Broc's birth story

  Well, in case you didn't know my dear sweet little bear  is finally in the world!
  I want to write down his birth story before  I forget anything valuable. I will start with Monday.
  On Monday, January 11th I posted on here how I was going to be induced the next morning at 6:30 AM. I also mentioned that I went in for a stretch and sweep and Corry took me to Burgerville after for a last date before baby. When we got home, I noticed my contractions were getting a little more intense. Corry burned some Moxa on my leg (chinese medicine treatment) to help strengthen my body and give it some energy. I ended up taking a nap then. When I woke up my contractions were more intense. Then we went about our day, and headed to bed.
  Corry fell asleep just fine, but my contractions were hurting me a lot. They didn't become consistent until midnight though. Around 11:30, I decided I should take a bath because I figured we would probably be headed to the hospital soon. So I took a nice bath and laid in bed for a couple hours. From midnight to about 2:00, my contractions were a consistent 4-5 minutes apart and were beyond painful. At about 2:00 I couldn't take it anymore and as I was getting through a contraction I decided I would wake Corry up, but he woke up and said "is it time to go?" I said yeah and we headed out the door.
  We got to the hospital around 2:15 and I got checked in. *note: if you remember I was only 3 cm dilated on Monday at the stretch and sweep appointment.* I was put into a room and when they checked me I was 5 cm dilated. I was so happy to hear that! They measured my contractions and baby's heartbeat for a while and determined I was in active labor. I honestly don't remember a whole lot from about 2 AM to 6 AM. I was on the monitors for a while and labored for a while. I called my dad at about 2:30 AM and told him I was in labor. We called a couple other close family members as well, but we mostly just waited while I went through contractions. Oh! I remember what happened. They hooked me up to an IV for the antibiotic drip I had to be on. They had a hard time trying to find a good vein because according to every person who sees my veins, I have "valve-y veins". It was a painful process, but they finally got an IV in. I had to lay in bed while the drip was going, so they had me on the monitors. And because the contractions were so incredibly intense and painful, I threw up quite a bit.
  My midwife got there around 6 am and we talked about the plan and everything. When she showed up, I was still a 5. She had me walk the halls a little bit. That was seriously painful. It took us 10 minutes to get down a small hallway because of the intensity and pain of the contractions. Then I went back into the room for a while. I labored in my room for a long time. My dad came and was there during the laboring process. I can't remember what time, but hours had gone by and I think it was probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon at least when the pain became so intense I felt like I would pass out. I was still vomiting at that point. Interestingly though, I could get through the contraction just by breathing through it. You always hear "just breathe through it" and when I did I thought "BREATHING ISN'T GOING TO HELP!" But it did. So did my sweet husband kissing me, rubbing my back and encouraging me. Anyway, around 3 I think, I paged the nurse and said "I don't want an epidural, but is there something I can have for pain?" They offered me a pain med in my IV and I said yes. So they put it in, and even though the contractions were still a 7 or 8 on the pain scale, I found I could get through them with absolutely no problem.
  After that I felt more relaxed and I was able to even nap a little here and there. I stopped vomiting and I became super talkative. Then sometime around dinner, they began to inflate the birth pool for me. The water hose wasn't warming up the water enough I guess, so they brought someone in to fix it. I continued to labor. A lot of the time I labored I don't really remember because all I was really doing was breathing through contractions and trying to keep calm. My husband was so supportive and loving though. I remember one time going through a really painful contraction while my dad and stepmom were in the room, and I was trying to breathe through and get through it on my own. I said "Corry I need you" and he came over, just held my hand and kissed me. I think he said something like "you've got this." He was wonderful.
  Around dinner time they broke my water to get things moving a little more. It didn't hurt at all, but it was a huge gush of liquid. I remember thinking "Well, now I know what to look for for the next baby." And I continued to labor.
