Following God's Direction: 7:45 pm, August 8

Monday night was a night I will never forget, as well as Tuesday. Monday night after work I was running some errands, and then I came home to relax with an awesome double double from In N Out. I was watching Bachelor Pad, since Tyler was at work, and I could have control over the TV and not have to worry about him making fun of the crazy people. I ran upstairs to change my clothes during a commercial, and that was the end of the show for me. I was in the process of changing, and luckily on our tile in the bathroom when all of a sudden my water broke. I was so surprised, and freaked out, I ran back downstairs to get my phone and call my mom. For those of you who know me well, of course, my phone was about to die as well. So then I had to pull out my charger real fast and plug it in. My mom told me to call the hospital, and Katie so that way I could get to the hospital. Tyler was at work for the night because they had a back to school night. I called the hospital to let them know I was on my way in, and then called Katie to ask her for the biggest favor ever. I am so thankful that they live right up the street, and that she was actually on her way out of the neighborhood to go grocery shopping. She just flipped around to come and get me. I was still freaking out, running around the house trying to figure out what to pack when she came in. My goal for the weekend had been to pack our hospital bag, but I had been too tired all weekend to pack, so I hadn't made it that far.

On our way to the hospital I was texting everyone I could think of that works with Tyler to try and get a hold of him. Finally he called as we were almost to the hospital, so that way he could meet us down there. I got checked in, and sure enough my water had broken, and we were having a baby! I was already 1 cm dilated as of 8:30 and we knew we would have our baby boy in less than 24 hours. It was a little surreal, and crazy. I called back my parents and my mom booked the first flight out in the morning. We didn't think my dad would be able to come out until later in the week.

We were in the triage room until about 2:30 when I said it was time for the drugs. It took about an hour to get me from the triage room to the labor room, due to paper work, and trading of people. It wasn't too bad, but I was glad for the change. The triage bed wasn't very comfortable, and we had already heard two other women come and go in the room next to us. The chair that Tyler had to sleep in wasn't very comfortable in the triage room either.

We got to the labor and delivery room, and then nice Mr. Drugs came to talk to us. We explained what was going to happen with the epidural, and my nurse told me many people thought the IV needle hurt more than the epidural. I would have to agree with all of those people as well. Mr. Drugs did an awesome job, and yes I could feel the pressure when he was working on my back, but it wasn't bad at all. After he was done I was able to finally sleep too!! Before I went to sleep, she checked me again, and I was up to about 3 cm. We knew that the first 3 cm were supposed to be the longest, so I was glad that those were out of the way!

I slept until about 4:30, and then dozed until about 5:30 when the sun started coming up. I talked to my mom around 6:30 when she was getting on the plane to come to Phoenix. The nurses changed shifts at 7 am, so my new nurse came in to check me around 7:30, and she said I was between 3 and 4 cm. I was hoping I would have been further along by then, but that's okay.

I had to wear an oxygen mask this whole time as well, so that wasn't very exciting. I am glad that I was able to sleep though, because it made time go by a lot faster, that's for sure. My mom, and Tyler's mom got to the hospital around 9:45. Tyler then walked across the street to get some Starbucks since he hadn't slept very well.

Around 11:30 we had a little scare. My contractions were coming too close together, and Brandon's heart beat was dropping. They kept flipping me from side to side, to try and get him to calm down, and they had to give me a shot to stop the contractions. There was a swarm of nurses in my room all of a sudden, and they were all giving orders to each other, and talking about sending me to the OR. It was quite scary, and at one point they sent Tyler out to go get scrubs on. My mom came to the door, and my nurse told her to leave because they weren't done yet. At this point I was 5 cm. They finally got Brandon calmed down, and his heart rate up, so we were in the clear again.

My dad was in the air at this point, as he was also able to get a flight out that morning and make it to the hospital. Tyler was talking to everyone via text messaging since I wasn't really able to do much. I slept pretty much all day, and was heavily medicated so that way I could make it through the day. Jeremy and Andy came by around 2:30 to pray with us. It was great to have them come by, and pray with us.

Around 4:30 my contractions were becoming too strong for Brandon again, and his heart rate started dropping. This time wasn't as scary since we knew what was going on. This time Dr. Crum, not my doctor, but another doctor in the office, was on the floor so she also came rushing into my room. She told them not to wait this time, and that she would do the C section if Deka couldn't make it over in time. It was crazy to see how fast they could move everyone over, and get everyone in place. They kept trying to wheel me out before I was unplugged from everything though, so that was a little uncomfortable.

When we got into the OR I was given more medicine, as now they were going to be making an incision on my belly. It was really cold in the OR room, and I started shaking and shivering. Mr. Drugs also gave me something else to try and calm me down, because I was moving around too much. I could feel them trying to push Brandon out, and it was quite a weird feeling. It's like someone sitting on your stomach, and trying to push something out of you. Imagine getting the rest of the toothpaste out of a tube. That is how I imagine they were able to pull Brandon out. Tyler was able to be in the room with me, and was able to watch them pull him out.

It was amazing to hear his first cry, and then to finally see him. Tyler was able to take him out of the room, and show him to our parents while they were closing me up. I was really out of it, and didn't even see Brandon until I got to the recovery room. I was really weak, and couldn't move, so Tyler just brought him over to me so I could feel him. I was finally able to start moving my arms a little bit so they wheeled us upstairs to our room.

We are now blessed with an amazing baby boy, and we couldn't ask for more. I know that God is going to continue to bless us abundantly, as he already has done!