On September 4th at 7:30am I called Dr. Haddock’s office to find out what I should do about my painful contractions that I had been having for almost 3 days! Dr. Haddock told me to get myself to maternity observation to get checked out. If I remember right she said, “You poor thing! ... Read more]]>

On September 4th at 7:30am I called Dr. Haddock’s office to find out what I should do about my painful contractions that I had been having for almost 3 days! Dr. Haddock told me to get myself to maternity observation to get checked out. If I remember right she said, “You poor thing! I thought I would have heard from you last night!” So I woke up Jason and told him we needed to go to the hospital! He jumped up and I told him to go ahead and take a shower while I put on make up and got dressed. If I was going into labor I was going to try and look somewhat decent!

After we loaded up the car with our bags and said our good byes to the dogs, we were on the road! But our first stop was Whataburger for some breakfast! We arrived at maternity observation, got checked out and I was finally dilated to a 3!! Dr. Haddock said this was the day and we were so relieved. We called family and texted everyone to let them know that our precious Carson was going to be on his way.

My nurse Monica game and got me and walked me into Labor and Delivery. I was so nervous, but oh so ready! I could not have asked for a better nurse! Monica was so nice and took good care of me and my neurotic self. She gave me my painless IV….which made her my best friend! After getting the IV, getting hooked up to monitors and settled into the room, I was checked and dilated to a 4! Dr. Haddock said she was on her way to break my water and get things a movin!. Meanwhile all the family started arriving. Jamele and Luis were first (Jamele was there when I got my IV) and then my parents and Lyndie. Dr. Haddock arrived and I was so happy to see her. She always knows what to say and how to say it to calm me down and make me feel better. She checked me and then broke my water, which I hardly felt. She wanted things to move along, so she said I was going to receive some pitocin to regulate and intensify my contractions. By that time I was ready for the epidural.

So this mountain looking man comes into the room with his cart and said, “So I hear you want an epidural? Are you familiar with the procedure and how it works?” Jason and I sort of nodded and that man all of a sudden got to work! He rolled me over on my side, started cleaning my back and that is when I started panicking and shaking! Jason did his best to calm me down as I had a death grip on his hand. Monica had yet to get back into the room and I didn’t want to get the epidural without her there! For some reason the anesthesiologist scared me to death just as much as the epidural! But, Monica got there just in time to help me through everything. I got the numbing shot, that I barely felt and then he inserted the catheter, which was a strange sensation. It felt like someone was poking me in my belly button. Apparently he didn’t like where I felt the pressure and had to reinsert the catheter, which I didn’t feel at all! I was so relieved that the administration of the epi was through….then he pushed the meds in and I immediately felt this warm sensation going down my back all the way to my toes. In about 15 minutes I was numb and feeling like I was in la la land…thank goodness!

Throughout several hours family and friends were hanging out in the room and I was feeling great! Everyone was talking and laughing, it was nice! I was checked throughout the day and was progressing pretty well. My contractions were still sporadic and varying in intensity, so Monica had to play with my doses of pitocin to see how to get things going. At one point I was standing still at a 6 and that was when Dr. Haddock said to really up the pitocin. After they adjusted that, my contractions were strong and close together….but I couldn’t feel it all….until all of a sudden my left side started hurting. The anesthesiologist came in and topped off my epi and once again I was feeling good! I labored for about 2 hours and then a HUGE pain started coming with the contractions. The epi wasn’t working all the way on the left side and I was in agonizing pain. It took the anesthesiologist 15 minutes to come in and give me more meds and then it took another 15 minutes for it to take full effect. Jason was so good at helping me through it all!

I was finally feeling better and got checked around 6:00pm and was an 8! But….Dr. Haddock had bad news, she had family coming into town and was not going to be there for my delivery! She kept apologizing over and over again and she looked so upset. I assured her it was ok, but all she could do was apologize. I was really upset myself, but I understood, she has her own family too! She introduced me to the doctor (who was her best friend) that would deliver me and then had to leave. Dr. Haddock gave me a hug and kissed my forehead and gave Jason a hug, I really wanted to cry but didn’t!

About an hour later I was checked and I was a 10 and completely ready to go, but it was nurse shift change and Monica had to leave! Another bummer! She was the best ever and I was so thankful she was my nurse. The new nurse was Becky and she was just as equally as wonderful at Monica, I was so lucky! Everyone came into the room to say their good byes and good lucks cause I was about to push! Then the best surprise happened, Dr. Haddock came back at 7:15!! She said that she just didn’t want to miss this and wanted to be there for me, Jason and I were so thrilled!

I started pushing a little after 7:30pm. I was told that for a first baby it could take 1-3 hours to push and I just kept thinking there was no way I was going to do this for 3 more hours! I started pushing and I guess I did it pretty well cause at 8:35pm Carson was here! Dr. Haddock placed him on my chest and I just started crying and so did Jason. He was so beautiful! He had a head full of long sandy blonde hair and just looked too perfect. One of the first things I said was that he was cuter than I imagined he would be! He cried immediately and the nurse said that everything looked great.

So much more happened after that, but I will never forget any of it! I was so scared in the beginning of my pregnancy to give birth and in the end it truly was worth it. It was an amazing experience that was shared with Jason, the love of my life! After seeing him hold Carson for the first time I fell even more in love with him. We are blessed beyond belief with our new son and we are so happy words cannot describe!