Payson Denny Holmes was born at 9:06am on November 11, 2009! He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 21.5 inches long! Other than being a little sleep deprived, everyone is happy and healthy...we can't believe our little dude is finally here!! The story of how it all went down is below, hopefully it's not TMI, but if you don't like birth stories just stop after the pictures....Enjoy!!!
Brand New!
A tuckered Payson with Great Grandma & Grandpa Holmes
Heading home from the hospital!
First Day at home with Daddy!
Hanging with Boppa!
Go Broncos!
Day 5 enjoying a little tummy time with Mommy!
As many of you mom's know, getting up to pee every couple of hours is completely normal for the last part of your pregnancy. Well, I had gotten up around midnight....normal. Then I got up again at about 2:00am.....again, normal. This time when I went to lay back down I felt a sort of cramp in my tummy...Hmmmmm....peculiar. I laid down and about 3-4 minutes later there was that cramping again....definitely NOT normal. I realized I was having contractions and Holy Crap!!!! They were about 3.5 minutes apart. I woke Nick up to tell him I was having contractions and that I was going to take a shower in case this was "it". I called my parents to warn them that they may need to catch the first flight to Phoenix and hopped in the shower.
I continued timing my contractions while I showered and they increased to about every 2-2.5 minutes. Holy Cow! Then I think my water breaks. Oh Crap! This is about when I started thinking...uh oh....how long does it take to get to the hospital?!?! (Oh yeah, that would be about 45 minues to an hour.....eeeeek!) I got out of the shower, got myself ready to go, woke Nick up with "Uh, honey??? I think we need to get going. My contractions are about 2-3 minutes apart." He promptly rolled over and exclaimed "Really???" and then something to the effect of "$hitballs, I thought we'd have several hours before we had to go anywhere!" He got the car loaded up, we dropped Zoey at a friend's house, and made our way to the hospital.
Luckily my contractions stayed right around 2-3 minutes apart and didn't get any closer during the drive...I was NOT delivering in my car without an epidural! When I checked into OB Triage at 5am they said I was at 6 cm, my water had in fact broken in the shower, and that they'd get me upstairs to Labor & Delivery right away! They very efficiently sent in a nurse to give me an IV, the blood draw guy came to take my labs and they shipped me off to L & D. Within about 20 minutes one of my favorite people arrived....the Anesthesiologist! I got my epidural when I was around 7 cm (a little too close to the point of no return where they tell you "Sorry, it's too late" for my liking!) The epidural didn't work on my left side like it's supposed to so about an hour or so later we had to adjust the catheder and give me some extra doses for it to kick in properly. Eventually it did and I was a happy camper!
The doc came to check me at about 8:15am. He's talking about letting my contractions do some work to bring the baby down and how it'll probably be a little while longer before I start pushing....then he checks me and finds I'm at 10 cm and the baby is pretty much right there. So it's 8:30am and we decide it's time to push! Holy crap....I thought I was going to play cards with my hubby or read a book after the eipdural...everyone says they got a nap or killed time because everything slowed down after they got drugs. Nope, not me....it was go time!
So from 8:30-9am I attempted to push. I say "attempted" because, if you recall, I had received an extra boost of drugs due to the earlier epidural issues. So there I am pushing as hard as I can and feeling like I'm getting nowhere because I can't feel a darn thing! In the meantime, my mom and dad land in Phoenix and are in a taxi on their way to the hospital. Suddenly at 9am it's like my body figures out which muscles are actually in need of doing some work and I feel like I'm getting this push thing down!
The Doc comes in, get's prepped and a couple pushes later this kiddo is all but here when a nurse announces, "Leah, your mom is coming down the hallway. Do you want her in the room?" I say yes and the Doc says "Ok, stop pushing then"! I hold off for about 15 seconds and my mom makes it to the room just in time for that final push and baby Payson was born! Crazy Awesome timing mom!!!!
I can't believe Nick and I now have a beautiful baby boy! We are enjoying learning all about him (he loves to pee on me and fill his pants right after I change him). We're adjusting to the lack of sleep but he did great last night so we are hoping we're on the right track! Hope you enjoyed the story and pictures! I will attempt keep this blog updated so you all can see Payson grow along with us!
