I had a doctor's appointment on July 15th and I was 1.5cm dilated and 80% effaced. In this visit, the midwife told me that there was a possibility Liam would come one or two weeks after my due date, which was July 25th. I didn't even get my hopes up that he was going to be born on his due date... I was a little bummed that I'd have to wait another week or so for him to come.
On July 16th I was in a cleaning mood... I cleaned the whole house, vacuumed everything pretty good, unpacked a bunch of boxes since we had just moved into a new place... The house was pretty much spotless. I was a happy girl :) Sometimes I wonder if I went into labor because I did a lot of physical work this day...
Brady and I went to bed just like any other night. When it was about 1:30am I woke up with a wet feeling on the bed. I thought I had peed the bed, but then that never happened in my pregnancy. I ran to the bathroom and a gush of fluid went all over the floor and it wouldn't stop. A little more would leak out every time I moved. The fluid had a pinkish color to it. At this point I kind of knew there was something going on, but didn't want to believe labor was actually happening!
I went back to bed and told Brady I thought my water broke. He quickly got up and blurted out "how did you break the water?!", ran to the toilet and tried to find the "broken water" or "broken toilet" as he thought I had broken the toilet somehow. haha.... Poor guy, let me remind you this was at 1:30am and he was probably still in his deep sleep mode.
I wasn't feeling any painful contractions at this point. I thought once the water broke I would feel really strong contractions, but I only felt period-like cramps. Brady suggested that I called the doctor. She said if I started feeling strong contractions to go to the hospital. I didn't feel any, so I decided to take my time and shower, do my hair, do my manicure, and pack a few things for the hospital bag.
I started timing my contractions and they were pretty close together, but not intense. Brady and I decided to drive to the hospital at around 4:30am. On our way to the hospital my contractions were getting hard, but not painful and 2-3 minutes apart. We for sure thought they were going to send us back home.
We go to the hospital, they checked me, and quickly got to my room. I was 2cm dilated now and didn't know how quickly my labor would go. In the room the nurse asked me if I wanted the epidural. I said I didn't want to get it, since I wasn't feeling any pain whatsoever. They took me to the delivery room and asked me again if I wanted to get the epidural. I again said I didn't want to. The nurse told me I should get it because I was dilating. I was a little hesitant bcuz I wasn't feeling painful contractions, but since my water had broken early in the day, they wanted to get things up and running. I agreed and got ready for the epidural. I was so nervous. I started shaking and having anxiety. I didn't know how painful that injection would be. The anesthesiologist came in and I was so scared I started crying. Brady was holding my hands as the anesthesiologist injected the epidural. I am so thankful he was there to comfort me. Brady was so calm through the whole process. The epidural actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Within a few minutes I started feeling some numbness in my legs...
Since I waited so long to go to the hospital, I contracted an infection and they had to get antibiotics in me quick because it could be passed onto the baby when I delivered him. I was shivering and also got a fever because of it. Nothing too serious, but had to be treated as soon as possible.
After the epidural, I was in the delivery room for a while just waiting to get more dilated. I was so tired that I probably took like 6 naps before I started pushing. I was just really relaxed after the shot, but tired from not sleeping the previous night. I asked Brady to give me a blessing to comfort and bless me so I'd have a smooth delivery.
I started shivering and shaking again because I knew time to push was getting closer. When it was around 2pm I was 9cm dilated. I needed 10cm to start pushing. Around 3pm I started pushing. However, the baby's heart rate was dropping every time I pushed, which made the doctors and midwives concerned. The doctor came in and said that he would need to do an assisted vaginal delivery and do either a forceps delivery or vacuum extraction for the baby to come out. He needed to come out soon because of my infection and fever. I was so worried at this point I started saying a prayer that I would be able to deliver that baby without a vacuum or forceps. The idea of inserting a device in there and grabbing his head with it made me so worried and uncomfortable. The doctor told me to wait a little longer to start pushing again and see if the baby's heart rate would be normal. I finished my prayer, felt a contraction and started pushing the first time again at 4:30pm. Baby's heart rate was fine the first time. Another contraction came and I pushed again. Nothing happened to the baby's heart rate. I pushed a few more times and the doctor gave the okay to push without using the vacuum or forceps. I was so happy! I knew my prayer had been answered and things would go just fine. Heavenly Father did listen to my prayer, what a blessing to know that we can communicate with a loving God and that He actually listens and answers our requests. I pushed every time I had a contraction. Sometimes they were really close together, other times maybe 5 minutes apart. Brady was standing right next to me holding my legs and watching everything so calmly. I couldn't believe how calm Brady was the whole time! He watched all of it and was super relaxed during the whole labor process. :) Looking back, I'm so grateful that he acted calm the whole time, it made such a huge difference to have him standing there in a peaceful manner. Made me calm as well. As I was pushing, I was soooo tired that I actually took quick naps between pushing/contractions. haha I know it sounds funny noting that labors are supposed to be so painful and intense, but I didn't feel any pain... The nurses would just tell me I was having a contraction and I would wake up and push! As time went by, I actually started feeling a really strong pressure down there. I could feel my contractions and would push without having the nurses telling me to do so. I could feel the baby's head and could feel some pain... I knew he was so close to come out, so I started pushing harder because I didn't want to feel lots of pain. The tip of his head was out but he was just stuck in there for a long time and since he needed to come out soon, they had to do an episiotomy. I pushed a couple more times and at 5:28pm, July 17th, 2014, Liam Brady Beck came into this world (19in long and 7.9 ounces).
They put Liam on my chest as soon as he came out and I couldn't believe such a perfect human being was inside me. I thought my heart would burst with love. When I looked at Brady I could see he had a bit of tears in his eyes and was getting emotional. Such a special moment for us. Liam was a handsome newborn baby! He just had a perfect little face. Everyone kept saying he didn't look like a newborn because he was so cute! They took Liam to be measured and I couldn't wait to have Liam back on my chest so I could cuddle him close. The next thing to do was breastfeed him and I was so excited to do it and have some bond with him. The rest of my hospital stay was a dream. I delivered Liam at American Fork Hospital and I loved all the nurses, midwives, and doctors there.
I'm just so grateful for having such a perfect, healthy little boy. Liam is just so sweet and funny. He already has some personality in him that I love.
My mom arrived the very next day and couldn't wait to meet her first grandson. She was in awe and so happy to hold him. Liam is for sure very loved by all.
I feel so blessed that I have a cute little family. I love Brady and Liam so much. I don't know what I would do without these two little dudes of mine. They are both amazing. I'm a blessed momma.
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