Nolan's Birth

Last Monday was possibly one of the hardest days of my life, but it was the beginning of me becoming a mommy. A week later I sit and reflect, and it's crazy how much I have forgotten about the pain associated with giving birth. Before I completely forget, I want to write as much as I can so I can always remember the special day that I became a mother.
Last Sunday night Eric and I went to a Saint's game with the Rutlands. We had so much fun cheering on the Saints to a win against the Lion's. We came home, and I started saving all of my work from school because I had to turn in my laptop the next day to the parish so that it could get a new one. Eric and I hopped into bed around midnight expecting Monday to be a normal work day.
Around 1:30 in the morning I was laying in bed half asleep when I felt a huge gush. I hopped out of bed and ran to the restroom where the water continued to gush. Once it had stopped I went back to the room and told Eric that I thought my water had broken. We both were pretty clueless as what to do because I wasn't having contractions, so he called his brother and I called my mom. We eventually called the hospital who told me to call my midwife. Esther, my midwife, asked me what had happened and when I told her she said that she was pretty sure that my water had broken but to just try to get as much sleep as I could and head to the hospital early in the morning. So I got back into bed with several towels and tried to sleep through the night. Of course sleeping was pretty difficult from my water continuing to leak and the realization that he was really going to be here the next day. I finally got up around 6 to take a shower, finish packing my bag, and getting some things finished around the house.
Eric and I headed to the hospital around 8. When we got there, they put us in Labor and Delivery room 1. I was so happy about this because it had the birthing tub that I wanted so that I could labor in water. The nurse came in to put monitors on my stomach to monitor Nolan's heartbeat and my contractions. They also tested to see if my water had truly broken. The nurse was having a hard time confirming that my water had broken with the test. When Cathy, my midwife, came to the hospital she also checked to see if my water had broken. They couldn't confirm that it had, so they said they would keep me to see if my contractions got stronger and try another test to send to the lab to see if my water had truly broken. This began the no fun waiting game. I began walking down the hall and around the room to see if I could make my contractions get stronger. I did this for a while, but nothing worked. Eric went to get us some lunch. Cathy came back where they did another test to see if my water had broken. They took the swab and then sent it to the lab. If my water had broken then the specimen would make a design like a fern. So we waited even longer. Finally the results came back, and it said that my water hadn't broken. I was so frustrated because I knew it had broken. I know I had never had a baby before, but I knew it was my water breaking and not just me having an accident. So they said they could do nothing more but send me home.
So Eric, my mom, and I went back to my house. I decided to take a nap once we got home because I was exhausted from the night before and the frustrations of the day. I slept till 4. When I woke up I went to the restroom, and I felt a lot of pressure. I came back and soon realized that the pressure was the start of contractions. They began coming on pretty strong, and Eric began to time them. They were ranging from 12-15 minutes apart. They quickly became stronger and closer together. Eric suggested that we eat and take showers because it was looking like we would be heading back to the hospital in a short time. So we did, all the while my contractions were only 2-5 minutes apart. Around 6:30 we called Cathy and told her that we were heading back to the hospital.
Once getting there, they put me back in Labor and Deliver room 1, which I was worried would have been taken. They checked me, and I was just 3cm dialated. Fortunately I didn't know at the time that they wanted to send me back home. This would have been extremely frustrating being sent home twice because I knew Nolan was on his way. Luckily, they decided to keep me for a few hours to see if I would make any progress. So we began the waiting game yet again. During this time my contractions started getting very intense. I didn't want to talk at all nor did I want anyone else to talk to me, especially Eric. I just tried to put all of my attention on focusing on the contractions. They came back into the room around 9:30 to check me, and I had progressed to 6cm.
This was when all of the fun began. I wanted a natural birth and until this point it was hard work, but I was able to control the pain. After they checked me the pain got increasingly worse extremely fast. My dream of a natural birth was quickly going out of the window. The pain was becoming unbearable. I told Eric that I just couldn't do it, and that I wanted an epidural. He said that was fine, and he would let them know. It was about an hour later and since I was in so much pain they came back in to check me. I was fully dialated. They began rushing to get an IV in me and some antibiotics that I had to take. There were a lot of people in the room and everyone was rushing around to get things done. While all of this was happening, I felt like it was taking forever. I felt like I just couldn't do it because the pain was so unbearable. I wanted some relief and didn't think I could last much longer without it. The doctor came in to give me my epidural and began reading me all of what he was going to do and the risks related to it. This took FOREVER because he was trying to do it in between my contractions which were so close together and so strong, and he was talking so slow. I finally signed the release, and they started to prepare for it. Before the doctor walked in to give it to me (who was extremely late), I said I felt like I needed to start pushing. Sure enough they checked me, and it was time to start pushing.
Pushing has to be one of the hardest tasks a person could ever do. I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes. Towards the end of pushing Cathy told Eric to get cleaned up so that he could help to give me Nolan once he was born. For my last push Eric pulled Nolan out and put him on my chest. After all of the hard work and what felt like endless pushing he was finally here. I instantly had my heart stolen by the cutest little boy. At 1:10, my life changed forever, and I am so grateful for it.