Welcome to my birth story page. I love being a mom and I really loved being pregnant (yes you read that right). Some days I just look at him and I stare in awe because I can not believe this beautiful human being is my son. I feel very blessed and there is not a day that goes by that I don't forget how lucky I am to have him. His name is Joshua Alan Williams and he is now 15 months old. His birthdate is December 16, 1995. When he was born he weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. What a beautiful day that was.
We were not planning on having kids anytime soon since my boyfriend was only 17(he was 18 by the time our son was born) at the time I got pregnant (I was 23). However, in January of 1995 I thought I was pregnant and was actually sad when the results came back negative. But we did not pursue the issue however, on May 2, 1995 I found out that I was pregnant this time. I was so happy. When I was brought back into the office to discuss my results and she said they were positive I had the biggest grin on my face. Her exact words were "obviously this is a good thing" I remember driving back to work with that huge grin and thinking "anyone that looks at me must think I am crazy" From that day forward my life changed in a way I never imagined. My pregnancy was really uneventful. I was extremely tired, put on TONS of weight and swelled up everywhere but otherwise everything went fine.
I ended up being in the hospital for a while before my son was finally born because he just did not want to move when they induced me (do you blame him??). The reason I agreed to be induced was because he was so big. I had my regular check up on Tuesday, December 12th and my doctor was quite shocked at how big this baby appeared. She said 3Wow he is around ten pounds2 I really thought she was kidding but she then proceeded to tell me how I was going to go for an ultrasound to confirm the weight and that I would most likely be induced. I have to say I was so happy when she said those words because that meant that I would have him in my arms soon. So on Wednesday December 13th I had my second ultrasound to determine the weight and they guessed between 9 1/2 to 10 (I still had two more weeks to go until my due date). At this ultrasound Joshua Sr. found out the baby9s sex while I turned my head away from the screen. However I knew it was a boy from the picture on the screen and by Joshua9s huge grin. Well I called my doctor after the appointment when I got back to work. She said she needed to check with the other doctors that were going to be on call while I was there and that she would get back to me. It was nearing 5 pm and time for me to go when she called me and told me how I was to be at the hospital at 8:30 am the next day. OH MY GOD!!
So I went in on a Thursday at 8:30 am to start things going. They gave me the gel that morning and I just basically took it easy that day just watching the talk shows. The doctor was suppose to come back around 3 pm to insert another gel but he showed up like two hours later. By this time it was too late for me to go home plus it had started to snow pretty bad outside and they need to monitor you for a few hours after inserting the gel. The whole day was pretty much uneventful but I did experience some contractions here and there especially around 9:00 that night just when Joshua Sr. sat down to finally eat his supper (we had been waiting for about an hour for them to deliver his meal). Joshua called my mom to let her know and she was like "Josh what do you think I should do, should I come there or stay here". Well her and my brother ended up coming around 11 and stayed for about two hours. Since my mom had us things have changed quite a bit. They wanted me to get up and walk around and my mom totally freaked out "You want her to do what?" The funniest part was as we were all walking the halls many women were in active labor screaming away and my brother honestly said "What is the matter with them, can't they do anything to help those women?" They left and the nurse came in to discuss my options. She said I could either have a shot of morphine to help me sleep or I could start the pictocin. I said "the pictocin" But she warned me "just because you get the pictocin does not mean you will have the baby anytime soon". So I took her advice and had the morphine shot. Thank God I did because that was my last night of good sleep for a LONG time. All I remember after they gave me the shot was talking to Joshua (the nurse brought in a real bed for him to sleep in right next to mine) and watching the snow fall.
