May 29, 2008 Ethan arrives @ 8:43pm!

So here's the story of Ethan's birth...
This is of course, my first time being a mother and my first time going into labor. But all I knew of labor is that my mom's all went pretty quickly and she usually had each of us kids within a couple hours after showing up at the hospital...
This isn't that kind of story.

I was due on May 27th, but expected I might be a bit late (seems that's typical with your first). I went to Bible study with a friend that night and started not only noticing my contractions in a different way, but also began timing them and they seemed to stay pretty regular. After about an hour, we noticed that they were usually between 6 and 10 minutes apart, but staying closer to every 6 minutes. I was with my friend Kristen Redman and we decided better to be safe than sorry, so we showed up at the hospital to check on my status.

After getting checked out and walking around the hosptial for an hour, they checked me again and I was still about 1-2cm dialated. So the nurse said I might be more comfortable at home since I was still in what's called "early labor". So I went back to Kristen's and tried to sleep it off. All through the night and the following day, I continued keeping track of my contractions and now they seemed to be between 4 and 6 minutes apart. I really didn't know what I was supposed to feel, so I just figured it would have to get a little worse before I headed to the hospital again.

Meanwhile, my sister and Trampes heard that my contractions were staying regular and they were going to come up to Illinois just in case. Bethany got there around 3:00pm and Trampes got there a little later. We were still keeping track of my contractions and they seemed to stay nice and close. My mom was so worried I was going to have the baby SOON and it started making me nervous, so we headed back to the hospital again. And once again, I was still at about 1-2cm and the nurse said I could stay or try to sleep at home. So once again I headed back to Kristen's and we waited it out.

That night, around 4am I noticed the contractions began to FEEL different. Now there was definitely a cramping, painful sensation when the contractions came and I thought, "o.k., this has got to mean I'm getting closer" So I woke my sister and said I thought the time was getting nearer. We still kept track of how far apart my contractions were and they stayed regular. I took a shower that morning and we ate some breakfast. Then we headed to the hospital around 7:15am. This time, the nurse said my cervix was definitely thinning, though it wasn't dialated much further. But they finally said I could stay and see how things progressed while I was being monitored. And so it began...

Bethany and Trampes walked with me around the hospital, we watched a couple movies, listened to music, and most importantly, I was breathing through my contractions, which were now between 3 and 5 minutes apart. Bethany and Trampes both did such a good job of coaching me and helping me to focus on BREATHING through the contractions. I was definitely getting more used to it, but it still was no fun at all! The Dr. had checked on me earlier in the day and said he may come back to break my water if that hadn't happened about about 12pm. So it was at about 1pm that he came back to break the water. After that, contractions were similar, but sometimes more intense.

And so came the hour of 4:30pm. Dr. Slaw said I was dialated about 5-6cm, but the process was taking much longer than I had anticipated. By that time, I had been trying to breath through my contractions for about 12 hours and I was tired! So I had a little emotional breakdown and said I wanted the epidural. It wasn't until about 6:30 that I finally received the epidural, but MAN, was that relieving! I couldn't believe how much easier it was after that.

About an hour later, the nurse was checking on things, and in came the doctor and about 4 or 5 other nurses. I was getting my blood pressure checked, temp, oxygen mask put on my face, and the doctor was checking the baby's heartbeat. He explained that when I was having contractions, the baby's heartbeat was actually slowing down and he really didn't like the looks of things. So he let me know he though it was 90% likely I'd be getting a c-section, but it was totally up to me if I wanted to just do it then. I cried and freaked out a little, but knew if that was what was best for the baby, we should just go ahead and do it.

So at about 8pm, they moved me to another room to begin surgery. I was laying down and there were straps holding down my arms on either side of me and straps holding down my legs. It wasn't long before they put up the blue sheet to cover my face from what was happening and Trampes came in to sit next to me while they cut me open. It was the weirdest sensation. I felt so numb, yet was aware of every tug and push and pull that they did. Then one big push on the top part of my uterus, and out came A BOY!! I was so excited and started cryinc as soon as I heard his precious first cries. We knew then that we had little Ethan Ryder Hazen-Brown.

He was 8lbs even and 20 inches long. And the nurses kept saying how beautiful he was - I just wanted to see my little boy! That was so hard feeling stuck there. After he was checked over and cleaned up, I got to give him one kiss and they took him to the nursery while I continued to be sewn back up. Once that was done, they put me in the recovery room where I slowly began to get feeling back in my arms and legs and could barely keep my eyes open. It was about an hour and a half later they brought me to my room and shortly after, the nurses brought Ethan in to see if we could breastfeed. And then, finally, I got to hold my little boy. And he was (and is) the most precious and perfect little thing I've ever seen.