Shanon's Birth Story...

It all started Sunday...My family had to head home after breakfast so we all went out to get a bite at the Westside Cafe. Then we all said goodbye and left. It was kind of weird, but I followed them, almost out of town. We drove all the way to 27th, waving at them at just about every stoplight. Then we turned off and they went straight, and Seb and I both started crying because we were missing everyone already. After we came home we just pretty much took it easy. Then Jason thought he'd surprise me with a "date night" so he called his mom to see if they would take Seb for a while so we could go out for our "last night out" before Shanon's big arrival. I had to meet up with another consultant to exchange some stuff (thankfully I got that done) and then we headed out to Jason's parents' house to drop Seb off. My contractions had started around 2:00 pm and were coming about five minutes apart, but they weren't so painful that my eyes were bulging out of my head or anything. I didn't really have much of an appetite anyway, but Jason was getting anxious and make me call the doctor, who said he was going to call up to the hospital to let them know that I was coming up to get checked out.

By the time I got there, I was the third woman to come in within that half hour. They had me go to the bathroom and put on a gown and then the nurse checked me and said, "Guess what...You're at 7 cm. You're staying." So, then I had to put up with Jason smiling at me with the "I'm finally right for once!" look on his face. Then he went outside and called our families to let them know I was staying. Then the nurses told me I should get the epidural soon if I wanted it, so I decided that would be a good time, pain was still minimal but I didn't want to miss the window to get pain meds. The most important thing was that I got my antibiotics (2 doses) before my water broke...Luckily, I was able to get both doses, family was coming and going, and then they broke my water around 11:30 while Tina, Crystal & Kassie were visiting.

The nurse kept switching me from one side to the other because those were the best positions for them to get Shanon's heartbeat on the monitor, but by 12:30 I was so achy that I was praying and pulling myself against the bar on the side of the bed and reminding Jason that no matter what I said to him I loved him very much! He just stood by me, holding my hand and talking to me to distract me.

Around 1:00 am or so I was finally allowed to lay on my back and about 15 minutes later the nurse let me do a test push to see how soon they thought Shanon would be born. Then she got on the phone with the doctor to ask him to come to my room because I was moving Shanon down pretty well. So they got the little baby warmer bed all organized and got ready for me to push (I love how the bottom of the bed comes off. lol). Jason started the video camera and we just waited for them to tell me I could push. The rest was a bit of a blur but from what I saw on the video (sideview and over-the-shoulder shots only, by the way) we timed it at about 5 minutes of actual pushing before Shanon came out.

It was absolutely amazing...By far, the best labor & delivery I've had! It's kind of hard to believe that we're now a family of four, but then at the same time it's like he's always been with us!