The Bartletts: Liam's Birth Story

So this is how the story goes...

It all started on Monday night August 31. I started having contractions while relaxing and watching tv. They weren't consistant but they were somewhat painful but not enough for me to think anything of it. I went to bed around 10:00PM. I woke up several times from contractions. They were becoming more painful. I tried to stay in bed but it just wasn't comfortable. So, I decided to walked around upstairs for awhile. When I got tired of that I decided to go downstairs (I finally got to look at a clock and it was 1:30AM) and do some research online about distinguishing between false labor and real labor. I also tried to time my contractions - they were very sparatic ranging from 3 mins to 5 mins apart and becoming more and more painful. I still wasn't sure if it was "real labor". I think I was trying to make myself think it was false labor because I just wasn't prepared and there were still so many things I wanted to get done before the baby showed up. Next I decided to drink some water (internet said drinking water could help settle false labor so I thought I would give it a shot) and I ate a banana because I knew if it was real labor then I wouldn't be able to drink or eat after I got to the hospital and I was already hungry! :) After not really knowing if I was in real labor or not I again decided to go back upstairs to try and lie down and rest but that didn't last long. The pain was too intense to lay down - it was better when I was walking around. I paced around my dark bedroom for the billionth time. But this time I had to stop moving with each contraction. I could now feel them in my stomach, back and down in my legs. (When I was downstairs on the internet I had read that if you were having contractions in your stomach that moved to your back and into your legs it meant that you were in REAL LABOR!) So, finally I convinced myself that this was probably the real deal. I still didn't want to wake Brandon just yet. I think I lasted another hour or so until I couldn't take it anymore - I believe I was in tears by this time. I decided that I should wake up Brandon. We tried to time the contractions but that didn't work too well. I decided we should just go to the hospital - I was done with the pain!! We got dressed, I finished packing my hospital bag and Brandon got Mya up and ready to go. By 5:30AM we were out the door on our way to the hospital to have our baby boy. We got to the hospital and Brandon dropped me off at the door but I couldn't walk because of the contractions so I had to wait for Brandon to park, get Mya out and go into the hospital to get a wheelchair. Once we got up to the maternity ward they put us in a triage room to monitor my contractions and the baby's heart rate and check my cervix. I was dialated to a 4. The nurse called my doctor to see if he wanted them to admit me or send me home. Thankfully he chose to admit me. YAY! That meant that I could get an epidural!! I finally got settled in the delivery room, answered a long list of questions and got hooked up to several machines. The Anesthesiologist gave me the epidural and I was finally able to relax. I even got to take a couple of short naps. My doctor had 2 surgeries to do that morning so he told my nurse to hold off on getting me at a more advanced labor until 9:30 AM. So at 9:30 the nurse came in and broke my water. She said that before she broke my water I was still a 4 and after she broke my water I immediately became a 6. A little while later they started me on a very low dose of petocin to help keep my contractions more consistant. By 12:30 I was ready and I could feel the pressure become more intense. The nurse called my doctor to tell him I was ready to deliver. Once the doctor got there and the nurses got me ready to go I pushed once and the head came out. I gave 1 more push and baby Liam was born at 1:15 PM. Dr. Groom and the nurses were amazed that he came out in just 2 pushes! It didn't even seem real to me. Liam was here and decided to come 9 days early (little stinker!!) It all happened so fast but I was relieved and so happy to be holding my healthy baby boy! It was a wonderful experience and I feel so blessed that it went so smoothly. I did tear a little bit and it was at a weird angle so my recovery was more painful and took a bit longer but I feel great now!

We really really LOVE our new little guy! He is so cute and sweet and really is a great baby - I couldn't ask for a better baby. He eats good and sleeps good and really never fusses or cries - just on occasion. Mya is loving him too. She loves to hold him and kiss him and she's been a very big helper and great big sister. I truly am in LOVE with Liam and I LOVE my new little family!

Here are a few pictures. We didn't get very many after the birth. Brandon was videoing and like I said it happened so fast that he forgot to take pictures. But we got great video and a few good shots.

Relaxing after my epidural!!