The Birth Story of Adley Kate

  We had lots of opinions on when this little lady would make her appearance. 

Every single one, was that she would come early.

Even strangers would approach me, 

"That baby is coming soon."

"I bet you are due any day" etc. ;)

The Case man came exactly 2 weeks early, and Rhetter was induced one week early. 

My Doctor seemed to think she would be here early as well. 

I tried not to think too much about it, as I knew if I got it in my head she would be early, she would surely be late, and I would surely lose my mind wondering! 

There were a few things I really didn't want to miss, that were coming up. 

My friend Eileen's wedding, My Sprinkle, my sister and friends were throwing for Adley, 

and the one thing I reaaally didn't want to miss Case and Rhett's preschool graduation.
Especially because this was Case's last year of preschool, and because it was the last day of school,
 and work for me as I will not be returning...that is until Miss Adley is two! Hee!

Well Tuesday morning, was the start of the last week of preschool.
I turned 38 weeks the day before, and was still feeling pretty good,
besides the normal discomforts of the last few weeks of pregnancy.
(Okay, I do admit, I was getting super tired of not being able to sleep ;)

Boys and I came in, and I had some easy jobs while working,
like assembling the little graduation caps, and sitting and filling water balloons.
It was water day, and a fun, crazy day with all the sweet kids.

I forgot to mention, the night before Matt and I hardly slept.
It was one of those rare nights, where each of the boys were up for one reason or the other,
ALL NIGHT LONG.

So needless to say, after working at preschool,
I was exhausted. My plan was to come home, get Rhett down for a nap, and take a nap myself.
Case is very independent during Rhett's naps,
so I let him know he could play and could come get me if he needed me.

As fate would have it, Rhett was just not going to nap.
Meanwhile, I was having a few stronger braxton hicks, as I had been the last few days/weeks.
I asked the boys to come upstairs and play in their room, while Mommy laid down.
They were very good, and played quietly for quite some time as I rested.
I started timing the contractions, and they were right around 20 minutes apart, lasting about 40 seconds.
Hmm.
It definitely caught my attention that they were consistent, instead of very sporadic as they had been before.

At this point, I started texting my sister.
(reads left to right,also helps to look at the time text was sent ;)

 ...

 
They were seriously hurting...and I was seriously still in denial.
I think I'm always just worried that the contractions will just fade away,
or that we will head all the way to the hospital just to be sent home.

While texting Amy I started to put laundry away, and move around to see if the contractions were still coming on strong, and they definitely were. 

As you read in the texts, Matt was at the gym, and running to Kroger before he was heading home.
I texted him asking where he was, and he replied that he was walking into Kroger.
I replied, "I'm 5min apart and crying"
He immediately called me, asking me if he needed to come home now and take me to the hospital.
I told him we needed dog food and pull ups, and to hurry.

Matt made it home just a little bit before Amy got here.
After talking to Matt, I headed upstairs and started to pack the rest of our bags.
I had packed clothes for the boys, and Adley's bag, but I still needed to get toiletries together, the camera etc.

By this point, the contractions were so strong, and so painful that I had to stop and breathe through them. 
Some were definitely strong enough to bring tears to my eyes.
This was all around 6:00pm.
I finished packing, and came downstairs, and said,
"Wait. I don't think I've had one for a while!"
"You JUST had one that you had to stop and breathe through!" my sister point out.
"I just don't know if it's real!"
"Do you want to wait a little while and see if they keep coming?" she asks.
"I'm going to sit down and see if another one comes."
So I sit on our bench in the hallway and wait.
I kept thinking, of course it's not going to come...but it did. It really did,
and I said the words.
"Okay, I think we need to go."

We kissed the boys Good-bye, and thanked Amy over and over,
and we headed to the hospital.

