crew's birth story

our little crew came wednesday night at 8:40 weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds 12 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long! he's absolutely perfect and so chunky :) we can't get enough of him!!!

i was scheduled to get induced at 7:30 in the morning on wednesday the 12th. the doctor told me to call about an hour before just to make sure they had room for me. so, of course devin and i did not sleep AT ALL the night before - pre-parent jitters and all. well, as i was about to call the hospital at 6:30, they called me first and told me they had some emergency and were short on nurses and we couldn't go in right then but they would call us around 8 and give us an update. naturally, i was SO bummed out. we both thought it wasn't going to happen that morning. so crushed, i tried to get some sleep and got a call right before 8. they were ready for us!!!

we flew down to the hospital and got there before 8:30 and got all checked in. they showed us to our room and hooked me up to lots of stuff. we were SO excited and nervous and scared and ecstatic at this point. at 9 my doctor came in (my least favorite doctor in the office was on call - boo hoo) and broke my water. boy, did that feel weird!!! it was SO warm and just kept coming! i couldn't stop leaking! it made me have to pee even more. so, i kept making trips to the potty and leaking all the way to and from the bathroom - such a weird feeling.

they kept checking on me and gave me an hour and a half before they gave me pitoccin to see if my body would work its own magic and start progressing on its own. well, i came in at a 4 and only dialted to a 4 1/2 in that hour and a half after my water was broken, so on came the pitoccin! the contractions started picking up and by noon i was DYING. they hurt so bad! i just tried balling up in the fetal position and was practically whimpering for the epidural.

i finally got the epidural a little bit after that and man, did i start feeling great!!! the pain was GONE but i could still tell when i was having contractions - it was perfect! AND the nurse came in and gave me this awesome warm blanket after i got the epi - ahhhh it was awesome. the next few hours dev and i just watched the office on his laptop and hung out. we kept imagining what our little guy was gonna look like and betting on his weight. (we were WAY off on that...)

around 5:30 the nurse came in and checked me again (they had been checking me all along) and there i was READY TO PUSH! gosh, i was nervous!!! i almost told the nurse, no. i know - weird. it was just so surreal to me that just a few pushes and i was going to be a mommy! no worries- i said, yes and went to work. the nurse and devin held my legs and i pushed for 2 hours. he wasn't budging! well, one HUGE thing i forgot to mention. i was starting to feel a LOT of pain before i started pushing but i figured it wouldn't take long to push so i didn't say anything. but by 2 hours later - i was IN SO MUCH PAIN!!! i finally said something to the nurse but it was a little late for them to up my dosage of my epi - CRAP! i could feel everything. ehhhhh...

so i pushed for another 20 minutes and lo and behold, his head was RIGHT THERE! he was ready!!! they called my doctor and he took 40 freaking minutes to get there!!! i wasn't allowed to push and the baby's head was half way out! yeah, just sit there and don't push while i have a head coming out of my crotch - easy, peasy. i wanted to die. i was seriously SO MAD at my doctor for taking so long. if my epidural was working i don't think i would have been so cranky. while my doctor was taking forever, i started bad mouthing him to the nurses and sassy ashley came out of me!

the doctor FINALLY came and he tried making small talk when he got in the room and boy, did i get sassy! he walked in dragging his feet and still had to put something or other. my response - "ARE YOU JOKING... HURRY UP!!!" surprised, he tried making small talk and asking me what i was gonna name the baby and of COURSE i didn't want to talk about that so i yelled at him and said "I DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU!!" this kind of jabber went on for a while! devin couldn't stop laughing. anyways, back to the baby...

it was seriously the most herrendous pain i've ever felt in my life. oh, and i have vowed my whole life that i would never be one of those crazies that screamed while she pushed... yupp, i was DEFINITELY queen of those crazies. i kept apologizing to the nurses for grunting and making such weird noises. i'm sure people in the hallways were loving it. anyways, i felt like his head was never-ending and would never come out. i pushed for so long to get it out. finally it did and then his shoulders took a little bit and then - out he came!!! he didn't cry at first and then he finally did and then they layed him on my chest. his back was facing me and i just remember thinking - gosh, he's so heavy! i put my heads around his tummy and could feel him breathing. devin and i both started crying. i couldn't believe he had just come out of me! we made this cute little person and now he was here! it was seriously such a miracle!

i tore a lot AND the doc had to cut me. i was even more mad at him. while they weighed him and cleaned him off, i got sewed up, which felt GREAT haha. ohhhh and my hemmroids got TERRIBLE in the whole process. holy canoley that was not fun! as soon as they weighed him i couldn't believe that he was practically 9 pounds!!! we got ourselves a chunker!!!

let me just tell you that my hubs is a freaking stud! the whole time he kept telling me how good i was doing and playing with my hair while rubbing a wash cloth on my face the whole time. i remember looking at him after our chubs was delivered and i loved him so much more. he's SO good with crew and has been taking care of me so much.

this whole experience has been amazing. i can't believe that i'd love being a mother so much and being a parent would be such a wonderful feeling. i have such a deep love for this little boy and i am so grateful to be his mom!