possibly transitioning, but I was also trying not to get my hopes up, so I kept reminding myself that I was only at a 6. Eventually, I asked Kory to call the nurse because I couldn't handle the pain anymore. If I still had hours of labor left, I was going to need some drugs to make it through. I asked for a dose of IV pain medicine, hoping it would take the edge off and help me get back to my relaxation and breathing. The nurse told me I had to get out of the tub and meet 
her back in the hospital bed in 5 minutes. I dreaded the thought of standing up and walking, but the promise of drugs was motivation enough to get me up.

As soon as I stood up, while Kory was helping me out of the tub, I felt an incredibly strong wave rush over me and this deep, loud roar came out of my mouth. Kory was in shock and asked, "What was that?!" I quickly responded that I was pushing! Again, I had a very quick moment where I thought, "I just transitioned! I'm pushing!" but then doubt crept back in and I started telling Kory something was wrong and I shouldn't be pushing since I was only dilated to a 6. I headed straight for the bed (sans any clothing at all) so that the nurse could check me and see what was happening. When she came back in the room, she could tell that things were getting serious and had me get in the bed immediately to check me. 

Being forced to stay in bed while contracting/pushing is the ultimate torture. My nurse completely shocked me when she said I was at a 9, headed for a 10 and this baby was coming out. However, my Dr. wasn't at the hospital and they needed to call her so I was instructed not to push. Every woman 
who has felt the urge to push can roll their eyes with me and say, "Oh yeah, right. Sure. Let me stop this freight train that's going full speed ahead. No problem." Let's just say I didn't try not to push at all. The contractions felt like my body was being ripped in two while also crushing every organ in my torso, but pushing actually felt kind of good, so I kept doing it.

This is a good time for me to point out that a few days prior I said to Kory, "I don't know why women scream in labor. It doesn't help anything. I am just not a screamer. I can't even imagine doing that-it's so dramatic." As you might have guessed, this is the part where Mandy eats crow. I screamed like a maniac. I would be laying quietly in the bed and a contraction would hit and this deep, primal growl/yell just came bursting out of me. I remember feeling embarrassed that I was doing that but also recognizing that it kind of made me feel powerful. Regardless, I couldn't stop it. Kory did his best to keep me calm and breathing deep, but I was kind of out of control. One of the strangest parts of this phase of labor for me was that I could NOT open my eyes or talk, even between contractions. I would be laying in bed thinking about what I wanted to tell Kory or wanting to see his face for reassurance but I just couldn't do anything about it. 

While I was laying in bed pushing, I mean "not pushing", I asked again about those drugs. I mean, if I'm going to just be laying there waiting for the Doctor, I figured we should go ahead and get those started! The nurse told me I couldn't have them because it was too late and the medicine would make the baby sleepy and when they come out sleepy they don't do as well. I am not proud to say that I still asked for them again, not particularly caring if it was bad for baby. I just could not think about anything but the pain; not even the well being of my baby. Dr. Powell came into the room in her everyday clothes and told me it was time to meet my baby...but first she had to go change into her scrubs. I remember getting really mad at that point because I could not fathom continuing to labor while waiting for her to change her clothes. 

She was back in my room quickly and everything was made ready for baby to arrive. I was trying to prepare myself for a very long pushing phase and was repeating over and over, "I can't do this! I can't do this! I need drugs!" Dr. Powell told me she could see the baby's head and I just had to push him out. I think I asked her if she was serious and I remember thinking she was lying to me. Sure enough, I pushed through 2 contractions and his head was out. I distinctly remember feeling him moving down with each push. It was the most amazing feeling and was really good motivation to keep going. With his head already out, I remembered that Dr. Powell told me months ago she would need to be reminded that I wanted Kory to be the first one to hold baby. As the final contraction hit, I sat up, opened my eyes and yelled that reminder to her! 

Kory quickly got into position and with one more push, he grabbed baby and delivered him. As with Peter, the moment that is forever engrained in my memory is seeing Kory holding our baby and handing him to me for the first time. I cried out, "my baby!" and laid back to enjoy the first moments with my little guy. I was still in shock that he was here and that labor was already over. 

Luke Rainier Mereness was born at 11:01 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and measured 21.25" long. 

Kory called my parents about 30 minutes later to let them know that Luke was here. They woke Peter up and came to the hospital right away. We hadn't shared his name with anyone but Peter, so he got to introduce Granna and Pop to Baby Yuke. 

(Kory was present, despite what these pictures show. He was taking pictures of us and then we discovered Luke had some blood sugar issues so he was whisked away for a few hours to work on that while we slept.) 

And just like that, we became a family of 4. Welcome, baby Luke. We're so glad you're here!

He's Here!

Well, it's been just over two weeks now since Peter made his appearance into this world and I am finally getting around to writing his birth story. I mainly want to document this so I can remember it later, but I also really love reading other women's birth stories so I wanted to share mine as well.

