a baby story

cohen taylor christian has arrived!

november 16 || 9:07pm

7lbs 11oz || 22in

on tuesday, november 15th, i had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 3pm. at this point cohen was 4 days overdue and we were so ready to meet him! at my 40wk appointment dr k had mentioned an induction at 41wks. i wasn't thrilled with the idea but by tuesday i was ready to ask for one. tyler and i went to lunch at chilli's for what would be our last outing before we became parents! i made sure to get nice & full because i knew if they sent me over to the hospital to be induced i wouldn't be allowed to eat until after cohen was born.

my doctor was out delivering a baby so we met with the midwife. since cohen was overdue we had another growth scan to estimate how big he was and check his positioning. the u/s tech estimated him to be 7lbs 10oz and said he was definitely head down & ready to make his entrance! the midwife gave us the choice of going to the hospital straight from the appointment or to go in first thing in the morning. we chose option 1. we went home, grabbed a few things, and headed to the hospital!

4pm: we were admitted to st mary's.

6pm: started pitocin.

       -the plan was to give me a low dose all night long and crank it up in the morning.

10pm: my water broke on its own.

       -i had just decided to lay down and try to get some sleep. as soon as i got comfortable i felt a gush of fluid. i told tyler to go get the nurse because either i was peeing myself or my water broke. when the nurse came in i was laughing uncontrollably. she told me she had barely given me any pitocin so i probably wouldn't have lasted another day or so without going in to labor on my own.

1am: i received a dose of stadol for pain & ambien to help me sleep. dilated 2cm.

       -until this point, my contractions were tolerable. i'd been having them for 2 weeks and had learned to breathe through them.

3am: second dose of stadol. dilated 4cm.

       -this dose wasn't nearly as effective as the first.

5am: ordered an epidural. dilated 4cm. 90-95% effaced.

       -i had fallen asleep and was woken up by extreme pressure in my belly and feeling nauseous.

6am: epidural in. increasing pitocin every 30 minutes. dilated 5cm.

9am: dilated 6-7cm.

-at this point i was sleeping on and off throughout the day. the nurses thought cohen would be here by lunch so i had a steady stream of visitors anxiously awaiting his arrival. i was progressing about 1cm an hour.

2:30pm: dilated 9.5cm.

4pm: dilated 10cm.

6pm: started pushing.

        -i pushed for 3 hours. unbeknown to us, cohen had his hand up by his face and it was preventing him from getting past my pubic bone. i was exhausted after 1.5 hours of pushing. i was starving and just wanted to meet my baby boy. i zoned out and don't even remember the last hour and a half. the next thing i know, dr k is telling me one more push and he will be here. i was exhausted and honestly wasn't sure i could do it but tyler and dr k reassured me that i could. the two of them were the best support team i could have ever asked for.

i pushed one last time and at 9:07pm, after 27 hours of labor, cohen taylor entered the world.

seeing him for the first time was a myriad of emotions i can't even begin to describe. my heart ached to hold him, smother him with kisses and tell him how much i loved him. we waited nine very long months for him and now time was already going by way too fast! i wanted to just press 'pause' and savor that moment forever. i couldn't fathom the intensity of my love for him. he was this absolutely perfect little person that tyler and i created. to look at him and know that we created this life was indescribable.

my mom arrived thursday evening. cohen & i were discharged from the hospital on saturday. those first two weeks were exhausting but i barely remember it now. he is very laid back and just goes with the flow. i couldn't have asked or a more perfect son to take us from a couple to a family.

*disclaimer*: any soon-to-be moms reading this- do not believe all the horror stories of labor & delivery. it is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be! i would have done it again in a second the next day.