Drake's Birth Story!

On Wednesday, February 3rd, I woke about 4am with back pain - something I had been having for almost a week at this point - and started to notice that it seemed to come and go. I started timing it and realized that it was coming every 5-6 minutes. Jason's alarm was going to go off at 5:30am so I continued to breathe through the pain until then. The contractions kept coming at about the same interval so he took a shower and then we decided I should call my doctor. at 6:30am, I talked to the on-call nurse. My doctor starts taking her own calls at 7:00am so we decided to wait until he could talk to her. At this point, we knew I would either be going to the hospital or the doctor's office, but I really didn't think I would be having my baby that day! While waiting for the return call, I took a shower, put some makeup on, and tried to eat a little breakfast. The nurse called back and said that the doctor thought it sounded like the beginning stages of labor. I was to continue monitoring it and go to the hospital if I couldn't walk/talk/breathe through the contractions or I could come in to the office at 11:30am when she would be in.

I spent the next hour doing a lot of walking (or pacing as Jason would call it) around the house. The pain seemed to keep coming every 5 minutes, but the intensity was picking up. I had a hard time deciding what to do - go to the hospital or wait it out and call back to my doctor's office when they start taking calls at 8:30am? By 8:00am, Jason thought we should go to the hospital. We arrived by 8:30am and they started monitoring the contractions and getting all the info necessary. I was contracting every 2-4 minutes! When the nurse at the hospital checked me (about 9:30am), I was dilated to 5cm and had a bulging bag! I couldn't believe it...I think this is really when it set in that I was going to have my baby!

They moved me to a labor and delivery room, my doctor came in to check me (5-6cm) and broke my water (10am). At 10:30am, I got an epidural - AAAHHH, relief! My back pain was completely gone! I think I had the perfect amount, my legs felt numb - kind of like the feeling you get when you have Novocaine at the dentist - but I could still move them. At 11:20am, I was dilated to 9.5cm! Almost time to push....

By noon, I was starting to feel some real pressure. The nurses checked again, and I was able to start pushing at 12:15pm! The pressure was the strangest feeling ever...something I don't think I'll ever forget. One thing I realized during labor is that I would really prefer that people didn't talk! There were two nurses (one was in training) so they were talking a lot and it was a little discouraging...saying things like, "He's moving down, but then going back up." DUH! I know this happens, but I really didn't want to hear it at the time. :-) They were also having a hard time because they couldn't see the contractions on the monitor and my stomach wasn't tightening, but I could really feel the pressure so I knew I was having them (good thing the epidural didn't take that pressure away).

My doctor arrived about 1:15pm and was wonderful! She encouraged me to push and all of a sudden his head was out! One more push and his shoulders and the rest of his body were out! Drake William Patterson was born at 1:37pm! They put him on my chest immediately, and I just remember asking if he was going to cry. lol! We hadn't heard it yet. They cleaned out his mouth and he let a good one out. :-) Jason cut the umbilical cord while he was on my chest. I couldn't believe I was holding MY baby!

The nurses took him away to weigh him - 7lbs 13oz, get his length - 19.5inches, do his Apgar tests - 8 and 9, and give him his Vitamin K shot, then we got to spend lots of time with our baby!