labor.

this week i did something that i never want to forget about. it was THE MOST amazing, incredible thing i have ever done in my entire life. in my own opinion, labor is not easy or fun. labor is a marathon that goes uphill until the very last stretch. i remember sunday as such an incredible day. stephen and i went to church and praised jesus with tears flowing. a guest speaker was there and really encouraged us in sacrifice. sacrifice has and will continue to be a thread in our relationship and in our life. we had planned out a really nice day together. came home and ate lunch after church, went to the gym to work out a little, and then went on a shopping adventure at the mall with a $50 that stephen's grandpa had mailed us. we mostly just wanted to do a good amount of walking to get me going into labor. that whole day i had felt a few contraction type things but nothing bad at all. by the time we got home i was feeling them just a bit stronger and more often. we made homemade pizzas/calzones for dinner and continued to monitor the contractions. we knew it was coming. that night i went ahead and called my midwife and told her what i had been feeling that day and night. she said i was in the early stage of labor and the best thing i could try to do was to sleep as much as i could through the night and keep timing the contractions. we KNEW we would be going to the hospital the next day! stephen went ahead and packed the car that night. by about 4:30 am i was clocking them coming every 5 minutes. by 5:30 am we got up and showered and kept counting. we called my midwife again and said it was time to come in. WOW! we had no idea what we were getting into. those contractions were NOTHING! at that point, i had no idea what pain was. i couldn't eat. stephen made me a smoothie but i couldn't really drink it. around 8:30 we left birchcroft and headed to the hospital. i called my parents, he called his and mass text messages were flying all over the city sharing that we were finally going to the hospital. we were so excited! laughing our heads off all morning!!! we pulled up, stephen dropped me off, i was wheel chaired inside and up to the 8th floor, while stephen parked the car and brought in our bags. we were put in a suite and GOD blessed us with the perfect nurse and midwife. it was mostly all waiting around until like 10am. i was like 4 cm when the first checked me. we walked and walked around and contractions got more and more intense. then they checked me like 2 hours later and i was like 7-8 cm. i got to have a cherry popsicle around 1:00 pm.

 my parent showed up at the hospital so fast. they had to of been driving like 100 mph from VA.

it was getting hard. i had to stop and take very deep breaths to handle the contractions as we walked around the hallways to get things going. around 2 or 3 that afternoon, THEY BROKE MY WATER. it was kinda cool.
        THEN REAL LABOR BEGAN!!!

by that time i was not talking to anyone, barely had my eyes open as i tried a few ways to continue speeding up the process. went into a warm shower, DEEP BREATHS, birthing ball, DEEP BREATHS, laying on different sides on the bed, deep breaths, leaning over on stephen, DEEP BREATHS. i was completely focused on taking long deep breaths. time was flying by to me. finally, i started to feel that certain pressure that they had been telling me about. i pressure that feels just like you have to have a bowel movement. by that point i had thought to myself so many things.

1. why didn't i get an epidural
2. how in the world do women do this more than once in their lifetime
3. i'm so mad! i have to go through with this and there is no stopping it or going back

than PUSHING CAME! i loved pushing so much! it was finally a way for me to get back at the pain my body had been enduring for the last few hours. i pushed for about 45 minutes and then, with a gigantic door size mirror infront of me, i saw her head com farther and farther out with every push until i knew my next push would do it. i pushed and she flew out! it was the most amazing feeling in the entire world!