Jaxon Wayne is here

Our precious bundle of joy is finally here.
Just wanted to share about the day of his arrival...
Jaxon decided he didn't want to come on his due date.  Apparently no one informed him.  When we went to the doctor on May 2 we scheduled the induction since nothing had changed and he was overdue.  It was scheduled for Friday May 4 and we had to be at the hospital at 6:15am. My parents had been here for the past week and a half awaiting his arrival.  Since they got here we have been cleaning and organizing the house getting ready for him.

Brian surprised me and took me to Village Tavern for dinner. One last time just the two of us.

 Yummy key lime pie

We woke up bright and early Friday morning.  I decided to take shower I know crazy right? I couldn't have a bad hair day on the day I met our little guy.  But don't worry I didn't put on any makeup. Nobody really got any sleep that night. I was feeling nervous and excited.  Of course I was up making frequent trips to the bathroom. It was still hard to believe we were going to meet our little guy really soon.  At least finally we had a date and we weren't just waiting around wondering when my water was going to break and when we were going to have to make a mad dash to the hospital.  We had been prepared for the past several weeks.  Every time we left the house our bags were packed and in the car just in case.

All along I was leaving our birth plan open.  I had wanted to go all natural but I would do drugs if absolutely necessary.  We had learned about the pros and cons about different ways to deliver.  I wasn't too crazy about being numbed up.  We knew people that had had some side effects with the epidural.  I wanted some options during labor and wanted the freedom to move around.  Also we wouldn't have an anesthesiologist bill. Call me crazy but I wanted to know what it felt like and wanted to be alert during the delivery.

Ok so at 6:15 a.m. we arrived at the hospital.  My parents, Brian's parents, Brian's aunt were there as well.  There was no one else in the waiting room and they took me back fairly quickly.  They hooked me up to an IV, monitor, and asked me a bunch of questions. It was amazing that the heart monitor tracked the baby's heart beat and my contractions.  The doctor came in and checked me and I was still dilated at 2cm, so he wasn't ready to break my water just yet.  While waiting for things to progress I was making frequent trips to the bathroom.

Around 8am they started the pitocin to help get things along.  Over the next couple of hours I had some cramping but nothing had really changed.  The doctor came to check me around noon and then finally was able to do something at 2:30.  I had dilated to 2.5 cm and he broke my water.  My contractions started soon after that.  I could really feel them at that point.  I was practicing my breathing that we learned at our birthing classes and that really helped.  I was ready to get out of the bed to try different things to manage the pain since the hospital bed was not very comfortable.  At this point the contractions were manageable. There was a glider in the room that I used during contractions.   I also used the exercise ball to rock back and forth which helped.  The contractions got stronger and I ended up throwing up 2x.  Brian was a really good coach and massaged my back to help get me through the contractions.  He even took bites of his barbeque sandwich in between contractions.  He felt bad for eating in front of me.  The monitor I was wearing was able to track when the contractions were coming on and reaching their peak and then when it went back down.  The monitor helped prepare me, but the way the contractions were going I didn't have much of a break between them. The whole time I tried to focus on Phil 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

Around 4:30pm I had already dilated to 4cm.  The nurses suggested I try a different position and lay on either side in the bed.  I wasn't too thrilled to get in the bed, but it really helped.  The problem I was having was that Jaxon wasn't dropping anymore.  While I was laying in the bed I was hugging the side rails when the contractions came on- I told Brian and the nurse I didn't think I could do it anymore.  They both were great coaches and told me I could do it.  The contractions became stronger and I could feel a lot of pressure.  I'm so glad that I kept going because it didn't take too much longer before I heard the nurses say, "ok lets prepare for delivery."  We couldn't believe it was time.

The doctor that had been working with me all day had an emergency at another hospital so I had another doctor to do the delivery,  Dr. M.  He was a great coach as well.  At that point I didn't mind who did the delivery as long as it happened soon.
I pushed for like 30 minutes and  
Jaxon Wayne Jordan which means "God has been gracious" 
was born at 10:14pm on Friday May 4 weighing 8lbs 12oz, 21 1/4 in. in length

It was an amazing experience.  What a miracle to know that God created little Jaxon inside of me.  At the end of it all I'm glad we did it natural.  I knew it would be worth it in the end because we would receive a precious gift.