Matt called his Mom, and our neighbor Joe to make sure he could take care of our big dog Gunner.
He had the speakerphone on, which I quickly asked him to take off,
because HOLY CRAP my contractions were hurting and I needed to breathe and focus,
and I didn't want anyone to hear me if I wanted to cuss or scream! ;)
(Actually I tend to be a quiet, breather and eyes closed kind of girl in labor.
I have to completely focus, and internalize for me to handle them!)

I had several intense contractions on the way,
and had to stop walking after we parked, two or three times to get through a contraction.
(I didn't want Matt to drop me off, I wanted to stay with him)
At this point, I was pretty convinced myself that these were in fact, the real thing.

We arrived in a room right around 6:30pm.
A nurse that reminded me of my Granny in her features, asked me the typical questions,
and got me checked in.
However, she seemed a little odd, she kept laughing, and talking to herself...so when she said,
"I'll just be here for a few minutes, since it's almost shift change time!"
I was a little more than relieved...ha!
She checked me around 7pm, right before she left, and revealed that I was 6 CM!!!

Holy crap.


My night shift nurse came in soon after that, and she was adorable.
Young, and so sweet. (Thank goodness!)
I was getting very nervous about getting my epidural in time, as I couldn't believe I was already 6 cm.
She said that the anesthesiologist was just around the corner, and as soon as they got my IV in, and two bags of fluid in me, I could get the drugs.
 The contractions were pretty intense, and right on top of each other.
 My sweet nurse put a pressurized bag on my fluids, so they would pump faster...
which meant an epidural sooner.

I was starting to feel a ton of pressure, and a quick check later, revealed I was 8 cm.
EIGHT CENTIMETERS AND NO EPIDURAL.
I thought it would seem like forever, but before I knew it that sweet, wonderful woman walked in the room and made the contractions fade away.
But remember that pressure I was talking about?
It was real. Was NOT playing around.
I literally felt like I was going to explode.
Actually, I felt like I had exploded but the explosion was trapped, and didn't have anywhere to go.
It was a horrible feeling.
The contractions weren't there, but the pressure was so intense, I felt like I didn't get any relief.
She was clearly moving down, and getting ready to make her appearance into the world.
Turns out Dr. Voss was the one on call that night,
and if I couldn't have Dr. Youkilis, he definitely would have been my second choice,
as he delivered Case! ...and so I knew him, and trusted him.
He has the same laid back personality as our Dr. Y.

Before I knew it, it was time to push.
The pressure had subsided tremendously, except when I had a contraction,
but I definitely wasn't screaming out in pain anymore.

(Later I told Matt I felt like I was a psycho for screaming, and acting like that,
and he said, "Babe, I promise you weren't screaming that loud, at all.")
I even apologized to the nurse, and she said, "Girl! You are in labor, and you are doing great!"

Apparently my water was about to break at any moment,
"Okay, this baby is going to come out as soon as this water breaks,
it is literally bulging, try to stay still, we have called Dr.Voss!"
(could have explained the pressure!) 
(Also, my nurse told me later, that she was prepared to deliver the baby herself!) 

 I was a little skeptical still that she would come that fast,
even though Dr.Youkilis thought Rhett broke my tail bone during birth,
and was convinced she would come out very easily.

I shared my concerned with Dr. Voss as he rushed in.
He checked me, about the same time my water broke all over the place.
He then said, "Uh huh, you do have a very pronounced tail bone there,
she's still got a while to go."
I told him about the previous two at this point,
and how we had vacuum assistance with both of the boys.
"Well, let's push really hard for about 30 minutes, and see how far she comes,
I'll be back to check on ya."

Crap.
Same story!
I have to admit, I was a little excited about this baby coming out with a few pushes,
but clearly my tailbone was still in tact, and totally in the way.

