Taren's Birth Story......:)

Ok here it is folks, how my wonderful baby boy came into this world.......so wednesday we had our weekly check-in appointment with our Dr. Lunt, he told me that I had progressed a lot from the week before, that my cervix had moved forward and that it was softer, he let me know that at this point and induction was something we could talk about since I was progressing so well, keep in mind my actual due date was not until April 16 the following wednesday. Shad and I had discussed already the pros and cons of inducing or not, some of the great pros were I would have more help and more time once my mom left because then we would hit 2 of Shads 6 days off instead of just one and he wouldn't have to take any paid time off. The other great part was having him long before finals so I could prepare and get ahead so that when they came they were not stressful, plus Shad would be off so he could watch the boys while I took them. The other thing I really liked is not being pregnant another week or two, and my whole family pretty much (except Kristy and Thomas and the girls...we missed you) was going to be there for the weekend and it was so great last time to have them there to help out and support me, I knew there wouldn't be another weekend where they could all come down....the cons were after reading and researching everything about inductions and epidurals I was hesitant to want to do it and just let him come naturally, and try to have a natural birth after all I had been reading about hypnobirthing, I had been having mild contractions and tightness all that week, so I knew he was coming soon, but Taegyn was a week late, so soon was so relative to me. So that wednesday we tenatively scheduled to be induced on Friday April 11, and knew we could always cancel it if we felt like we needed to do something else. Shad and I went home that day and prayed about it and talked about it extensively. I spent a lot of time that day to myself and feeling out what would be best for my body, for Taren and for our family. After much extensive pondering and thinking...Shad and I decided to have Taren on friday, we both felt really good about everything, I also had Dem work on me and that gave me some insight and feedback about where my body was at. So Friday they called us at 5:40am and told us to be there at 6:40 am, I hardly got any sleep, I was anxious. But I knew I needed sleep because I knew I was going to be having a baby the next day, it was a rough night and I still had mild contractions. My dad came over at 6am to be with Taegyn for the day, and my mom met us at the hospital, I asked if them if they started me on pitocin just to get me started and then take me off to see if I could continue labor on my own, I got to hear how they try and make it as gentle and natural as possible to simulate natural birth, they start you on a low dose 4ml and you get as high by the end as 20ml and that once they start you on pitocen they want to leave you on it till baby is here. So since I already was getting induced, I decided I would try then as much as possible to not get an epidural, I already had the IV and so I waited to see if I could breath and talk myself through the contractions. At first they were mild and no big deal I would say that they started me on the pitocen around 7:30 or 8am, and then we just chilled, I was at a tight 3 so I knew it would be some time before I started getting bigger contractions. I rested, my mom and Shad read books, Dem came and hung out and we chatted, by about 11ish am I started getting painful contractions, they checked me I was only at a 4, they were a few min apart, so I started really trying to breath and relax and just think of pressure and not pain, I knew that if I couldn't get myself to relax through the contractions that I would not be able to aleviate the pain I was feeling because tense=pain when the contractions come. Well after awhile I knew that I had not practiced the techniques enough, I had just not given myself enough time and I knew myself enough that I would not be able to be relaxed during "go time" so I made the decision to get the epidural, I let them know that I wanted one that just took the edge off and not completely numb me, I still wanted to be able to "feel" Taren being born so I could stay as engaged as possible, I got an epidural with Taegyn, but I don't remember it hurting like this one did, it sucked, and after I got it I fought with feelings of sadness, dissapointment, and discouragement thinking to myself this is not what I wanted to end up like, with IV's and another needle in my back. I only spent like 10 min there and then changed my thoughts and focused on the positive, it really helped and then my family came around noonish to eat yummy food in front of me, and bring my starving husband a sandwhich, it was nice to laugh and just relax, once I had the epidural and I was in a positive frame of mind I could feel the pressure build up and then release, but not the intense pain. It became nice to visulize my birth at this point and how I wanted it to go. Dr. Lunt came in to check me and I was only at a 4 1/2, he said this is usually the time that takes the longest and that once I was past a 5 things would speed up. Again I decided to relax and Shad took a nap while mom read. I checked my messages and even did a little bit of work, the nurse came in to check me but I was on the phone so she said she would come back, we all kept wondering around 1pm why nobody had checked me again, so we figured it was still going to take a lot of time and that I still was not much past a 5. So my sister and Dem decided to leave and get Dem's kids about the same time they left, Dr. Lunt came in and checked me and all of the sudden I was at a 9 1/2. I had been feeling back to back big contractions, but I was surprised, he looked at me and told me to push just a little and said I was ready to go if I wanted to, I wanted Dem there so my mom called her real quick, they turned around and as soon as she walked in the door it was go time. I pushed 4 times and his head came out and Dr. Lunt eased the rest of him out, Dem cut the cord and they immediately set him on my chest, I tore a little, so while he was stitching me up, they let me hold and bond with baby, they did all his vitals with him by me, so for the first little while we were able to bond instantly, while he finished stitching me up, the nurses and Shad went to do all the clean up stuff and they brought him back and told me to keep him skin to skin for awhile, soon after he began nursing and did it like a champ, no problems, the thing I like about this hospital and Dr. Lunt is that they do things like skin to skin and believe in the instant bond that mother and baby need so they did everything they could to facilitate us being together as much as possible as soon as he was born. We did not want to stay in the hospital overnight so I was in the birthing room for another hour with Taren and then they moved us, a lot of the nurses thought we were weird for wanting to go home, but I knew Taren was fine and I knew I would be more comfortable at home. So about 8pm we headed home with our newest addition to the family. What a blessing he has been! I love having him here and have so much joy. I am so glad I am not pregnant still and that everything went so smoothly. I am healing quickly and feeling great. Taren is truely such a unique and amazing spirit, when I do it all again I will give myself some more time to prepare for a more natural birth, I do believe it is possible, and I also think that Taren came for us at the right time. I love being a mom, he sleeps really well already and is so much fun to have around. Hopefully I can post a picture this time...:) ok picture still isn't working, I will figure it out soon though...you will see pictures of Taren soon...I promise! :) In the meantime enjoy the longest post ever....