Colter's birth story: February 26, 2011

Out of fear that details will soon start to escape this sleepy mommy brain, I wanted to

get down Colter's birthday story so we can remember in the years to come. In the days leading up to Colter's birth, I started having some fairly regular braxton hicks contractions. Ben & I stayed home from work on Thursday & Friday because they were painful enough that I needed some help coping. I woke up on Friday at 1:30 am with regular contractions about 5 min. apart. This went on for a couple of hours and we decided that it was time to head in. Ben called the dr. on call and she notified triage. I said I wanted to wait one more contraction before going and that contraction didn't come for another 20 minutes! We were pretty frustrated because

we were ready to have this baby! The rest of Friday was spent watching movies, going for circles around the neighborhood, bouncing on the exercise ball, taking baths, etc. Finally around 4:30 that afternoon my contractions stepped up in intensity and timing and at 5:30 we were ready to head in. The hilarious thing about the timing is that throughout my pregnancy I joked that I told Colter he can't go into labor Friday afternoon because the hospital is downtown and I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. Of course, we headed down Friday at 5:30 :)

Ben jokes by saying it is his first act of disobedience. Fortunately traffic was not that bad and we got to the hospital after only 3 contractions in the car.We went to triage and they were totally full so we got put into a room instead of having to wait in one of the small bays. I was checked and only at 2 cm dilated. They were debating sending me home, so the nurse suggested walking for an hour to see if I progress.

After an hour of strolling the halls, we came back and she said she would call me a 3 for admitting purposes. I then went into the bath which was a lifesaver for the next 1 1/2 hours. Around 12 they checked me again and I was barely at a 4. It was pretty frustrating, but at this point, I was ready for that epidural! The relief was amazing and we were all able to get a decent amount of rest from 1-7 that night.

By morning I was only at a 5 and I started to get worried I might have to have a c-section. Fortunately over the next several hours I progressed fairly quickly and by 2 in the afternoon I was ready to push! Ben and my sister were able to see the head right away and they both kept commenting on "how much hair he had!" Fortunately I didn't have to push very long before Colter made his entrance at 2:35! The whole experience was incredible and overwhelming. One

minute I was video taping my bouncing belly and the next I was staring at this wide eyed baby boy. He is absolutely a miracle. We have had fun trying to pick out features and study every inch of his little body.