(Side story: My friend, Kelly Anderson sent me a text while we were on the way to the hospital: 
"I forgot to tell you that Sydney (her 3 yr old daughter) said that you would have Adley tonight at 10 o'clock")
 As I glanced at the clock, it was 9:30pm, and immediately that story popped in my head, 
since he said push for 30 min...
I shared the story with our nurse, and Dr. Voss...they were cracking up! 
"Send her up here so she can be our crystal ball! That is crazy!
How wild is that?? :)

So I pushed as hard as I could when the contractions came,
and as we waited on the contractions to come,
we got to know our sweet nurse a little better, loved her so much!
Turns out she is engaged to an engineer, and went to the preschool that I work at when she was a kid.
(Was a different program, but same building)
She said, Engineers are always with nurses or teachers! :)
Such a small world!

Well, Dr. Voss returned to check on me, around 9:40pm.
Asked me if I would like to push a little longer,
or go ahead and use the vacuum.
I quickly answered, "Vacuum."
I had been pushing for about an hour and a half, so I was definitely just ready to meet this girl. 

He agreed, and he prepared the vacuum, as the baby nurses returned.
Everyone was getting ready for a baby.
Here we go.

We waited for a contraction after the vacuum was in place,
and literally one push later,
our gorgeous daughter was here!
I burst into tears,
and kept saying,
"Oh my gosh, she's gorgeous! She's so pretty...and so tiny!"

 Adley Kate Williams 
 May 20, 2014
7 lbs 13 oz, 20 in
9:48 pm

As our sweet girl got measured, and weighed, 

it wasn't long after that we were sending texts, announcing her arrival! 

I just couldn't believe she was already here! 

13 days early, 

labor began I guess around 3pm, so all in all about a 7 hour labor...

and only around 3 1/2 hours from the time we walked into the hospital! 

Have I mentioned that I am so glad we left when we did? 

So glad I have my big sister to convince me that I'm actually in labor! 

Minutes later, I had that precious teeny baby on my chest, 

and Matt and I fell even deeper in love with our daughter.

Seeing, feeling and touching your precious child for the first time

is simple indescribable. 

The absolute best. 

Makes every single moment of pregnancy worth it in one tiny instant. 

Take your breath away, overwhelmingly, ridiculously magical.

We are so ridiculously in love.

Oh darlin', you are so loved. 

The Birth Story of Rhett Galley Williams

The morning finally rolled around. The morning I was scheduled to start induction to meet our sweet baby boy. I could hardly sleep, we didn't need to be at the hospital until around 7:15 but I was up at 5:30am. I went to the bathroom and when I climbed back into bed Matt told me my phone had rung and that I had a voice mail. 

"Oh No!" I thought. 

"I bet it's the hospital telling me that they don't have room for us."

Sure enough I was right! I had a voice mail asking us to call back, and the lady that answered said that all the rooms were taken right now, but to call back around 8:00am to see if they had one open by then. I was so upset I was almost in tears. I was so afraid that we would call back and be delayed for the entire day. I was so ready to meet this baby, and I was already so unbelievably anxious I wasn't sure how much waiting I could handle!

Somehow I managed to fall back asleep for about an hour, and then I jumped in the shower. I wanted to take a long hot relaxing shower before we went into the hospital and that's exactly what I did. By the time I finished drying my hair and getting ready it was 8:00 and I called back. It was good news! They told us to come on in!

We let my Mom and Sally know what was going on, they had both spent the night. Mom was watching Case for us, and Sally had driven down the night before so she could head to the hospital that morning. We packed like crazy people, I had already packed a little bit but all the last little details still took up some time. I was so bossy and nervous and anxious.

"Matt, hurry up! Oh my gosh, did you get the camera? Where are our pillows, what are we doing let's go! I'm sorry I'm just so nervous and anxious I can't help it. Here, take my picture, don't forget, did we get everything? I'm sorry I know I'm being crazy!"

My nerves were a hot mess, I could not calm down for the life of me! 

Finally, we get out the door, and we ran by Starbucks. (This made me extra anxious too, I was so worried that 10 pregnant women would come in and we would miss our chance because Matt wanted a White Chocolate Mocha and I wanted a Blueberry Muffin and Chocolate Milk)

10 pregnant women didn't come in though, and after Matt parked the car (for what seemed like an ETERNITY) we make our ways upstairs to check in. After the routine questions about insurance the lady handed me my hospital bracelet and it began to sink in a little bit. This was seriously happening, TODAY!

