Boston Alan Mecham was born on August 30, 2013 at 8:19 am. He came right on his due date, which does not happen very often! He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long. We absolutely adore him and love his long dark hair! His pinkies are just like his dad's, just a little bent and he has feet like me, long and skinny.
As my due date was approaching, I was beginning to get anxious to finally have this baby! I felt a little guilty that I wanted to have this baby already and I wasn't even at my due date yet! How did women who went over there due date manage? I certainly did not need to complain, I had no pain aside from some minor backaches and no other kids to worry about. Why was I so anxious? Luckily I had work to keep me busy, so I just went in as I felt like I could handle it. I ended up working right until two days before Boston was born. Which was nice to get the extra money as I wouldn't be working for a little bit after Boston was born.
It was August 29, the day before my official due date. I had decided not to go into work. My nesting instinct had kicked in, and I was in high gear to prepare for our little baby to come. I had made some freezer meals a few days before so I would have meals already ready to go when I was too tired to cook. I had cleaned the apartment and got the hospital bag ready. I was all ready for this baby to come. I was so ready that I even googled ideas on how to naturally go into labor, I wasn't so sure on how good they would work, but I was so ready to have this baby and was willing to try anything.
I checked Facebook to pass the time and had received messages from family members and friends wondering how I was doing. I got talking to my aunt and dad and they both suggested to do the same thing, ask Blake to give me a blessing. I never would have thought to do that but decided it wouldn't hurt. I asked Blake to give me a blessing of comfort and to help ease my mind, as I can be really nervous before I have to do something I had never done before. He did, and I felt at peace and not so nervous for what was to happen whether it be that night or the next week.
Later that night, after we had watched our tv show and were settling in bed to go to sleep. Not more than five minutes later, after I had tried to go to sleep did I get a pain in my back. It was 11:58 pm and I was unsure if it was a contraction or my back pain spazing out. When it returned, I was more convinced that it was a contraction and began timing to see how far apart they were. I also woke Blake up to tell him that I had contractions. I couldn't sleep and was in pain so Blake was nice enough to continue watching more shows to get my mind off the pain, and stay up with me.
Contractions were bearable at first but hurt so much. I had no pain in my stomach at all, it was in my back. I knew there were different ways you could labor and I ended up laboring in my back, which I heard was more painful. I had no other experience to compare it to but I believe them. As I was timing the contractions I wanted to make sure I was having contractions for at least an hour to make sure it wasn't false labor. As the contractions persisted they got stronger but still did not get in the interval that I was told they needed to be in. I continued timing and waiting for them to get to at least five minutes apart but the closest they ever got was six minutes apart. I was going to wait until I got to five minutes apart, because I did not want to be in so much pain and get to the hospital and be told that I was not dilated far enough along. I decided to go to the bathroom and take a warm bath to help, it did for a little bit but I was in so much pain that Blake convinced me to get in the car and go to the hospital. All I could think of was how I wanted the epidural and how I was hoping I was dilated far enough along.
We got to the hospital at about 3 a.m. If we had not gone to the childbirth class just two weeks before, I would have had no idea what we needed to do or where we needed to go. Thankfully the childbirth class included a tour of the hospital and what you needed to do and where you needed to go when you were in labor. It was also nice that we had already preregistered at the hospital so some of the paperwork was already done.
We walked through the doors and right onto the elevator. We got off on the second floor, where the maternity wing was. Since it was the middle of the nigh there was not a secretary at the check in desk to buzz us through the doors. We were able to use the phone (like we had learned in the childbirth class) to phone over to the desk in the maternity ward and they let us through.
We told them that I had been having contractions about six minutes apart and had been laboring for about three hours. They lead me to a room to check if I was dilated enough to be admitted. I was just praying that I would not have to go back home, because I was in so much pain! I got undressed and into a hospital gown which was nice because there was nothing restricting me or making me uncomfortable. I finally was able to have my cervix checked, when they said I was at a six. I thought, "Well I could of come in sooner! Why did I stay home?" Sometimes going by the book isn't the best thing, it is a good suggestion, but if I would have waited, who knows if my contractions would have gotten to five minutes apart? I could have just had Boston at home if I decided to wait!
Now that I was checked in I was wanting that epidural! I remember debating on whether I wanted to go natural or get an epidural. I had read that going without an epidural was better for your body and baby and you would recover faster. That was appealing to me, but going through all that pain wasn't. When I told Blake I wasn't sure which one I should go with he suggested epidural because I have a low tolerance for pain. I almost wanted to prove him wrong and go without one to show that I could do it! I also decided to talk to my mom about it while we were visiting in July for my baby shower. She had had four natural births and four with and epidural, her advice was if you can get an epidural do it! And that was good enough for me! She said that it made the whole birth experience so much better, and that is what I wanted! I did not want to be in pain I would not enjoy the process of meeting my son. So I had decided officially then, that I would get an epidural.
For some reason, even though we were the only ones there and it was about 3:30 in the morning, it took almost an hour for the anesthesiologist to get there. The pain was intensifying and I was exclaiming in pain. The nurses were there to help me and helped coach me to breathe through the contractions. When I took their advice I noticed that the pain didn't feel as bad as in my mind I was thinking it would be, just screaming because of the pain didn't help. So I tried to breathe through as many contractions as I could. Finally around 4:30 a.m. I was able to get the epidural, after I had answered all the questions and paperwork.
