makin' lemonade: Hudson John Harding

October 16, 2013

These last few days I've barely been able to walk and stand. I cried while cooking dinner two days ago because it hurt so bad to walk to the fridge from the stove. When I went to Walmart to grab a couple of things, I didn't know if I'd make it back out. Each step felt like the baby was going to come out at any moment. I would lean all my weight onto the cart, but it didn't relieve a thing. The baby is what motivated me to get the last minute things done. As I think about it now, I think I subconsciously knew the baby was about to be here. I thought I had my nesting instinct kick in a while ago, but it really must've been this week since I literally had everything I wanted done before he got here. His room was completely finished, everything was washed and clean for him and I was ready for him.

Zach, on the other hand, thought he had at least two weeks to mentally prepare himself. He didn't even have his hospital bag packed even though I had been constantly reminding him. I offered to do it for him, but he just thought he had plenty of time to do it himself.

October 17, 2013

Zach had been requesting these Portuguese Chicken Burgers for dinner that he used to have from serving his mission in Sydney, Austrailia so I decided to cook them that night. The recipe calls for habenero chili peppers. He said that they tasted just like they did in Australia so that was a success. I didn't do the dishes that night beause I was tired from cooking and running errands and just needed to sit. We sat and watched TV for a while and took it easy. Lately, we have been going to bed around midnight or later just staying up talking or reading. Tonight I was more tired than normal and we went to bed around 10 pm. For some reason my shoulder was sore and I had Zach rub the knot because it was so tense. I remember saying right before we went to bed, "Everything I wanted done for the baby is done. I'm ready for him to come."

(Sorry this next part is TMI, I'm just warning you all!)

I then woke up around 1:30ish am for my regular bathroom trip and saw that a big amount of my mucus plug had been released. It had already been coming out little by little thoughout the week, but my doctor told me that wasn't a complete indicator of going into labor. I then went back into bed wide-eyed feeling a little tightening in my stomach that was soo mild, I really wasn't sure what to think about it. I then said, "Zach, I think I need a towel." He grabs me one and I set it on the bed to lay on. I tried to fall back asleep, but I couldn't. My mind was going wild... What if my baby is coming tonight? Could he? Already? Is this possible? Oh Heavenly Father please let him come tonight! These were some of the thoughts I had during the 45 minutes I stayed awake. And then... I felt like a very mild pop sensation and out came the leaking! I stood up right before it even reached the bed and stuck the towel inbetween my legs. Success! I didn't wet the bed! I was really hoping for that!

"Zach, my water just broke!"

He got right up surprised and then we began running around like headless chickens. The first thing I did was grab my phone and called my mom to tell her! She was amazing and booked her flight within minutes of me telling her. Meanwhile, I kept leaking and took a quick shower. I was so excited! We both were! Zach was regretting not having his hospital bag packed already, but it's not like it took long anyway.

We checked our hospital list several times, packed the car, grabbed some snacks and headed to the hospital! I shoved some oatmeal down my throat on the way there because you're not able to eat during labor but I was too excited to really eat and it was the middle of the night! Nice thing about going into labor at 2 am was that there was no traffic since our hospital was 30 minutes away. We got to the hospital and were taken to the delivery room. We were too awake to even fall back asleep.

I was in labor for 14 hours total and most of it went by fast. Let me just say, I loved the epidural! It was the best thing ever. I didn't even feel a thing! I wasn't scared at all about going through the delivery process in the first place and I'm glad I wasn't or else it would have been a complete waste of time. My doctor was out of town which was the only bummer, but it his replacement was awesome and really easy to be comfortable with so that worked out great!

I dilated from 3-9 cm fairly quickly, but that last centimeter is what took a while. When I was about dilated all the way, the baby's face was facing the side instead of face down which is prefered. The nurse had me lay in a weird postition for longer than I wanted (about 45 min) to help the baby turn face down. It did nothing, but when the doctor came in to check up on me he said that I was ready to push! The words I was waiting for all along! Whoo!

Both the nurse and doctor told me to expect to be pushing for about 2 hours. Well, being the stubborn person that I am, I wanted to prove them wrong.

After 1 push the nurse said, "Okay stop, he's already coming and we need the doctor in here."

The doctor came and we started pushing again! I pushed again and his head was sticking out and they asked me if I wanted to feel his head! uhhhhhh.... I hesitated to answer and the nurse just grabs my hand to feel his very squishy head and I immediately snapped my hand back. It freaked me out to feel something so soft. Another contraction came and I pushed with all my might.

After 8 minutes total, our beautiful little miracle came into this world at 7 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long.

This was such an emotional moment for me, I cried. I cried a little too much I think because the doctor asked with a concern look if I was okay. I was just so happy. When they set him on my stomach I just cried and stared only at his face. I didn't even notice Zach cutting his umbilical cord.