We check in at the desk, and a nurse walks us to our room. The same exact room that I delivered Case in! Although, I didn't remember it because I was in labor when I walked into the room with Case, I didn't even remember what the hospital looked like when I came in with him! 

We did a lot of waiting around, I put on my gown and sat on the bed. Then we waited some more. It was such an odd feeling not being in labor but being in the room...just waiting. We had been at the hospital for a couple of hours before anything started happening. Then our delivery nurse came in to let us know she'd be putting in my IV soon...and we knew her! Matt knew her better than I did, she hung out with the guys Matt lived by in college, and I had met her a few times. Her name was Tiffany, and I remember her being SUPER sweet, and it was kind of nice knowing her outside of the hospital! She was so easy to talk to, and made everything so comfortable for me. She said she thought she recognized me when we were at the desk checking in! 

I was looking forward to seeing if I had progressed any, I was sure she was going to tell me I was 4 or maybe even 5 cm before they started the pitocin to get things started. (I had a lot of Braxton Hicks the night before, at one point I thought I was going to have to wake Matt up and tell him we had to go a few hours early but they went away.) I hadn't though! I was still 3 cm, but a little bit more effaced. (About 70% instead of the previous 50%) I was shocked! 

It didn't matter though, because things started happening soon after that! She put my IV in (hate that part!) 

By about noon my contractions were starting. They started coming about every 3 minutes. They were uncomfortable but very bearable for about an hour. Then they started to get very intense. I was absolutely miserable, I couldn't talk through them, I just had to breathe. Matt had just left for lunch before they started getting bad. My sister was there with me, I remember her asking if she could do anything for me but all I could do was shake my head. Dad came in at that point, and felt like he shouldn't stay. Amy told him he was fine, that I was just in pain and couldn't talk. I heard him say that it was too hard for him to watch. Although, I couldn't say anything I remember thinking that that was so sweet.

By this point we were waiting on the anesthesiologist to give me my epidural. When she walked through those doors I was so relieved! It took a while to receive it because they have to wait and do it between contractions and mine were right on top of each other. She also told me something in my shoulders/spine weren't quite symmetrical so it made it a little more difficult to insert the needle. (Which explains why it took so long with Case too!) Finally it was in, but it was taking a long time for my left side to feel the effects. I was so afraid that it would never numb me completely and I was going to have to keep feeling this pain the entire time. It was hard too because since my right side was now numb it seemed 100 times worse in my left. My anesthesiologist was amazing though, and she assured me she was not leaving me until I was one hundred percent comfortable. Just a few minutes later the remaining pain finally drifted away. Everyone ventured back in from lunch, and they told me I was having a huge contraction and I didn't feel a thing. Thank goodness! I finally took a huge long breath and relaxed. 

My nurse checked me around 2:00 and told me I was 9 cm. My water still hadn't broken, so she called Dr. Youkilis and he came and broke it about 20 minutes later. She checked me again around 2:30 and told me I was 10 cm! 

Dr. Youkilis came in and said "You go girl! Already 10 cm!" I pushed for about 10 minutes, they told me they could see baby's hair but Dr. Youkilis said he would be back later. (I'm assuming he could tell I still had a lot of pushing to do before baby was ready to make his appearance.)

For some crazy reason, my contractions began to lighten up. Apparently after starting the pitocin earlier in the day, my body took over and was doing all the work so she had turned it way down. I would feel one coming, they were watching the monitor and say "Okay, here we go...oh wait it went away." It was so frustrating. She then pushed the pitocin back up in hopes to get things going strongly again. 

I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes with Case, and was looking forward to a faster experience this time. My nurse Tiffany had assured me that second babies were usually much much faster! By about 3:30 my contractions were still unpredictable and she told us that his head was turned slightly sideways which was making it difficult. (Case was the same way) She eventually called Dr. Youkilis back in and told him I was exhausted. I was, I was absolutely exhausted by this point. 

