How to possibly put into words the adventure that unfolded the day our son was born is not possible. I get to sit here and just stare at my son, as much as I want, hold him for as long as I want and I actually get to do that for the rest of his life... well maybe not that long :) This little boy is amazing. I feel soo blessed to have him and I cannot imagine my life without him. Here is a little recap of how it all took place....
My due date was May 31st - lucky me... started having very small contractions that morning.... which continued into that night... and the next day and night. We had a doctors appointment schedule for Thursday June 3rd, in case I had not had our baby yet...
(That is one HUGE belly!)
Apparently our doc said I was already 3cm dilated at that point, so at least all those little contractions were doing something. When we got home from the doctor, I could feel the contractions pick up in intensity and frequency, but still not too bad. I felt like they were only going to increase so I tried to deny that they were that bad.
After lots of waiting, Ty and I played a card game.... went for a couple neighborhood walks... and time just seemed to stretch on. Some friends were meeting at Roy's for dinner so we thought we would try to distract ourselves and have a little fun. During dinner, I was getting increasingly uncomfortable - actually having to breathe lightly through the contractions. Denial was very key! Ty's brother was having an art show up the street so there we went. As we were walking, I noticed I was walking on my tip toes when the contraction hit.... but still walking. We briefly said hello to Wyatt and congratulated him on his amazing art (he is VERY talented!) We then headed home to "relax."
When we got home, I was a little frustrated because from 12pm that afternoon till 10pm that night, the contractions were more intense than they had been the last two days but still just styaing at an even pace. I really wanted our baby now... and I am not good at waiting for anything! I called our Doula and she suggested it was a better idea to sleep through them now and then try to jump start things in the morning when I had a good nights rest. She told me to have a glass of wine, take a hot shower and try to sleep it off... so that I did.
Ty brought me a goblet of delicious wine - which I sucked down with ease. You would think after not drinking for 10 months, I would get a nice little buzz, enough to sleep. Nope.... it was like I was drinking grape juice. Seriously - come on! So I crawled into bed and tried to "sleep." At this point the contractions were just too much. Little did I know, they had intensified in the last 20 minutes. I told Ty that we probably weren't going to sleep that night.
From 10:30pm till 2am I was in hard labor. Ty was the most amazing husband I could have ever asked for. We were the best team in the whole world, he was there EVERY step of the way. We were locked in our bedroom just getting through each painful contraction one by one. We didn't know what to expect so we just kept on going. Ty played some calming music, gave me snacks, kept me hydrated and massaged my back. Never ever at any point was I annoyed or angry at him - pain sometimes does this to me :) He was the best husband ever!
Suddenly around 2:30am I got that grab in my throat that told me to PUSH! uh oh.... I knew this wasn't a good sign. Well, great because it had only been 4 hours or so... I thought I had at least another 8 to go. Ty immediately called our Doula and she came right over. Ronda was our Doula's name - she had me lie down on our bed so she could check to see how far dilated I was. Ronda's voice was very encouraging and soft. She told me what a great job I had done and how our baby was going to be here before we knew it. I had no idea but apparently she looked at Ty with panic written all over her face and signed to him to pack everything up and get in the car because we HAD to get to the hospital NOW! We slowly... I mean really Slowly walked to the car. I was literally trying with everythign I could NOT to push... which is completely out of your control! My eyes were closed the entire way from the car ride to the hospital. I felt that if I opened them, my body would react and try to push. ahhhh. I think Ty was flying down the freeway... at least 80mph if not 200!
We arrived at the ER, and I again, slowly got into the wheelchair. The people there could easily see that i was about to have a baby. One guy - about 19 or so actually tried to look under my robe to see if I was actually having the baby - seriously...
When we eventually got to the delivery room, there were lots of lights, noise and foreign faces. If I acknowledged anything besides Tyson, I was going to have to face the brutal pushing contractions. I have never been challeneged in this way ever in my whole life.
