New Day: Welcome to the world Mr Jamison!

Since the last post (about 20 weeks of pregnancy) a lot has happened! Obviously by now I would have had my baby, so that is what I am going to share with you. The rest of my pregnancy went pretty well for the third trimester. I got your typical symptoms of not being able to sleep, getting swollen, rocking the pregnancy waddle, oh and having to pee what feels like every 5 minutes!

I had one time that I had to go to the hospital. I was 35 weeks and ended up having a stomach virus. It was really bad. I have not been that sick in a really long time. I could not keep any fluids down so we had to make a little visit to triage to have an iv put in. Baby was being tracked and was doing just fine. Thankfully this was only a 24 hour thing.

Fast forwarding towards the very end. I had a check up with my doctor the day before he was due. I mentioned that I didn't feel him move as much as he had been. Between that and the fact that my blood pressure was higher than it normally has been, my doctor asked me if I was ready to throw in the towel and go get induced. I was really hoping that my body would naturally go into labor, but when the opportunity was there for me to see my baby finally, I couldn't say no.

So I left the doctors office and went right over to the hospital to check in. Once I was in the delivery room, it felt so surreal. I changed into the gown I would give birth in and laid in the bed, mentally preparing myself for what was ahead of me.

They started me on cervidill, a medication inserted on your cervix to help ripen it. Eight hours later they found I was dilated to almost 2 cm so they broke my water and started petocin. Once my water was broken I could start to feel the contractions. It was not pleasant at all. I had every intention of getting an epidural, but it wasn't time yet. I had to experience the contractions for a while to be able to tell when I would need to start pushing when the time came. They offered me another pain medication that would temporarily numb the pain but would possibly make me feel sick, and the baby could come out drowsy. I did not want either of those things. Expecially since I felt nauseous anyways since they don't let you eat or drink anything. I decided to keep calm and ride through the contractions until they said it was fine to get the epidural.

Once I got the epidural (which I did not feel was as painful as they say) I was in great shape. I was able to talk to people again and actually allow Shaun to comfort me. Before that I didn't want to be touched or barely talked to. The rest of the labor flew by it felt like! I got that epidural at 4am, got checked at 7am and was dilated to a 5 and then at 10am was dilated to a 10 already and was ready to push! They placed this peanut looking exercise ball thing in between my legs and had me lay on my side. I guess that was supposed to help my body to naturally drop the baby more before I try pushing. Within that time I was texting and calling my loved ones telling them it was almost time and if they planned to be there for the birth, they should come ASAP! My two sisters Amy and Julie (both nurses) really wanted to be in the room. So I let them, making them promise to document it. Amy was in charge of the video and Julie, the pictures.

Aside from those duties I was lucky to have them with me! Between them, Shaun, the nurse and my doctor I felt extremely comfortable and motivated. They kept telling me with each push how great I was doing and when I needed to try harder. I am telling you, I have never been so motivated in my life. When my doctor said my pushes at the end of the sequence was stronger than the first two, I was so determined to make those first pushes just as strong. She let me touch his head when he was close to coming out too which kept me going. Pushing that hard will take your breath away though and you have to make sure you are pushing from the right spot. After the fastest hour and a half of my life Jamison was born right at noon on 12/17/2014. There where many tears in the room when he came out and had the cutest cry I have ever heard. He started to immediately open his eyes and look at us. I have never been so in love in my entire life. You can love your family, friends, pets and spouse certain ways but nothing can compare to the complete joy and love you have for your own child.

Now 3 weeks old, I still look at Jamison and can't believe that he is ours! With every smile he makes, my heart grows bigger.

Below are pictures that my sister Julie took for me of the big day!