At around 4:15 Dr. Youkilis came in, told us that he was actually facing down and that we were ready.

"Okay, we can do this, it's going to be very simple" I had asked about using a vacuum to help, and he explained what was going to happen. He told me that I had a "pronounced" tail bone that was making it difficult for baby to move down easily. He said as soon as he got the vacuum on his little head that it was going to be very simple. After getting all set up, after all the explanation, and after it was on his head, one push later he was out.

Rhett Galley Williams

Born November 17, 2010
4:29 pm

7 lbs 15 oz

21 in 

Immediately after I delivered him, he was still curled up and blue... and not crying. As soon as I laid eyes on him and they took him right over to their supplies instead of laying him on my chest like we had discussed I was uncontrollably hysterical. I kept asking if he was okay, everyone quickly assured me that he was going to be just fine but until I heard that sweet newborn cry for myself I didn't believe a word anyone was telling me. It was such a blur, and the scariest minutes of my entire life. I heard the "baby catcher" nurse that was working on him say "Come on baby, come on" I looked over and saw another nurse run into the room. From where I was, I couldn't see Rhett, I could only see the nurses backs as they were leaned over working on him to cry. Dr. Youkilis was still with me, and said, "Look at me" I locked eyes with him for a moment and he said "He is going to be okay, he is just fine" 

My nurse Tiffany walked over and said "I promise I would tell you if something was wrong, he's going to be okay I promise" 

After the most excruciating moments of my life I heard that sweet, sweet newborn wail. My heart stopped pounding out of my chest and I began crying happy tears instead of terrified ones. Matt was right by my side the whole time, and then they laid him on my chest skin to skin. He was wide eyed and looking at me, he was here. My sweet baby boy was here and okay and absolutely gorgeous. God is so good! 

Then I had that moment. The moment of holding my beautiful, perfect newborn next to my amazing husband, as we looked at our new child. Our new gift from God. We kept saying he looked so much like Case, and we knew our family of three was now an amazing family of four.

