The day Ethan was born!

I have been meaning to write for a while but as most of you know my life has been a little busy lately! For all the right reasons! 

Where to start! So Ethan was due on Friday September, 16^th my due date rolls around and still no baby… Those of you who know me know that I have ZERO patience! At my doc appointment the week before after a tearful breakdown I begged to be induced that Sunday if I didn’t go by my due date. At that point my hips hurt so bad my legs felt like they were always going to give out, I am not kidding! I was in so much pain and Ethan was SO big (I didn’t at the time realize how big 8lbs, 14oz! BIG) that every time he moved it hurt. 

I was 40 weeks pregnant here! this was taken on the 16th of September, I was HUGE

 Let me tell you I tried EVERYTHING to induce myself, I would walk on the beach till I felt like I was going to die, I made Derek buy me a yoga ball and I would bounce on that thing, no joke like 10 hours a day, maybe more. I ate spicy food, went swimming and nothing worked. Ethan was perfectly happy where he was! 

That Sunday started like every other Sunday, I attempted to sleep in, which usually meant I laid in bed watching Derek sleep in a coma like state. Looking on in envy I decided to roll out of bed, literally I had to roll to get up lol it was quite comical! About an hour later Derek got up and took me out to breakfast.

Now I am not sure if most of you know but I worked at a medical clinic in San Diego and that is where I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Kaity Collins. Dr. Kaity became to be my 2^nd Mom, or my California Mom as I like to call her.  Dr. Kaity had been a midwife most of her life so she was a baby expert!  Which was great for me, probably not as great for her, as I would call her, email her, text her 10 times a day asking a million questions lol; I thank God every day for having someone like Dr. Kaity forever in my life. 

Since she had been there though my entire pregnancy I had asked her if she would be there when I delivered Ethan, It also was a peace of mind for me (and Derek) knowing someone was there I knew and trusted and also knew what she was doing if something went wrong. Not like I don’t trust the doctors at the hospital but it was just different, it made me feel more at ease. 

We went into the hospital the night of the 18^th around 7:00pm. I was terrified. Don’t get me wrong I wanted to meet my baby more than anything in the entire world, but the mother in me started thinking, what if something goes wrong? What if something is wrong with him they didn’t see? Derek and Dr. Kaity soon calmed me down and we were brought up to our room. 

After 30 min of them attempting to get an IV in me they started my pitocin. The contractions started slow, then within 10 min they were 3 min long back to back, as in I had NO break in between them. Now I think back to the movies where women are screaming through these and I think to myself, I have NO clue how they can do it! Obviously it’s the movies but still I was in the most pain I have EVER felt in my entire life and all I could do was sit there, not move and breathe, it would have taken way to much energy to scream.  It didn’t help that Derek was sitting there staring at me going, “Megan, Megan are you okay? Are you contracting?” lol UGH YES DEREK I AM SHHH! Anyways they had to stop the pitocin because the contractions were so strong and long that Ethan’s heart rate was dropping to low. 

They then called the doctor and about 3 hours later started the pitocin again. The contractions were not as bad this time, at least not at first. I think I lasted about 45 min (maybe) before I was asking for my epidural.

Now even though I knew the epidural took the pain away I also knew how BIG that needle was and that was not to appealing. The doctor came in, rose up the bed so I was eye level with him and then told me, “Okay Megan you CAN NOT move, I am putting a needle very close to your spine and if you move you could be paralyzed for the rest of your life.” Umm okay thanks I will be sure not to breathe. Let me tell you I didn’t even know he put the needle in, within minutes my legs started to tingle and then the pain was totally gone. By the time Derek and Dr. Kaity came back into the room I was like hey this is GREAT! Let’s watch a movie! Lol  

Well I went through the night and the next morning I hadn’t made much progress so the doc came in and broke my water, by 5:00pm Monday night I was 8cm dilated and they started setting up the room. At this point I had been in labor for 20 hours and was exhausted, I remember looking at Derek telling him I had no idea how I was going to push a baby out.

5 more hours had passed and I was still 8cm, so the doc came in and told me she thought the reason I was not dilating more is because he was too big and that I would have to have a c-section. She said they would bring me down within the hour. I started bawling, c-section? I mean I knew it was a possibility since I was induced but heck they were setting up the room and now this? I was so scared; I didn’t want to be sliced open! I called my Mom and she settled me down and told me that even though it was scary I was going to meet my baby for the first time in just a little bit. Then of course I called Vanessa even though it was like 6:00am in Michigan she answered her phone and made me feel better :)

 

On a quick side note: My Mom was not there because we did not know when I was going to go into labor and then when we found out I was going to be induced it was too late. PLUS we were moving to Florida a few weeks later and I told her she would be a HUGE help to be there when we moved into our new home, and she was! She was here for over 3 weeks and I cried like a baby the day she left. I have the best Mom in the world :)

 

Anyways the nurses wheeled me down to surgery and started to set up the room, at this point Derek wasn’t in there yet and I was a little scared. They numbed me from the chest down and did a few tests to make sure I couldn’t feel anything. Then Derek came into the room and the doctor told me they were going to start. I don’t think I was really THAT scared until I saw the look on Derek’s face, I have never seen him like that in my life, I know he was nervous and I know he was worried about me. But even though I could tell he was scared he grabbed my hand and told me he loved me and that in just a few minutes we would be meeting our baby boy. 

Now even though I was numb I could feel them cut my skin, then through my muscle and within seconds I heard Ethan cry for the very first time, makes me tear up thinking about it. It was the best sound I had ever heard in my life. Derek stood up and I heard him say, “Oh baby he is just perfect!” Then I passed out, not from anything else besides being exhausted, I BARELY remember Derek bringing Ethan over to me. 

I do not remember this picture being taken AT ALL I was so out of it

Then I woke up about an hour later in recovery. Derek was standing next to me holding Ethan and the VERY first thing Derek said to me when I looked at him was “Litttttle worried about the shape of his head!” lol If there was a cone head competition Ethan would have taken first place! Lucky his head was back to normal the next morning :)

The only thing that was hard about having a c-section was not being able to pop out of bed when he would cry or be able to stand to change his diapers for the first few days. You really don’t realize what you use your abs for until someone slices through them. DO NOT watch Modern Family 2 days after a c-section lol I was CRYING as I was laughing. 

Fast forward a few weeks we started our trip from the west to the east coast! We got to stop in El Paso for a few days and stay with my good friend Jenny her husband Trevor and their little girl Mari! Who is also Ethan’s girlfriend ;) We went to a wine festival and it was a ton of fun! I was a cheap date since I had and still have a super low alcohol tolerance! I loved hanging out with Jenny and Trevor we had SO much fun! It’s really nice hanging out with other friends who have kids :)

Ethan and his Girlfriend Mari :)

We made it to our new home in Jacksonville, we were lucky enough to be able to stay with our friends Eric and Kelli for a few days while we searched for a new home.  We found our new house and we love it here!  My days are now filled with dirty diapers, smiles, laughter, crying, naps, Mickey Mouse Club House, books and I could not be happier J though I am tired 90% of the time I am getting more and more use to it every day.  Derek is the best Dad in the world. I know EVERY wife says that about her husband but he really is. The love he gives Ethan in unconditional and they way he plays with him melts my heart :) I have to remind myself to thank God every day for the many blessings in my life. My life is now complete:)

I get to kiss this face every day and I LOVE IT!