The next day started around 8:00 am and things were really eventful compared to the day before. Things progressed pretty slowly but things were definitely happening. I started having contractions around 11 am on Friday. They gave me some medication so I could rest up for what was to come(they knew I was in for a long day). This helped me out a great deal because I did get some sleep and had so much strength when it finally came to pushing. Around 4 pm they decided to break my water....I loved that feeling. My family and friends arrived around this time but soon I was experiencing TONS of pain and needed to be with just Joshua. My mom was a wimp anyways and went and sat in the waiting room. They did the epidural and what a funny feeling that was. It definitely helped me deal with things for the next few hours. Even though I was having lots of contractions I was not dilating that fast. Another funny memory was when Joshua was looking at the monitor and was like "didn't you just feel that contraction, it was huge". I did not feel a thing and was just chatting with my friends while I was actually having contractions. Since it was getting pretty late and nothing looked to be happening everyone left for the night hoping to get a telephone call (my mom told me later on that after Joshua called that morning to report the birth that she fell into such a deep sleep because she was on such alert the past two days). Around midnight the doctor came to check on me and said I was completely dilated (that was a great feeling knowing this since it took forever to get there) but the baby was not down far enough for me to push so he would check back in about two hours and see if anything changed and if it did not we can think about a c-section. I did not panic at those words but I knew I did not want a c-section. Well he came back at 2:00 am and guess what Joshua Jr. was down and ready to be born (he has always been such a good boy). I remember Joshua getting so excited when he saw our son's head and all the dark hair. They brought in a mirror for me but I could not concentrate on that. We had even brought in a picture of our cat as our focal point but it only made me laugh. After two and a half hours of pushing Joshua Alan Jr. was born. I was in shock and amazement that I did not even cry right away. But I looked over and Joshua Sr was crying and you could see the excitement all over his face. The next thing I heard was 3can I cut the cord?2 He was so leary of doing this when we talked about it before hand but he wanted to now. I can't thank him enough for his support throughout those days. We worked so well together and we made a great team. I never got upset with him (contrary to what everyone told him) not even once and he was totally understanding and caring the entire time. The best was after giving birth and things calmed down a bit I turned to him and said "I need a pepsi" and he went right out to the hallway and got me one. Having a pepsi was my focal point throughout the pushing because I was dying of thirst. The nurse kept telling me think of that pepsi because once you have the baby you can have it. I guess I was really thirsty because I was pushing three times each time I got a contraction. There was no stopping me.
So Joshua was finally born that Saturday, December 16th at 4:52 am. God he was gorgeous and when I finally felt my new friend on my belly I started crying....there he was this human being I carried for nine months of my life. He went everywhere I went and I hardly even knew him....but there he was for us to love. Within minutes of birth they gave him back to me so I could nurse him for the first time. They said they wanted to make sure he was nursed before he went off to the nursery. He is now 15 months and I still nurse him(usually only once a day since he LOVES to eat). I can not thank my cousin enough for advising me to do the breastfeeding thing(check out her daughter Natasha Leigh9s birth page). I can not help but think that breastfeeding him has led him to such a healthy life so far. He had his first cold when he was 11 1/2 months...ironic that it was about the same time I started slowing down on nursing him. My experience was unbelievable and I have such warm feelings for the whole experience. I have NO regrets being induced or having it in a hospital. I felt no pressure from my doctors(I ended up seeing 4 out of the 5 doctors in my health plan) or the hospital staff. They continually put me at ease and were unbelievably friendly and loving (I even wrote a letter complimenting them on running such a great hospital....it is a shame that more hospitals do not meet up to these standards). The hospital environment was so comfy and homey. One of the best memories of the whole experience was on Saturday night. After all my family and friends left for the night I got up and took an amazing shower. Never has a shower felt so good. I got out and my son was sound asleep so me and Joshua Sr ordered some food from the room service (the hospital actually had a number you could call for really good dinners or tasty snacks) and we settled down to watch the Tyson fight. I looked around and it had to be the happiest moment. Everything went so beautifully. I hope you find my story interesting and see some similarities in your birth story and mine. I love talking about pregnancy, giving birth, being a parent, breastfeeding (I still breastfeed him!!!), and the difficulties with working full time while being a full time mom (Joshua Sr is the one who stays home with our son). Love to hear from you.