by Ashley W.
My son Nehemiah was supposed to be born on November 15, 2008 but I decided that I wanted him to come earlier. By my ninth month my feet were swollen, my back was aching and I was ready to give birth.
So, on our last doctors appointment I told my doctor to schedule me to get induced the next week. After waiting and waiting and being extra nervous, 4:30 Thursday morning I was up and ready to head to the hospital.
After we checked in and I got settled into my 12 1/2 hour bed, the nurses were ready to do their job. She asked me if I wanted to feel the pain or get druged up. I told her to give me all the drugs you got but make sure it doesn’t affect my baby. The medicine that she gave me would induce my labor and cause me to have contractions. So, I was really preparing for that.
I had to wait until I was 4 centimeters dialated before I could get a epidural. The time came when the contractions were about to hit me hard. The first one came and I took it like a champ! The second one came and I was crying like a baby so the nurse came in and druged me up. I felt really good after that.
While we were waiting for me to be fully dialated, all I did was sleep and eat ice. The time seem like it was going so slow. About 4 hours before I gave birth, it was time to get my epidural. This was the most scariest part for me because I knew I had to feel pain. So, they cleared everyone out and it was just me and two nurses.
I had to be very still. After they got me prepared, it was time for them to put the needle in my spine. It hurt so bad but at least I wasn’t going to feel any pain.
Finally, at 5:30pm I was ready to go, in 33 more minutes I would be holding my son. It was time to start pushing. I pushed and pushed and pushed and my baby kept going back in. The doctor said, push and count to ten then stop. The baby heart rate was dropping everytime he went back in. That made me really nervous but also made me want to get this pushing right. So, I got it together after 33 minutes and my son came out crying.
It was a sound I was dying to hear for 9 months! I was so happy to see him! What was so surprising about our son is that he was so small, 6lbs 3oz, we thought he was going to be much bigger than that.
The doctor laid him on my chest and the feeling was so amazing. Tears of joy! They took him and cleaned him up and made sure everything was okay with him. They let him stay in the room with us for about 3 hours and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
Nehemiah is my first and only child and I didn’t have any complications with him. The whole experience was smooth sailing. The birth of my child is an experience I will never forget!