Carson's arrival!

When I think back to Carson's grand entrance one word comes to mind...WOW! That pretty much sums it up for me :) WOW that it was so fast, WOW that it was nothing like we thought it would be, WOW I am thankful that my mom came down early, WOW the amount of love I felt at that very moment, WOW I no longer seemed to have a fear of needles, and WOW I now have new respect for Mrs. Duggar (the lady with 19 kids)!

Warning: this is long, but I want to write it down so I will have it because I know that soon it will all seem so long ago!

I had been having contractions for a few weeks and they never bothered me. I could feel them and once we went to the dr. and she told me that what I was feeling were indeed contractions I could identify them. I was able to walk, talk and shop through all of them. They never stayed consistent or became stronger and closer together so we went on. My mom came in to town on Wednesday the 6th and I was so excited to have her here. The plan was to "shop" Carson out. I could not sit still and had to keep busy and we did. We left the house in the morning and didn't come home until early evening. Ben's mom came a few days later and I'm not sure she was ready for shopping "Preggo Amity and Debbie" style but she hung in there ;) Everyone had a day picked out that they thought he would come, Ben was hoping for 10/10/10 (along with a few other soon to be parents I'm sure) that night while we were watching both the Cowboys and the Rangers lose Ben asked me if I was in any pain, because every time I would have a contraction I would tell him to feel my belly because it would get hard as a rock. However I was not in any pain or even really uncomfortable it just felt kind of like holding your breath. We went to bed that night realizing that Carson would not be born on 10/10/10, but we knew he would come when he was ready and all we really cared about was having a healthy baby boy!

At about 12:30 that night I woke up all the sudden with what I thought were gas cramps. I kept going to the bathroom and at first I didn't think anything of it, then I remembered in child birth class they said some women get diarrhea right before labor but I din't think this was it. I kept telling Ben to go back to sleep and I felt bad for keeping him up because he had to go to work in the morning. Around 1:30am I went into my moms room doubled over, crying and screaming (a few choice words) and I asked her "Mom is this labor?" She timed my "cramps" and they were 4 min apart the first time and then 2 min and 2 min the next times and she said "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but YES!" She went and got Ben, and in his cool and collected manner he packed the car as my mom helped me get dressed because as I pointed out between screaming I couldn't go to the hospital without pants on! We got in the car and headed to the hospital. On our way I was in so much pain and Ben was so sweet and trying to calm me and drive. At one point he was gently shusshing me and rubbing my leg and I quickly snapped "STOP SHUSSHING ME!" (Sorry honey) As Ben pulled up to the hospital at about 2am I didn't even wait for the car to stop before I jumped out, Ben ran after me as the the security guard just pointed down the hall and said "second hall on the left!" When I got to the desk and they asked me what seemed like 1,000,000 questions, such as" and why are you here?" Me "I"M IN LABOR" and "is this your first child?" Again me, "AND ONLY!" the nurse said well at least she hasn't lost her sense of humor! They got me into an exam room after what seemed like forever, I asked to go to the bathroom but they had to check me first. I was at a 6 with a "bulging bag of membranes" as the nurse said as she quickly got on her phone and started asking for help from nurses in the hall. (Guess they figured I WAS really in labor, DUH I could have told them that!) All the sudden there were nurses everywhere taking my vitals, asking questions, putting in my IV, and of all things making me sign papers (not that my signature would stand up in court it looked like a 3 year old signed them!) I just want to note that I did not even flinch getting my IV. Also the whole time I was asking (or demanding) DRUGS! Once they were done they wheeled me back to Labor and Delivery. As soon as they moved me to the bed the nurse checked me and I was an 8 and my water still had not broken. I again asked for my epidural and they told me the anesthesiologist was in another room and she would be there ASAP. At that point Ben went to move his car, because he was still parked in the middle of the main drive where I jumped out of the car! Before the nurse left she asked if I wanted something in my IV until the Epidural came. Originally I did not want any other drugs but at that point I didn't care and I said yes, thankfully the anesthesiologist came in and was ready to give me my epidural. Ben was back by then and my mom and Julie were behind him, Ben was allowed in but the nurse asked the moms to wait until "she finds her inner peace!" Again I didn't mind the needles involved in the epidural I just wanted relief! I made a mark in Ben's hand from squeezing it so hard because I had to stay still during a contraction, which was the hardest part! As soon as the epidural kicked in I was a happy camper! I texted people at 3:15 with the message "at the hospital got drugs :) much happier at an 8 yea yea it's baby day!" around 4ish I asked if I could push my epidural button, she had to check me first and I was at a 10, but my water still had not broken. She said we would wait and let mother nature take her course. At 5:00am the dr. finally got there and checked me. She went ahead and broke my water so casually as if it was no big deal! Then the nurse explained how I would push, and a few seconds later she said ok ready! In my head I was like, what now, it hit me that this was for real and that I was actually about to deliver the little man we had waited 9 months to meet! A thousand things ran through my head but I barley had time to think because I had to push. Ben held one leg and the nurse held the other. I had to keep asking if I was actually pushing, thank goodness for drugs! After a few contractions the nurse got back on her phone and called for the "baby catchers" and for the dr. to come back. My mom announced that he had hair and at 5:29am Carson Oliver Halstead was born, weighing 7lbs and 13oz and 20 inches long. It was the most amazing feeling in the whole world, it is incredible how you can feel so much love in a mere instant. I was of course crying and there were a few tears in Ben's eyes too. He was immediately placed on my chest where I finally got to see his sweet little face. Later they took him to the warmer, he was crying and as soon as Ben started talking to him he stopped, it was so sweet. To top it all off they brought me breakfast an hour or so later and it was quiche, which I had been craving for days, it's like they read my mind! ;) When they had me get up after they thought my epidural had worn off, (I tried to tell them I couldn't feel my legs) I fell to my knees so I then got my "pretty" purple bracelet that said "Fall Risk" there were quite a few people that thought it was funny! Once we got to our postpartum room we got to see lots of friends of family. Carson is very lucky to have a lot of people that love him!