The day before your birth, October 31st, was Halloween. We spent the evening answering the door for trick-or-treaters and subsequently meeting many members of our ward. We had an adorable 3 year old Mario brother take a handful of candy which rendered our candy box empty so we turned off the porch light. We scooped big bowls of vanilla ice cream and mashed in double stuffed oreos and decided to watch the 1st Star Wars movie. Matt and I went to bed around 10:30, with no idea you would be born in less than 8 hours.
At midnight I woke up to go the bathroom, this was nothing new. About 15 minuted later I thought I had to go again, and about 10 minutes after that the same thing. Getting back into bed at 12:30 made me realize my back was really hurting, so I nestled up next to Matt so his warmth might soothe my back pain. This lasted for about 5 minutes before I got up to go to the bathroom again. Except when I rolled over I felt something different and quickly stood up to find my water had broken. I thought there would be a huge gush of water but there really wasn't that much. At first I thought I peed my pants but there was no way I had that much water given I'd gone to the bathroom 3 times in the last 30 minutes. So at 12:40 we called my mom. She asked me to roll around and see if water kept coming out, which it didn't. I was half tempted to go back to sleep in fear that my water hadn't broken. Matt suggested we go to the hospital anyway, especially because we had an hour drive, and just see what they think. While I told my mom about my back pain, bathroom adventures, and tried to get dressed Matt ran around the house grabbing the last minute things we needed for the hospital bag (cell phone chargers, camera, contacts, etc.). I told my mom I'd call her back at the hospital.
Since we had moved from Layton to Taylorsville just 2 weeks prior, I didn't want to change doctors or hospitals. Matt and I had taken a few practice drives to other nearby hospitals in case of an emergency but I really had my heart set on having my doctor deliver our baby. Lucky for me my doctor's practice didn't believe in "on-call" doctors and they all delivered their own patients unless they were out of town. At my appointment 4 days earlier I was already dilated 4 cm and 75% effaced. My doctor instructed me to come to the hospital when I was having contractions 6-8 minutes apart or when my water broke.
We got in the car and Matt handed me a pillow, a towel to sit on, and his phone to use the contraction timer app. At every freeway exit leading to a hospital Matt asked me if I wanted to stop. Of course I didn't want to stop and I didn't know if I was even in labor. The pain in my back was growing stronger as we drove and I wondered if these were contractions so I timed them with the app. I was having contractions about every 2 minutes and sometimes every 30 seconds. After about 50 minutes we arrived at the hospital and I texted my mom to let her know I would call her once they checked me.
We had to ring the doorbell/intercomm since it was afterhours to be let into the Ogden Regional Medical Center Women's Center. They let us in by remotely unlocking the doors and we walked in assuming we could easily find the check-in. Matt and I had driven to the hospital previously and found the entrance but we hadn't actually gone inside. We had no idea where to go! Matt ran back outside and rang the bell/intercom and asked where we go- up the elevator to the second floor. I could hear the charge nurse answer Matt's question and found the elevator while he came running back to me.
At the desk I let them know I thought I might be in labor and that my water might have broken. I hadn't tried walking or talking during contractions but I also hadn't had my walking or talking interrupted by contractions. The women let me know she would call someone to check me and that we could start filling out paperwork. I couldn't sit down and was grabbing the back of a chair telling Matt "if this isn't labor I don't think I can handle having this baby."
The nurse called me back to check me while Matt stayed to fill out paperwork. In the room she asked me to pee in a cup and change into a gown. I was surprised to find so much blood when I went to the bathroom but the nurse didn't seem to concerned. I got on the bed and waited for the nurse to come back. A different nurse, Deanne, came and checked me. While she was checking she asked me what I was at my last appointment and I told her a 4 and that I hear Dr. Bierer is generous. Fulling expecting her to say I was a 3 or still a 4, I was shocked to hear I was already 9 to 9.5 cm and 100% effaced. I started crying realizing I was having this baby, my mom wasn't going to be able to come in time, I might not get an epidural, and Matt was somewhere filling out paperwork. Deanne told me she had her 3 babies naturally and she could help me do the same if I wanted. I told her I really wanted my husband and an epidural.
When Matt finally came into the room he called my mom to share the news. He also had the bright idea of plugging in the phone and having her participate via phone. He did not think of the speakerphone capabilities but luckily my mom/shannon called the hospital and reminded us of this technology.
At about 2:30 I received my epidural and the anesthesiologist didn't hook up a pump because my labor was going so fast. The epidural got rid of some of my back pain and some of the feeling in my right leg but that was it. When he left I thought "aren't I suppose to love you and think you are the most awesome man ever?" Instead I though I love my husband and he is the most awesome man. Matt had been pushing with all his might on my legs to relieve the pain in my back since we got to the hospital and without him I do not think I could have survived. Deanne told us to try to rest while the epidural started working and then she would check me.
The pain I was having, the sounds I was making, and the sweat I was dripping were intense and all I could think about. My mom kept telling me to blow the pain away and Matt kept telling me I was doing great. I didn't feel like I could blow anything away or that I could handle the pain or that I could stop making the sounds. I remember thinking that the noises don't help anything but I couldn't stop them from coming. I also never let go of the hand rails and had my eyes closed a lot. Matt was feeding me ice chips, since I thought letting go of the bed would result in a total loss of control.
After about 30 minutes I was feeling the urge to push so Matt called the nurse. She checked and said I was ready to start pushing and gave me great tips on how to be effective. I remember telling her I didn't want to be a bad pusher! We called the anesthesiologist back to try to redo my epidural since it wasn't working like it should. This time a different guy came and he was so rude. I remember telling him that he wasn't very nice. He said he couldn't redo my epidural because I was so close to having the baby and so he just re-dosed. Again I thought I was suppose to love the anesthesiologist and didn't.
At 4:45 Deanne called Dr. Bierer and said the shift changes at 5 so lets have the baby before then. Deanne told me I had to stop pushing and wait for the doctor, this was practically impossible and I think I kept pushing besides my best effort. Deanne told Matt to look for a white Ford truck out the window because that is what Dr. Bierer drives, I think she wanted to give him something to do to distract him. The truck came, Dr Bierer arrived, and three pushes later Henry was born at 5: 11 AM!
During that last push I remember screaming "what is happening" and "it burns so bad" and then whispering "I love you sweet baby." Henry was laid on my tummy with his head on my right side and he immediately started peeing everywhere. He had little chunks of "baby frosting," bright red lips, the cutest cry, and LOTS of hair. Matt got to cut the cord and then he followed Henry to the other side of the room to be weighted and measured. Henry's apgar was 8 and 9, he weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long.
Dr. Bierer shook mine and Matt's hand telling us congratulations and headed out the door. My mom and Shannon were so excited and kept telling me Henry sounded so sweet and that I did a great job. My dad got on the phone for a minute and I could hear his smile through the phone.
After Henry was all bundled up and handed back to me, the hospital staff left leaving just my little family in the room. Henry kept softly crying and looking hungry! I called the nurse, which had now changed to Dede, to help me feed him. Every nurse commented on how great his lips were for nursing!
After his first attempt at eating Henry went with Matt to get a bath in the nursery. While I was alone in the room I said a pray of thanks to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a healthy son and for helping me survive giving birth.
While holding Henry and talking with Matt sometime later in the day we decided he was to be named Henry Matthew Huntsman. We have loved him every minute!
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