  I don't know exactly what time, but close to the end since they were working on getting the pool filled I went into the bathroom and had a warm bath to help my contraction pain. I had to have help taking my clothes off and getting in the tub because I was in so much pain at that point. I got in the tub and my midwife left for a minute to go eat dinner or something and I all of a sudden felt the overwhelming urge to push. It was a crud ton of pressure on my lower body and I almost felt like I couldn't hold back from pushing. I told Corry I felt like I had to push. He asked if he should get the nurses and I said yes. The nurse came in and then went and got my midwife. I was in a ton of pain at this point, but still managing to breathe through it. But the urge to push grew stronger and stronger every second. My midwife came in, and while I was still in the bath, she checked to see how dilated I was. The nurse and my husband held my head up out of the water while she checked. My midwife, Kirsten, said "you're at an 8. Actually, let's get you out of the tub so I can get a better look." I got out of the tub and dried off for the most part. They all helped me back into the main part of my room. I sat on an exercise ball for a minute and then got back into the bed. My midwife said "let's check again" and they checked. I remember that moment so vividly. She said "you are a 9... wait a second..." she looked a little more and then "no actually, you are a 10. You're there, so if your body feels like it needs to push then go with your body." So I pushed because I couldn't hold it anymore. It was the most intense feeling ever. Not necessarily painful, just intense. Then my midwife asked if I wanted to move from the bed to the tub for my waterbirth like I planned. At that point I was so deep in the pushing that I said no and I just wanted to get the baby out and in my arms. She asked if I would be upset or mad if I didn't go in there. I said no. So it began.
  My midwife, husband, and nurses were amazing. I would push with all I had until the contraction ended. I remember probably only halfway through, my husband touched his forehead to mine and said "you can do this, you've got this. I'm right here okay? Everything's okay" and things like that. Then another contraction came on and I pushed hard. My midwife coached me through it while she was getting ready to get the baby. She told me to put my chin to my chest, and told me to keep going even though it would sting and burn. She even told me to get mad at the contractions and push harder. I was so out of breath, and pushing was hard emotionally and physically. I was so tired and breathing so hard. After almost an hour of pushing, the nurse brought up that I would have to have another dose of antibiotics at 8:15 if the baby wasn't out yet. She said she could only delay it 15 more minutes after that before it became mandatory to give it to me. I prayed as I pushed saying "please let this be the push" in my mind over and over. At 8:15, everyone started getting excited saying  I was so close. My husband was getting so excited and saying "you're almost there honey, you're doing amazing" and things like that. Finally I pushed as hard as I could for as long as I could, and then kept going. I sort of yelled a little and then it happened. 3 minutes before I would've had to get more antibiotics, his head came out and I felt it tear down there, but I didn't care because I felt so much relief. I dropped my head and panted. I heard my midwife tell Corry to grab the shoulders, and next thing I knew, my husband was placing my precious baby boy on my belly. As the baby came out, I felt another even more intense wave of relief come over me. My husband said he could see it on my face with each wave of relief. There he was, my sweet Broc Edward William Meyers was put on my belly by my loving husband. Broc began to cry, and his eyes were wide open. Two seconds after being placed on my belly, he lifted his head up and looked around trying to find Corry because he heard his voice. Once he found it, he put his head down and looked at him. Then he looked back at me again. I was in shock. This little baby was the one I had been carrying for nine months. I felt him kick in my belly. I felt him hiccuping. I had seen the silhouette of his tiny body and organs on the ultrasounds. And now he was here, living and breathing on my belly.
  The nurse cleaned him off a little and handed him to me while my midwife repaired the tear down below. I was barely aware of the fact that she was stitching me up. I was barely aware of the needle that shot pitocin into my leg to stop the contractions. I only had eyes for my sweet baby boy and my husband, who said he had to really work to fight back tears. I could see them in his eyes. His smile was as big and long lasting as it was during our sealing ceremony in the temple.
  It was the most incredible experience of my life. I can't believe that I actually gave birth to a child. Brock Edward William Meyers came out at 8:27 pm on January 12th after 20.5 hours of labor. 8 pounds 13 ounces and 20.5 inches. Although it was extremely painful, and the most painful experience of my life, it was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I was never scared of labor or birth. But I thought it would be a lot more painful than it actually was.
  I am so grateful for the amazing and beautiful experience it was. I'm grateful my husband was there with me, and I am grateful we didn't need to induce. I love my baby boy and my husband. I love being a mommy. It's the most wonderful feeling.