Once the epidural was in the contractions were immediately much less painful, plus I didn't even feel them put it in! It may be due to the fact that I had a contraction while they were sticking me with the needle and I was so focused on staying still so nothing would go wrong. But I am so thankful for it! Definitely made my childbirth experience much better! I even got a few hours of sleep after the epidural was put in. During this whole process, Blake was texting both our parents and keeping them up-to-date on where we were and staying by my side holding my hand.
After I was able to get maybe two hours of sleep, my doctor came to check me and decided that it would be almost time to push. I was almost at ten centimeters but couldn't feel anything so I just went with what they told me. The nurses fixed the delivery room bed up to prepare for giving birth, they brought the stirrups out and turned on the extra light, almost as if I was being spotlighted and the star of a show.
Once my doctor had determined it was time to push, we started. It was now around 7:30 a.m. and as the contractions came I began pushing. Pushing was not that bad, I didn't feel a thing, I had no idea when a contraction was coming, so I just listened to the nurses when they told me to push. I pushed with all my might as the nurse counted to ten. The nurses commented on how good I was able to push, especially for having an epidural. When I put my mind to something and focus on it, that is all I think about and work on so that happened while pushing. I pushed for about 45 minutes, my doctor mentioned that he might need to give me an episiotomy so I would not tear too far. He asked me if that was okay and I said, "If you have to do it, do it." Lucky for me he didn't have to and I actually only tore a little bit, but less than if he would of had to cut me. The last few pushes, Blake mentioned he could see Boston's dark hair and that he was almost out. Next push was his head, and then next almost felt like a big rush and then our sweet baby boy was here! There was such a strong spirit that both Blake and I started crying, it was one of the happiest moments of our life! Our baby was here, we were parents!
Blake was able to cut the umbilical cord and then they put Boston on my chest. I just sat there crying I was so happy and Blake cried too and gave me a kiss. We were a family of three. My sweet baby boy was here and he was mine. I was able to hold him as I got stitched up and thank goodness for the epidural because I didn't feel that.
They then took Boston to weigh and measure him and give him a good bath. Blake was even able to help with giving Boston his first bath. As well as getting pictures of everything since I was in bed and couldn't do it. After Boston got his bath they handed him to me to try to breastfeed. He smelled so good and I was so happy to have him in my arms again. I tried breastfeeding but Boston would not latch. I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong or if he needed help! I had no idea what I was doing. The nurses were so helpful to bring me a nipple shield to help. He was better able to feed then, but I was still unsure if he was getting anything.
I breastfeed for a while and then was able to get breakfast while Blake held Boston. We were so tired so I ended up taking a little nap. The nurse asked me if I was ready to take a shower, I thought that I would be so she assisted me from the bed to the bathroom. As I took a few steps it was weird as my legs were regaining feeling again, but about five steps in I felt lightheaded and really tired. Everything went black, so I thought I just shut my eyes because I was tired. I could still hear everything that was going on around me, but I really just passed out. They came over with an ammonia packet and waved it in front of my nose to help me wake up and regain consciousness. They decided it would be better if I wait on the shower and just get some rest. Which I was okay with.
Because I had passed out, I had an oxygen mask put on me to help get some more oxygen to my brain. I laid in the hospital bed just trying to get a nap in since I was exhausted. Every time I would get close to falling asleep the oxygen monitor would go off because I wasn't breathing deep enough. So the nurse would come in turn off the sound and remind me to breather deeper. I didn't know I was breathing so shallow but it was annoying to have the monitor keep going off. After some time, it was probably close to noon, I was finally wheeled away to the recovery room I would be staying in for the next couple days. I still hadn't got my shower yet but once we got into the room I was able to take a shower. However I couldn't find any towels after I was done, so I ended up drying off with paper towels. But it was nice to finally get clean and have a little time to relax before visitors came.
It was nice to have the first day to ourselves and adjust to being parents and a family of three. Blake even stayed overnight at the hospital with me because I wanted him to. The next day Blake's mom, dad, and grandma were able to come up and spend time meeting Boston, their first grandson. The hospital gave us what they call a "Stork Dinner" which is a really nice dinner for the mom and dad. Since our anniversary was that Saturday we decided to save it for that day rather than the day he was born. It was nice to have a yummy dinner, Blake got steak and shrimp and I got chicken cordon bleu. Since we weren't able to go out for anniversary, having Boston's grandparents hold him while we had our "Stork Dinner" was good enough for us. We will never forget our first anniversary!
My family was able to come up Sunday afternoon and stay until Monday. It was so nice to have them come up to visit. Boston was my parent's first grandchild and they loved little baby Boston. But I think my little sister who was three, is going to love being able to grow up with him. With the age gap between the two, that they could be siblings, I am sure they will have fun spending time together. They loved meeting him, but sadly, we live in a different state than the rest of our family, so they won't be able to see him as much as if we lived closer, but thank goodness for pictures and holidays!
Here are some more pictures of our brand new little family, after Boston came home with us.