The Birth Story of Case Matthew Williams

The Story of Case Matthew Williams
As soon as my ninth month of pregnancy rolled around I began to become VERY anxious to meet our baby boy. I have loved being pregnant, the whole amazing process, feeling him move inside of me, knowing he’s safe inside my womb, and that God has blessed us with a baby! However, the last months of pregnancy definitely started taking their toll on my emotions and my body. My big pregnant belly was becoming so uncomfortable! I could hardly move around, let alone find a comfortable position to sleep in. Who am I kidding though; sleep was out of the question anyway what with my seven trips to the bathroom every night! Not to mention to liquid fire heartburn I would experience the second I would lay down…I found myself answering “October 6th…I’m SO READY!!! I’m done being pregnant!!!” anytime someone would ask me when my due date was. Matt and I have been waiting to meet this little boy for 9 months now, you can’t blame a girl for being anxious for the end.
Well…approximately 3:00 Monday morning, September 22, I was awoken by some menstrual like cramps. They weren’t unbearable or anything, just uncomfortable. Well, I had about four or five and then I thought (like my sister suggested next time I was to feel cramps…) “I should probably start timing these”. So I did…I timed the next five or six and they were all six minutes apart! I was in complete denial though; I thought “No way, this is just false labor…or Braxton Hicks contractions.” I got up moved around, laid back down… trying to see if they would stop…but they didn’t. My mind began to race… I wasn’t sure what to do! Matt and I had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for the last month or so because neither of us could sleep with each other, (basically because I needed 10 pillows around my huge belly for any chance of sleep, and him snoring through the night and me waking up every hour also wasn’t a great combination.) I was trying to decide if I should wake him up but quickly thought otherwise because he had a HUGE day in Pikeville that day. He had a presentation to give in front of the Mayor and City Commission of Pikeville he had been working on all week, and it was one of his first big responsibilities given to him. He was so excited about it, so needless to say I was going to try and let him sleep. “Ok what should I do” I glanced at the clock and it was already 4:30am, and these cramps hadn’t stopped. I decided to call Mom before waking up Matt to see if she thought I could possibly be in true labor. So my sleepy Mom answered, and I asked her what to do. I told her I didn’t think they were real because they weren’t becoming more intense, so she said well…try to rest and call me back in an hour, but also suggested I go ahead and tell Matt what was going on. So…I go and wake up Matt.
“Matt…I’m having really bad cramps, and they keep coming and they have been 6 minutes apart…”
He’s so sleepy…he’s waking up a little and says “Well, that doesn’t sound like what they said labor would be like” (Well, this just makes me mad, a little advice…never tell a very pregnant wife who is in pain that her pains aren’t real labor even if she doesn’t believe them herself J)
“Matt! Every labor is different and they keep coming!!”
So we decide to wait it out a little bit longer, he comes into bed with me and I try to lay back down and rest. This didn’t last very long though, I eventually had to get up and I paced the bathroom floor for about an hour, and sure enough they kept coming. What was even worse was the pain would flood from the front of my stomach around to my back, and they were getting more intense and closer together. So, I call Mom back around 5 am and she suggests that we go ahead and call the number they gave us to call if I were to go into labor before work hours and just get their advice. (What they think I should do, go into the hospital or wait it out) So, I call the number and she says she’s going to page a Doctor to call me back. Matt and I are sitting in the living room in the dark just waiting for my cell phone to ring…when it finally does a VERY sleepy Doctor answers…I tell him what’s going on and about how my husband has a huge day out of town about 4 hours away and I just wasn’t sure what we should do. He tells me I’m probably not going to have the baby within work hours since my contractions weren’t a minute long yet, but he can’t tell me what to do. “Ok…” I say and he hangs up. (I guess he wanted to go back to sleep and was over the conversation! Ha!) So, we’re still clueless as to what to do. I call Mom back and she says she’s going to go ahead and get ready and come over. (This helps me to calm down a little) Then, I call Amy and say,
“Just thought you should know I’ve been having contractions since 3:00 this morning!”
“What?! I’m coming over, is that ok? I’m coming over ok!”
“Yes come over!” I say.
Well at this point it’s around 7 o’clock and I’m still having contractions, and we decide to wait and call my Doctor’s office since it will be open around 8. So…Matt goes ahead and gets ready for work. He doesn’t have to actually leave for Pikeville until around 11 so he said he was going to go in, and to call him and let him know what the Doctor says. So Matt heads to work and I take a shower and try to get ready as best I can with the pain. (Oh and among all this chaos I also call Pam at Maxwell and let her know I won’t be subbing today that I had been having contractions!) My nerves are calmed because I know my Mom and sister will both be here for me to help me decide what to do, although that calms me down I’m still having painful contractions right on top one another. When Mom arrives she helps me time my contractions, they are right on top of each other but still not that long, I pack my bag and Amy arrives as well. Amy tries to convince me I’m in labor
