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Week by Week

Colton's Birth

Colton Gregory Reid
July 10, 1997
3:44 pm
9 lbs. 14 oz.
21 3/4 in. long

It all starts on Tuesday, July 8. I was 3 days past my due date and was ready to have my baby. This was our first baby and we were really excited about the upcoming events. We decided to take a trip to my mom's that night for a visit. When we were ready to leave, around 8 P.M. or so, we had gotten into the car but it wasn't moving. The transmission went out right there in my mom's driveway, almost an hour away from home. So we decided to stay the night and call my husband's(Greg) mom to borrow her van until we could fix the car.

I got like 3 hours of sleep that night and woke up around 5 am, July 9. As soon as I went to fix some breakfast, I got a tightening in my stomach and back. I thought it was a BH contraction an I would just wait it out. As it turned out, I was having real contractions that lasted 20-35 seconds, 15 minutes apart mostly all day. So here I was in early labor, stranded at my Mom's. We finally left my Mom's around 3 P.M. and Greg's Mom came to pick us up. We dropped her off at her home and preceded to our home.

I felt much better at home. I had been having regular but mild contractions for almost 12 hours and I was coping just fine. This went on until about 8 pm. That's when the contractions get a bit more painful, but I could still talk through them. We called the hospital and asked what we should do and they said to call back when the contractions were 5 minutes apart, lasting at least a minute, for at least an hour. I had made it this far but I was getting scared. The contractions were 8 min. apart lasting 45-50 seconds at that time.

Greg decided he wanted to got to bed around 11 P.M.. I tried to sleep but the contractions were just to painful. I forgot to mention that I took some castor oil(yuck) to get things moving a little faster. So I had severe diarrhea and I was going back and forth to the toilet for hours. That was one of the most painful parts, sitting on the toilet going poo while I was still having contractions. When I felt better, I went into the living room and crawled on the floor. This felt better but I was in pain. I wasn't screaming or crying out loud, but I was still hurting.

I woke up Greg and we timed the contractions. 2 minutes apart, lasting a minute or longer. It was time and Greg knew just by the tears that I had been trying to hold back came streaming. Off we went. Greg stopped at a store for a pop and some other things. It was a fairly short ride to the hospital. Greg found me a wheelchair and we went up to the maternity floor. I was pre- registered so we went right to an evaluation room. I was asked to sit in the chair but they had to wait as I was breathing through a contraction. As soon as they started asking questions, I began to vomit. This time it was clear, unlike the last time.(I made the mistake and had a Big Mac earlier). I was checked almost immediately and was 4 cm. I hadn't lost my plug, and my water's were still in tact so I was surprised to see blood as I got up from the exam.

I was admitted and was placed in a roomy birthing room. I went to the bathroom and calmly sat on the bed. Of course they asked me a million questions and I was starting to drift into another world. I asked for an epidural. I had had enough and I was proud of myself for getting this far at home. The epidural was a little awkward going in, but it was heaven. I could barely feel the contractions and I felt nice and warm. By the time the doctors and nurses finished settling me in, it was around 6 a.m on July 10. Thinking back, I should have used the hours that follow to sleep but I was much too excited. I was so hungry. They gave me popsicles but I just ended up throwing them up anyway.

Everything progressed nicely and my Mom came around 10 A.M. I was glad to have her there. She kept telling me how proud of me she was as I was so quiet. My Mom and Greg took a lunch break around 2:30 P.M. and I got about a half hour alone. As soon as they came back, they nurse came in to check me. I was dilated to 10 and ready to push. I had been feeling intense pressure from the baby moving down, but I didn't have the urge to push. I start pushing around 3:15. I am doing very well. A couple of pushes later, the head starts to crown. My jerk of a doctor decides to show up for the last ten minutes of the birth. I am pushing so well, the head emerges about 32 minutes after I started pushing. One more push and our son makes his entrance. He is huge!! I had no idea that I was going to have a large baby, my doctor neglected to give me at least an estimate. He's beautiful, screaming at the top of his lungs. His apgars were 8 and 9, due to some discoloration on his hands and face. I had a 3rd degree tear which was very painful for about a week. I recovered nicely.

Colton is doing very well and is almost 8 months old. He is a chunky butterball at 20 pounds. He is also the cutest baby I've ever seen(no bias here!) I am thinking about baby number two but this time will be much different.

Candy