Birth Story

First of all, my friend Jenny Skeen took these pictures of our family and Max. I love them she is so talented. her blog is jenskeenphotography.blogspot.com

Ok this is what I remember about Max's birth story.

On October 13th I remember writing a text to Alex saying, "I hope our boy isn't born today because 13 is unlucky." No offense to my brother Jeff and his wife JoAnne =) they just had their little girl on Friday the 13th!! (SHE IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT I may add!!)

That night I was over at my grandma's house getting some apples because the next morning I was going over to Alex's Parents house and his mom and I were going to dry some of them or make some apple sauce. Joni was helping me stay busy because the last few days of pregnancy seem like forever as many pregnant women know. As I was visiting my grandma, my mom showed up and we were all talking. My mom asked how I was feeling and I told her I had been feeling contractions most the day but they weren't getting stronger or closer together or anything. My grandma and my mom walked over to my apartment to see some of the new things I had done with the baby room. Then they went home and I started getting ready for bed. Alex had been at the library all day because he had 3 midterms the next day he was studying for. He was going to be up late studying so I rolled into bed not thinking much about the contractions. Around 2:30 am on October 14th I woke up because my contractions were feeling stronger. I fell in and out of sleep for a little bit but with every contraction I would look at my phone to see how long it had been. They began to be about 3 minutes apart and starting to hurt a little bit so I looked over and noticed that Alex wasn't in bed yet. I walked out into our living room and he was still studying for his tests.. I told him about my contractions and he just said "You should go lay back down I bet you'll feel better in the morning." I told him I wouldn't be up at 3:00 am if I thought i would feel better in the morning!

I started putting some things in my bag and getting ready to go to the hospital and Alex looked at me and said.. "your serious? You want to go to the hospital right now?" and I told him he should start getting ready!! by this time the contractions were getting a little bit painful.

We made it to the hospital pretty quick and I changed into a hospital gown. The contractions were really hurting by now and I don't know how people go natural. They hooked me up to IV's and monitors and all sorts of things and my epidural was on its way. I looked at the nurse and she had a concerned look on her face and mentioned that our babies heart rate was slowing and she quickly left the room. She came back with an oxygen mask. That really scared me and I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my face. She quickly apologized and said she didn't mean to scare me and that everything was looking normal now. They put an oxygen mask on me to be safe...I didn't even feel the epidural when they put it in because I was having a contraction at the same time that was much more painful.

After the epidural kicked in life was good. I felt very relaxed and even started texting some close family and friends letting them know I was in labor. It was great to look over at the monitor and see my contractions getting stronger and not be able to feel them. I couldn't help but keep asking Alex if the babies heart rate was slowing at all and he kept telling me not to worry so I closed my eyes for a little bit.

My mom works down stairs and came in to check on me. We talked for a little bit and then came the beeping noise and once again Max's heart rate was slowing and they could tell he was in distress. We had a different nurse now and she gave me some medicine to relax my uterus.

My Doctor was sick and the doctor that was going to help me deliver the baby was in surgery so we were waiting on her to decide what to do. They decided to break my water to see if that would help get things going a little faster. We waited a little bit and the doctor came in. I was still only dilated to a 5 and the beeping of the monitor started again. They decided it was time to do a C-section. I have never wanted a c-section but at that point all I wanted was for my baby to be ok. I was so scared. The c-section went well and was way fast! Alex was right by my side and seemed so calm and relaxed. I don't know if he felt that way but if he was acting it really helped. One thing I am very grateful for is I didn't feel a thing during the operation.

They pulled our little boy out and we heard him cry for the first time. What a great sound. They showed him to me for a brief moment but the crying had stopped and from a distance I could tell he was really struggling to breath. They decided it would be best to take him to the NICU. That is where miracles happend. Alex and his Dad gave Max a blessing. I don't know what was said but after they came and gave me a blessing. Many tears fell and I knew right then that Max was going to be ok. I had the strongest feeling of comfort. I didn't know what was wrong or what needed to happen but all I felt was peace.

I wont retell what has been said about Max's condition because Alex explained everything alot better than I could in previous posts but he had to stay in the NICU for ten days because of an infection. All the doctors and nurses were so impressed with how much he improved each day. I know it was a miracle.

He now is home with us and healthy. He's such a blessing to our lives. I love his little personality and he makes me laugh each day. We love him so much. This whole experience has really strengthened my testimony of the power of the priesthood. I will never forget the peace and comfort that I felt after Alex and his Dad gave me that blessing. I know the Lord was watching out for us. I'm so thankful to have our little boy here with us and each day I thank Heavenly Father that he has came into our lives and I pray that he will stay for a long time!!! I love being a Mom even though its just been a short time I never imagined motherhood being this awesome.

I hope that all made sense I wrote it fast and it is long so forgive me if it is confusing at times =)