“Elizabeth you are in labor. You are sooo in labor, I was like 95%% sure over the phone but now that I see you and see you going through your contractions I am 100%% positive you are in labor”
It’s funny because looking back I can’t believe I was still in denial but I was…I truly thought it was still false labor that it wasn’t truly happening yet. So, we call the doctor’s office and they ask how many contractions I’ve had within one hour, we tell them and apparently the nurse thought it was insane, and asked us to call back in an hour and keep timing them to see if they got longer. Well they did, and we called back and she said Dr. Youkilis wanted me to go ahead and come in so he could check me. At this point I think it was becoming a little more real, we call Matt on the way.
“Well, what did the Doctor say?” I tell him he wants to check me and he says “Well, I mean I guess I’m going to go on to Pikeville…”
“You aren’t going to Pikeville today Matt”
“Ok…well ok.” He says.
I know he was so stressed about figuring out what the heck he was going to do with his presentation and I think he was as in just as much denial as I was about the whole thing happening now! I mean it was 2 weeks early! We thought for sure I’d be late!
Well, we get valet parking; I can’t imagine walking further at this point…my contractions were coming every three minutes like clockwork. I make it up the elevator and into the packed Doctor’s office waiting room, I have to stand and lean over the chairs through the pain since it was in my back. We ended up asking for a room in the back because I felt like I was on public display, and I was probably scaring all the pregnant people in the waiting room! So, we go into a room and I lose it a little, I let myself cry and let some of my emotions out…this was getting very real especially since we were in the hospital. Dana my nurse comes in and says
“Looks like we’re going to have a baby today”
“Really??” I say, “I’m just in total denial I don’t think it’s real!”
(Through the conversation Amy says she gives her a look like “Oh yeah she’s in labor” ) Well a few minutes later Dr. Youkilis comes in to check me, He asks me if it’s bad enough for drugs yet and I answer “YES!” He checks me and he reveals that I’m 2 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. He tells me that the effacing is one of the hardest parts and that that’s over, and he informs me that I am in labor. I’m in early labor and that we can head on over to labor and delivery and that he would let them know we were coming.
“Wow! I just knew you were going to tell me that it wasn’t real and that I should just go home!” I say, and he smiles and sends me on my way.
We call Matt and let him know it’s the real deal! On the way to labor and delivery I had to stop every three minutes to get through a contraction, I was leaning on walls, random chairs, in the elevator as soon as we got to the labor and delivery floor I had to run out and lean on a wall to get through it. (A few nurses that were walking the halls were very sweet and were making sure I was ok) We finally get there, and Amy checks me in and Mom and I head on to the room they give me. I get changed and I’m still trying to let it soak in that our baby boy was coming TODAY! My nurse came in to get all my information and the first thing she said was “Well I just have to tell you that Dr. Youkilis said he was sending a real cutie over to us, I thought that was sweet!” I thought that was so sweet as well! So, they start getting me all set up, and I’m still getting through some seriously painful contractions. Mom and Amy are at my side, Matt’s on his way home to get my pillows and to change. The nurse is getting all my information like my address and my allergies and Matt comes running through the door “THERE’S MY BABY!” I say, and I just lost it. It was as if I was being so strong and when my husband came through the door I could let down my guard, it was such a relief that he was there, and now I knew I could do this. He got there just in time to hold my hand when I had to get the IV’s. (This, by the way hurt worse than the contractions!)
About an hour and a half later the anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural (YAY!) However, they tell us Matt can’t stay in there with me because they had a guy pass out and hit his head at some point in the hospital, and now their policy wouldn’t allow the husband to stay. So, the nurse holds my hands and lets me lay on her shoulder as they give me the epidural…not going to lie it hurt. I mean….it HURT. It took forever and finally I hear him say “Ok I think we got it that time” So, as I lay there with tubes going in and out of everywhere my nurse helps me get situated with my massive amounts of pillows (they called me the pillow princess) and from then on it was smooth sailing. I was one happy camper, Matt was telling me when the contractions were coming and I couldn’t feel a thing! It was AMAZING!
