Isn't he cute? He was so worth what I went through. Overall, my pregnancy was easy and without complications. Being pregnant was a great experience, I loved all the kicks. But, not being pregnant and having Jackson is way better! I still can't believe he was inside of me.
I am blogging about my experience having him so I will remember days and even years from now.
On Tuesday (3/3/09) morning Brian and I arrived at the hospital at 5:45 am.
Around 6:25 Dr. Castillo came in and broke my water. I was expecting it to hurt and it didn't. It DID however feel like I peeed my pants. At that time I was almost 4cm and 70% thinned. Dr. Castillo told me to get the epidural right away if I wanted one. After he broke my water is when I started feeling my contractions. They felt like really bad period cramps. I had my Ipod on and was listening to praise and worship music to give me strength. Through each contraction I prayed. They were not as bad I thought they might be.
He came back to check me at 7:45 and I was 5cm dilated, moving right along. Dr. Castillo had them come give me the epidural. I didn't want to take any chances and got one. I was nervous, but the epidural did not hurt at all. All I felt was a little bit of pressure. After the epidural I felt great! I lost all feeling in my legs. Brian had to help me move them.
When the nurse checked me around 9:00 I was 7-8 cm. Brian and I were just hanging out talking, texting friends, playing on the internet.
At around 10-10:30 I was completely dilated. My nurse Carol, who was awesome, called Dr. Castillo and he told I could start pushing.
That is where the hard part occured. I couldn't feel my contractions at all, so the nurse and Brian had to tell me when to push. It is kind of hard to push when you don't feel a thing. Labor was the hardest workout of my life. I started pushing around 11:05 and when Dr. Castillo showed up at 12:00 I was still pushing. Brian and my nurse were great encouragers! I couldn't have done it with out them. Dr. Castillo told me Jackson was facing upwards instead of head down and he was getting caught on my pelvic bone and he was going to have to use the vaccum to help him out. I got a little concerned at this point for Jackson and that I might have to have a C-section. I continued to push and Dr. Castillo used the vaccum. I pushed as hard as I could and just wanted to see Jackson. I know God gave me strength to push for an hour and half. At 12:26 Jackson Oliver was born. I was so relieved and excited!! He was a perfect 7 pds 14 oz, 19.5 inches long. I will say I was surprised he wasn't longer.
Dr. Castillo took about 3o minutes to sew me up. He told me I have a 4 degree episiotomy, the worst possible. Thank goodness I am not in too much pain right now. I continued to bleed way more than normal. Dr. Castillo took many precautions and gave me 2 different shots to help my blood clot. Since I lost so much blood I stayed in the labor and delivery room until about 7:00 that night. I couldn't eat after delivery because Dr. Castillo wasn't sure if he would have to take me back to surgery and do a DNC. I was very weak and didn't have enough strength to hold Jackson. When I got up to go to the bathroom, I almost passed out and my nurse had to call for help. I have never felt like that before, very scary. God helped control the bleeding and slow it down. I finally got to eat supper at around 6:30 and gained some strength back.
It was a very long day, but worth every minute of it!
I spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday in the hospital and went home Thursday morning. Wednesday was a very tring day. I was tired and adjusting to being a mommy. I was surrounded my wonderful and helpful nurses. Brian was amazing! He was so supportive and helpful! He was also very tired! Many friends and family came up to see us. Thank you to everyone who prayed, visited, and loved on our family. We are so blessed!
All dressed up and ready to go home!
Oops!
At work with daddy! 
.jpg)