The nurses were asking me to do things that I really thought were unnecessary (urine sample, blood pressure, monitors etc). Couldn't they see I was waaay past any of that? I eventually got on the bed and here they came.. .one after the other. I have never felt my body take absolute control before. I really had nothing to do with it... this baby was comin. I knew that God had given me a baby that was big enough to grow over the last 10 months and small enough for my body to push out. I kept reminding myself of this... because boy did it seem impossible. As Ty's mom would say.. "a triangle peg through a round hole."
At 3:54 am, little Copper came into this world. Have you ever wondered what your heart looked like on the outside? This was it... I was in love.. so deep in love that there was no recovering. I fell in love with Ty all over again and we held our little angel and just stared. giving birth was the most amazing, and challenging thing I have EVER done. I have never felt my body do the things that it did and never been so confident that my body was able to do it. Copper was brought into this world naturally. I chose not to use any pain medication and honestly, it can be done. I never thought once that I needed something to numb any pain and lucky for me my hard labor was only 6 hours long! I consider myself the luckiest, blessed person on this planet to have this little man in our lives. I can't imagine our life without him. He is perfect!
All you mama's out there know exactly what this feels like!
Proud Papa!
8 pounds 8 oz, 21 inches long :)
All the Dads posing :)
All the Dads and their little ones. Copper is trying very hard NOT to look at the camera!
Family photo...
This was Copper's first appointment with the pediatrician. Our pediatrician (Dr. Hamdani) wasn't in the office, so we got to see Dr. Black, who was also pretty cool. Copper didn't really like him though :)
And then we found out that the swaddle blanket we had for copper, was a bit too big...
Cuddle time with Dad
Copper's first space band aid from his IV's.
Yes that is a breast pad, but it makes a cute hat!
Puppy Dogs!
This little man is growing faster than I can keep up with!
Minutes old...
Weighing in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long :)
Quiet time with my boy :)
After spending some time in the nursery getting weighed and measured, the doctors found a severe heart murmur that needed extra attention. We found out that Copper had a valve in his heart that restricted the flow of blood to his lungs to bring oxygen to his body. Around 8 hours later, he was taken to the NICU to be treated.
Copper was hooked up to several IV lines. One in his belly button, one in his hand and several monitors to check his blood pressure, oxygen, and respiratory rate. We were so shocked to see him like this, our little angel... he was only hours old and now we couldn't even be with him. I don't know what parent can be prepared for this.
Copper was kept under a warmer so he didn't have to have blankets or clothes to keep his temperature up. We were able to give him LOTS of kisses but I was not allowed to breast feed him for fear of infection because his stomach might not be able to process the nutrition :(
Our first family photo in the Cottage NICU.
When we arrived at UCLA, we were greeted by many doctors who clearly knew what they were doing. They reassured us that they had a plan and that Copper would be just fine. Ty's mom and dad were with us for most of the entire time we were at UCLA, don't know what we would have done without that support. We also had a few visits from friends and family. We were sooo grateful for the support.
Auntie had to visit her nephew!
Back in the NICU to recover. Unfortunately he was given morphine and other sedatives to keep him comfortable... but all he needed was his momma and papa!
Then he was locked in his incubator so that he could "heal"
Because of the pain medication he was given, along with the anesthesia, he slept from 8am-midnight. I was told that when he woke up, I could breast feed him... the only food he would have from the last day and a half.
And after he recovered, and because he is a champion... we were able to go home the next day! We put an adorable outfit on and cozied him up in his car seat and off we went!
We arrived home and literally sat in quiet for a good 20 minutes. No buzzers or alarms going off, no crying babies or nurses around... just peace at home as a family! So we had to celebrate with a beer...
Morning rest time together :)
Copper's first bath... he loved it!
(That is one HUGE belly!)
All you mama's out there know exactly what this feels like!
Proud Papa!
8 pounds 8 oz, 21 inches long :)