The next time they checked me I was 4 centimeters and they said Dr. Youkilis was going to come break my water soon to get things going. So a little later he breaks my water (which was so weird!) They checked me soon afterwards and I was 7centimeters, and I was thinking holy cow that is close! We asked Dr. Youkilis about how long he thought it would be now and he said probably around 10:00pm. At the time it was somewhere between five and six, so Matt decided to go grab some dinner since we probably had some time before I was ready to push. So I’m hanging out with Mom and Amy and my nurse notices that our baby has moved away from the heart monitor, so she checks my belly and says
“Wow he has moved down a lot I’m going to check you.”
So Mom and Amy step out, she checks me and says
“You are complete!”
“What??” I ask…
“Yeah, you are complete, you are 10 centimeters.”
I hear Amy start screaming in the hallway, and she says she’s going to call Matt. The nurse tells us it will still be a while, but Matt comes rushing back in the room and I start to get really excited. I wasn’t in any pain, and now I was just so excited to see our baby!
Well, as our nurse had warned, it was still going to be a little while before we got to meet our baby boy. Dr. Youkilis came in and gave us the news that Dr. Vas would be our doctor, because he had to go coach his daughter’s soccer game. By this point I honestly didn’t care who delivered our baby, just as long as he was out soon!
This part of the story is a little blurry to me, I was so exhausted after a full day of laboring and I hadn’t had anything to eat since the night before, plus I hadn’t slept a wink since 3:00 am. I remember I started to push, and it was so weird because the nurse and Matt had to position my legs because they were as limp as noodles. (This felt so strange!) I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. The nurse had taught Matt how to feel for contractions, and to let me know when one was coming on so that I could push. At one point Matt was the only one helping me and our nurse from the day was over working on charts, which was a little discouraging because it meant it wasn’t coming any time soon. I know I wasn’t working as hard when she was off doing her own thing. Well what seemed like an eternity later, we met our Doctor and he checked me and coached me as I pushed for a while. Then he left again and I pushed some more with my nurse. In the middle of all this, our day nurse tells us her shift is over, and wishes us luck. My night shift nurse came in and she was awesome, she was so gung ho and really forced me to push and be focused. I had been pushing for about 45 minutes and in between each contraction I really felt as if I couldn’t do another one. I would literally fall back and try to rest between each time, but miraculously another one came and the strength to push came out of nowhere and I gave it my all. I do remember asking after an hour of pushing and when the Doctor was back helping me if “he could just use some forceps or something” Dr. Vas told me that the baby was too high for forceps right now, and if I could push for about 30 more minutes and work really hard to get him down he would see if he could use something to help me push him out. Apparently Case was slightly facing upwards, and was pushing against my pelvic bone, which made it more difficult to push him down. However, after 30 minutes of pushing REALLY hard, and being VERY focused with help of my nurse, Dr. Vas said he was going to help me with a vacuum. I remember seeing a few nurses bringing in all the baby supplies, and him putting on his ‘baby catching gear’ and thinking “Ok this is it, they are all getting ready he’s coming out soon!”
Again, this part of the story happened so fast I’m not sure if I remember every detail…but I remember Dr. Vas and nurses all around, ready and waiting for a baby. Dr. Vas, as promised had set up the vacuum and was coaching me through contractions as I pushed. I remember Matt right next to me helping me count and holding my hand, I remember being so focused and everything around me fading away when I was pushing, and when I rested it would all come flooding back . I remember nurses truly getting ready with their arms waiting with a blanket, and all the supplies set up at a hands reach. Then, all of a sudden I opened my eyes after pushing and heard Dr. Vas suctioning something, and he and the nurses saying “Aww he’s got a gimme hand!” and I say “Is his head out?? Is his head out??” I don’t even remember if they answered because one push later he was out and crying! My baby was crying! He was here! Dr. Vas explained that he came out with his hand beside his head, and the nurses joked that it meant he was already saying “Gimme gimme!” However, it was a good thing he did because it was protecting his neck from the umbilical cord that was wrapped around him twice. “So that’s what took so long for you to come out!” Dr. Vas announced.
I glanced at Matt in all of the wonderful chaos and he was just beaming, then I turned back to our beautiful baby and they laid him on my chest and he stopped crying. I put my finger out and he grasped it with his tiny gorgeous hand and stared at me. He stopped crying and just stared at me. I will never ever forget that moment, nor describe how unbelievably emotional or amazing it was. We just stared at each other…we had a moment.
I remember just saying over and over “Isn’t he gorgeous? He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Matt he’s gorgeous did you see?? He’s just gorgeous!” I don’t even remember if anyone answered me, I just remember that’s all I could say. He was gorgeous. Gorgeous, healthy and here!

And so…this is the story of how our beautiful baby boy entered this big bright beautiful world.