| It's a BOY |

March gave us quite a few surprises! My husband and I celebrated our birthdays (yup! we share the same birthday, only a year apart!) on March 13 and enjoyed a delicious meal with both of our families. A short 4 days later, I was in labor!! Our due date was April 1, so this was NOT expected at all. 

We had our 38 week appt that morning, where we found out I was 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. I was in denial. Our doctor told me to go home and take it easy- and that my water might be breaking soon. I said I had a bunch of errands to run! I wanted our baby to stay put for a couple more weeks. My husband was a bit weary, so he told me to rent a movie, put up my feet, relax, and NO MORE ERRANDS. :)  I felt great most of the day. I rented a movie, ordered some pizza, and waited for my husband to come home and relax with me. The first contraction hit around 8pm. I was still thinking ok, this is the start of it. We'll keep this baby in for a couple more weeks. The contractions were inconsistent, so I got ready for bed and wanted to sleep. I was exhausted!! 

Around 10pm, the contractions started up again, this time a bit stronger, longer, and more consistent. We started the labor process: controlled deep breathing, warm baths, exercise ball, swaying back and forth in different positions. My husband was a champ! We were both so tired at the end of the day. He can sleep through anything- so while we were charting and timing the contractions, he'd fall asleep in between each one!! It wasn't too hard to wake him up when I'd scream, "ANOTHER ONE HAS STARTED!!!" {there is absolutely no way to describe the pain of a labor contraction. deep breathing, prayer (hello, phil 4:13), and my husband coaching me through was the only thing that got me through!!}

4am: contractions were just under 5 minutes apart, just over 1 minute long, and consistent for about 1 hour. (the 5-1-1 rule) We're about 30 minutes away from the hospital, and once I remembered that I was adamant we LEAVE NOW. I was dreading going through contractions in the car. Luckily, we had a lot of distractions (looking out for cop cars!) while my husband sped our way to the hospital and made it in record time. :) We went through triage pretty fast- I had progressed to 7cm and 100% effaced. Our baby was coming soon!

So my goal was to deliver naturally- no drugs, nada. It was my first thought when we found out we were pregnant, and I decided I'd put up a good, long fight before I even thought about getting an epidural. I'm not against drugs, I just wanted to experience all that was labor in the most natural way possible. Our bodies were created to do this, so why not?! {again, there is no way to describe labor contractions.} We labored some more and I progressed to 8cm, but my water had not broken. Our doctor had a couple of c-sections scheduled, so he'd check in on us in between surgeries. An hour passed, and there was no progress on my side. Still 8cm, water bag still in tact. I had been laboring about 10 hours at this point. I began to lose feeling in my arms and legs (pins & needles!) as each contraction was about 1.5 minutes long and some were back to back (NOT FUN). My husband and I fought for so long- and I had finally reached my breaking point. The doctor said I needed to relax my body in order to progress. Um, my body had been through a major, consistent workout for the past 10 hours. There was no way I could relax and not feel tempted to push that baby out!!

I broke down and asked for a light epidural. There was zero strength left in my body!! And if I needed to relax to progress, I wasn't going to be able to do it on my own. Yay, drugs! The second that epidural kicked in, I passed out- like deep sleep that my body longed for. Another hour passed, and I hit 9 cm, felt like I was ready to push, but my water was still in tact! Doctor had to break it himself, and only a little water came out. This baby was ready to go- I pushed for about 20 minutes, and out came our head full of hair, beautiful baby BOY! Through all this, I kind of forgot that we didn't know the sex of our precious child. Dr. let us know it was a boy and we were just thrilled. 

Ethan | 6lbs 8oz | 20.5 inches
March 18, 2011
My family :)

Hard to believe our lil guy will be one month old this Friday! We just love staring at him and seeing how he changes from day to day. His little personality is starting to show, and he is one milk monster. At 3 weeks, he's up to 9 lbs. This momma needs to work out. I ventured out for the first time, just me and Ethan and I was pooped toting along the carrier. We are relishing every moment with him, knowing time is just going to fly. I love my little chunky cheeks!

Ethan: 2.5 weeks old