Once we got to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, literally about 10 minutes away from our house, we walked up to Labor and Delivery and got checked in. Once checked in and dressed in my extremely "attractive" hospital gown they began to monitor the baby's heartbeat as well as my contractions. At that time I was only dilated to 2 cm so they said they would watch me for an hour and then see if I was any further along. After an hour of impatiently waiting for my contractions to dilate me further, the nurse checked and I found that unfortunately nothing had changed. I was upset because that meant they were going to have to send me home until my contractions got worse. Yet after the nurse talked to my doctor my doctor said to keep me there and monitor the baby's heart because 1) I was overdue (I was due on the 29th of July, so I was one day overdue at this point) and 2) they said that there were some abnormal rhythms in the baby's heartbeat. Of course this caused me to worry but my doctor reassured me that it was probably nothing but a precautionary action.
Once all that was said and done the waiting began again. A couple hours passed and my contractions began to get stronger but I wasn't dilating very much. After a while the doctor decided to break my water to hurry things along. When they broke my water they found that my little guy had had his first bowel movement while in the womb, which would cause some problems if they didn't whisk him away right when he was born to suck out all the gunk in his lungs. Once again I began to worry about my unborn child but the doctor said that it would be alright, I just wouldn't be able to hold him right away. She also explained how grateful she was that she had kept me at the hospital and found out that he had had his first bowel movement in the womb-so they could keep an eye on him and get him here quicker.After breaking my water I was in quite a bit of pain because I was having back labor (or so we figured it was). I can't explain the excruciating pain that was coming from my mid-back... it was constant unlike the contractions, and I was having a hard time handling it. Thus I decided it was time to get the epidural, but of course you have to wait a while for the anesthesiologist to get there. While waiting for him the pain got so bad that I felt like I was about to throw up but I kept my tortillas I had eaten earlier that morning down! BTW I was also starving at this point because you can't eat anything while in labor because you will probably throw it all up... so the hunger pains didn't help the situation either.
Once the anesthesiologist got there he gave me the epidural which was a sinch. I was worried about it being painful and nervous for the HUGE needle every one mentions but I didn't even see the needle and barely even felt anything-especially since I was having such bad back labor at this point and nothing else could match that pain! With that said, I am an advocate of epidurals, I feel there is nothing wrong with getting one. Many say they want to be able to experience labor and birthing their child, but believe me you still feel and experience it... plus not feeling every pain that comes with labor didn't make me love my child any less.
Anyway, after the epidural, things got a lot better and I was able to relax a bit. Unfortunately I was progressing pretty slowly up until I got to about 5 cm, then things began to come along quite quickly. Around midnight I was quickly going from a 5 to a 6 and onward from there. Once I was about 8cm along my back pain came back and I was experiencing that horrible pain all over again-this was due to what they call the transitional stage which causes the most pain. But once they got me another dosage of the magic they were feeding me through my epidural, things got better.
Come 3am on July 31st, the nurse told me to get ready to push around 4am. Before I began pushing around 4:15am the nurse told me it usually takes 1-3 hours for first time moms to push their babies out. When I heard this I was flustered because I just wanted the baby to be born right then, not 3 hours from then. I guess my determination to get that baby there asap payed off because once I began pushing it only took me 40 minutes to get him outta there, and that was with me stopping for 10 minutes till the doctor got there! Both the nurse and the doctor were really impressed with my pushing and couldn't believe that it was my first time having a baby... I was pretty proud myself.
Thus come 4:52am on July 31st Stryder Thale Lee was born! He was quickly whisked away to the side to be taken care of so as to get all the gunk out of his lungs before he ingested too much. Mitch got to watch and take pictures while I had to sit silently by listening to my child scream, yet having no picture in my mind to put with the cute little cry I was hearing. As I listened to my new son I was filled with such great love and tears came to my eyes. I couldn't believe that I was now officially a mother of one of God's choice spirit children! After cleaning him up, weighing, and measuring him-which he weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz and measured 19 inches long-they finally gave him to me to hold. At first I didn't know what to do, this little child in my arms was mine and would be forever and I couldn't think of what to do besides hold him and comfort him. Some say that motherhood comes naturally, but I think it's not exactly that easy... I wish I could say that right away I felt like a mom and knew exactly what my child needed and what I should do for him, but I didn't... I was a little weary about what to do. Yet after several days of being with him, I can say that being mom began to come more natural!
After the initial shock of holding MY newborn, I realized he was rooting around and seemed to be starving.. he too must have felt the effect of not eating for 18 hours straight. Before they took him away to the nursery they had me breastfeed and he did wonderful, eating for 40 minutes straight!! After cleaning up and such my family came to visit and they got to see the baby a little bit before they took him to the nursery. I do wish I had had more time with my baby before they took him away, but I understand that they needed to get me fixed and cleaned up and my baby taken care of.
The rest of the hospital stay was fine, I felt really cooped up and couldn't wait to go home but it was good to have the help I needed there at the hospital while I healed and got to know my baby a little better! I appreciate the kindness and care that I and my baby received at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center! Yet once 11 pm arrived on August 1st all three of us were ready to go home. Hence we packed up and took our new little one home with us!
The first night home was tough because Stryder kept waking up and Mitch and I would wake up to every little grunt, cry, and sigh. Yet after a couple days the nights got better, mainly because we got better at knowing what we needed to do for our son and when! Overall it has been a blast getting to know Stryder! He is such a strong boy, seriously though, he is tough for a newborn. I was amazed when only a day old he lifted his head off my shoulder and turned it to the other side and when he was only 4 days old he flipped from his tummy to his back! Even today when he got circumcised he managed to pull his legs out of the restraints they had him in! I really cannot believe the strength he has! He also makes the cutest noises, which we believe sound like a unicorn if unicorns were real! He is ultimately good natured and doesn't ever cry for no reason. He also is adorable!! He has such distinct features and is a good mixture between myself and Mitch. At first we say a lot more of Mitch in him but as he gets a little bigger we see me in him as well!
Having Stryder in our family truly is a blessing! It seemed to be really tough at first but as the days have gone by my instincts as a mother have matured and my knowledge of Stryder and his nature, personality, and quirks have grown. I can't imagine life without him now and we thank God every day for blessing us with this opportunity to be parents of such a wonderful little boy!! I can't wait to watch him grow throughout the years and see his spirit shine! Oh the wonders of being a mom!! And it only gets better from here!