I can already tell it will be a struggle to keep this somewhat concise. It's difficult to sum up a 28 hour labor in a few paragraphs. As the day went on, I made notes in my phone about what happened and when so I could blog about it now. However, I think it's probably best to ditch the hour by hour summary I originally started (when I thought it might be 8 hours or so) and go for a more general overview now. 

41 Weeks

I wasn't progressing toward labor by my due date but I wanted to go into labor naturally so we kept waiting another week (and I tried every home remedy I could to try to start labor). At my 41 week appointment, we learned that my body was producing more amniotic fluid each day to accommodate my growing baby. (Typically you lose fluid at the end of your pregnancy.) Instead of Peter dropping down and putting pressure on my cervix causing dilation and effacement, he was actually floating up and getting farther away from where he needed to be. We decided to go ahead and induce that night. We left my midwife appointment was about 4:30 p.m. and met my parents at Applebee's for an early dinner. (My parents arrived on Sunday and we induced on Monday night.) We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 for my induction to begin, but there had just been a crazy fast labor (baby came 3 minutes after they arrived at the hospital after driving 125 mph to get there!) and everyone was tied up with them so we just got put in a room and we watched TV for about two hours while we waited for someone to come check us in and get things going. 

A nurse finally came in about 8:00 and things got started from there. They gave me a pill that was going to thin out my cervix and a sleeping pill so I could get some rest before labor really got going the next morning. The plan was to start Pitocin the next morning but I woke up about 2:15 a.m. and felt some pretty strong contractions. I labored on my own for about an hour before I woke Kory up and called a nurse because I could just barely breathe through the contractions. She helped me get in the jacuzzi tub, which sounded really relaxing and ended up being very painful! The jets were SO powerful I could barely force myself to stay in there for about 15 minutes.  

Going into this labor, I really wanted to do it medication-free, but I always gave myself the freedom to change my mind during labor. I held out until almost 5:00 am before I realized this pain was going to be more than I wanted to/would be able endure "naturally". I was still only at 2 cm and not completely effaced and I knew I had a long road ahead of me. My contractions were one minute apart and lasting 30-40 seconds so I just felt like I couldn't catch my breath and recover in between. 

I got pain medication including an epidural and it was absolutely the right decision for me. My labor continued to progress very slowly and they started Pitocin mid-day Tuesday. I slept off and on through the day as the meds made me very sleepy (and also quite sick to my stomach, so I vomited several times). I spent the day texting friends, watching TV, visiting with my parents and Kory, napping, and thanking God for the gift of modern medicine and pain relief.

By about 7:40 that night, my nurse figured I was probably getting close to fully dilated and effaced, so she checked me one last time. I was finally ready and she decided we should start practicing pushing so I could be ready for the real deal when my midwife finished delivering the baby across the hall. I still had the epidural at this time so pushing was really difficult because I couldn't really feel if I was doing it correctly. We kept practicing and basically just never stopped. After about an hour and a half of pushing, my midwife, Cherie, said she needed to go get the OB and bring him in because we weren't really making progress and we needed to talk about our options.

The OB-GYN Cherie works under, Dr. Wonderly, is a good friend of ours from church and even though I wasn't under his care, he stayed around for my whole labor and delivery to make sure everything went well. He came in and explained that 95% of the time, women who've pushed as long as I had and haven't really made progress aren't going to be able to deliver the baby vaginally. Peter's head was kind of stuck and he was having trouble making his way down because of it. I was really determined to avoid a c-section if at all possible so I asked if we could keep trying and told him I knew I could do it if they'd just let me try. He asked if I could push for another hour and I told him I definitely could. What I didn't know at this point was that they had turned my epidural off and pumped up the Pitocin so that my pushing could be more productive. If they told me they were going to do that, I probably would have folded and said I couldn't do it, so I'm grateful they didn't tell me what was going on.

Kory was holding one of my legs and counting through the pushes and coaching me and encouraging me and being all around amazing the whole time. I truly can't get over how helpful he was to me in delivery. After another hour of pushing, Dr. Wonderly came back in and said we had made enough progress to keep going and that he believed I could push this baby out without surgery. I was so thrilled! However, I had no idea that we were just over half-way through this pain. I ended up pushing for just over 4 hours. I asked Cherie to let me know when I could feel his head coming out as I thought that would be good motivation for me to keep going. I am so thankful I did that as it gave me the boost of energy I needed at the very moment where I was saying, "I can't do this. Maybe I should have got the c-section. I can't do this anymore."

One of the coolest parts of the whole experience was that Kory got to be the one to actually deliver him.  Peter's head and shoulders were out and Cherie had me quit pushing and told Kory to reach down and grab Peter under the arms and pull him out. In addition to being the biggest physical relief I have ever felt in my entire life, I will never forget the sight of Kory holding our baby boy and turning to give him to me.

Peter was born at 12:03 a.m. on Wednesday, November 5. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 in. long. His head and chest both measured 14.5 inches. These past two weeks have been really difficult and really amazing! We can't stop thanking God for this newest blessing He's given us.

Next up, I'll share about our extended hospital stay and what I've learned in the past two weeks of being a mom.