La Familia Coles: A Family of Three

Well I have learned a valuable lesson from blogger... I learned that if you are writing a post on a phone or tablet you have to save it before leaving the app otherwise your post disappears... This is my fourth time writing this post because I just figured this out.

Well here we go for this big update!

James Tucker Coles was born on July 25th at 2:38 AM. Our little stud muffin was a healthy baby of 8 lbs 4 oz and came in at 21 inches long. I adore this little man.

Now for the obligatory birth story. Feel free to skip ahead, I don't judge.

Well my due date was July 23rd and nothing happened. So we moved on from that. However on the morning of the 24th, after a night full of contractions, I was determined to get this little man out into the world! So I woke up and went to the gym with Ryan. Thankfully it was a day off from work (thank you pioneers) and I had all day to achieve my goal. So I walked a couple miles, did a little stair master and was thoroughly done. So I waited for Ryan to finish his workout and then we went home. Nothing happened.

So then we decided to take a walk over to the Pioneer Day festivities across the street and talked with the missionaries that were there for about an hour. I was baked from the heat and finally told Ryan I needed to go home since I was tired and parched. So we came home and got some cold water and a Popsicle. Something happened.

My contractions started coming along quite nicely. So Ryan and I turned on a movie and decided we were going to wait this one out on the couch. Ryan started timing my contractions to see how frequent they were becoming. It didnt take long for them to be 5 minutes apart. But I still felt fine. I could breathe through them, walk around, talk. So I kept waiting. Then around 6:30 pm some of our neighbors brought over some cookies for us. Perfect timing. As they were standing in our doorway I had a big contraction, followed by a pop, which brought about a huge gush of warm water... All over the couch.

Well Ryan quickly shoved the girls out the door (sorry) and began to throw everything in the car. I waddled upstairs to clean up and change. And it was then that my brain caught up with reality. I was going to have a baby. Like now! Insane. So after I changed I sat on the bed and tried to convince myself that I didn't need to go to the hospital. I know, weird. But I can't control what my brain in labor thinks.

So my sweet husband came upstairs and told me it was time to go. I looked at him and told him it wasn't time and that I didn't need to go. He gave me a look of, 'you're beyond retarded but you're in labor so I will listen.' Needless to say we were in the car about 5 minutes later.

We got to the hospital and they confirmed that my water had broken. So they admitted me and got me in my delivery room.

Ryan and I turned on the tv and they actually had some excellent movie choices. We got settled and talked with my nurse. She was AMAZING. Totally supportive of me and wanting to go natural. She checked me and told me I was at a 3. That was at around 7:45ish. Then I started having those contractions that make you tell your husband that you will never have another child. The nurse came in again to check me around 9. I was a 5. Moving along nicely. And then the exhaustion hit. I hadn't slept for the past 2 nights and now I was dealing with these contractions that were speeding me along. I was so tired and I knew that I would be up all night again having this baby. So I talked to Ryan and asked him (like he would care) if he would judge me if I got an epidural. I was terrified of the epidural. Not because I hate needles or I was worried about not experiencing birth. I just hate being numb! That's it!

So I talked with my nurse and told her my worries and thoughts and she told me that ultimately it was my choice but that she thought I would be okay with the numbness since they can give me a low dose. So I said yes and about 30 minutes later the anesthesiologist came in and made me very happy indeed. It was perfect. I couldn't feel pain but I could move my legs around still. I wasn't an invalid. It was perfect for me. After that I was finally able to relax and just enjoy being with Ryan for those last few hours.

Well about 3 cups of piña colada ice chips later (90 minutes) my nurse came back in right when Skyfall was ending to check me and was shocked when she found out I was a 10! That's right, a 5 to a 10 in 90 minutes. So glad I couldn't feel those monstrous contractions. Well I was in even more shock than her when she said, 'Well are you ready to have a baby?' I thought she was joking. But she wasn't. So she went and called my doctor who was still at home since he thought I wouldn't be ready until about 5 or 6 in the morning. He said to have me start pushing in about a half hour so that baby would be in a good position when he got there and could just come on out.

It was such a surreal experience. It was just me and Ryan and our nurse in the room. They got me set up to start pushing and it was very quiet and intimate. Of course, none of us thought to turn off Avengers which was playing right in front of me. I felt like the Hulk when I was pushing. I will never see that movie the same way again.

Ryan was absolutely the greatest man in those hours at the hospital. When I was pushing he was coaching me along. I'm sure I looked like a buffoon and considering how water logged I was at the time (think hippo/water buffalo) he still told me I was beautiful and that he loved me. This is also after he witnessed me puke all over myself since the epidural made me a bit nauseous. That was quite a funny moment looking back on it all.

Well I pushed for about 20 minutes sporadically with the nurse and Ryan. Then my OB got to the hospital and then it was time for the big show. The room filled up with nurses and gear and doctors. Ryan held my hand because he knew I was nervous. And Dr. Thorpe told me it was time once he was all ready to go.It didn't take long. About 10 more minutes of pushing and Tucker was out! It was so fast and so 'easy' that I still am having a hard time believing it. I keep telling myself that I must just be blocking some horrible memories or something. But, knock on wood, I am really hoping the rest of our kids come along as easily.

Well I can't even describe how incredible the whole experience was for us. We are so happy and blessed to have our son in our lives.

And now, what you really want to see, the pictures. I don't have many from the hospital. But I have many more from home. So look forward to another post later today or tomorrow! :)