Our Little Mason!

Well, I am finally sitting down to blog, whew! I can't believe what a whirlwind these last days have been and how fast they've gone. We are SO elated to be home now and have our Mason with us! It seems so unreal how life has changed so drastically in such a short period of time - and we can't imagine it any other way.

Drumroll please.... here is the story! I am not sure how lengthy this might end up being -probably depends on how soon I get distracted- either way, happy reading! :)

Friday afternoon I went in for yet another checkup and my doctor went ahead and stripped my membranes (a nice way of saying she encouraged my body to figure out it should go into labor). It is very hit or miss as far as whether it actually does anything for you, but is worth a try! I cramped the rest of the afternoon and evening (as the doctor warned) - but not before Mom and I managed to get pedicures done! Turns out it was just in the knick of time.

That night I continued to feel crummy, but finally got to sleep around 11. A little after midnight I woke up to a sharp cramp... fell back asleep... woke up to another cramp... and so the story begins. I woke Matt up a little after 1 and he suggested I possibly get in the bathtub since water is my best friend. Yup, that is where we spent the rest of our evening - from 2 AM to a little after 7 AM, me in the bathtub and dear Matt sleeping on the tile floor in the bathroom next to me. I finally got out (tired of the warm-cold-warm-cold process, mental note to one day invest in a temperature-regulated bathtub) and bundled up in bed but my contractions starting getting really close together. At 9:30 we headed to the hospital... only to find out I was a mere stinkin 2.5 centimeters and the contractions had become really inconsistent. Sad day! I continued to labor through the afternoon at home and we finally headed to the hospital around 6 PM, praying we would have a better progress report. It was better... barely! I was 3 centimeters... yeesh! How about that for hours and hours of labor? So, in typical fashion, the hospital kept me for an hour to see if I'd progress and they could keep me. One hour later: 4 centimeters! From then on I progressed about a centimeter an hour until I hit 7 - then Matt says I went from 7-8.5 in no time at all and continued coasting along.

I pushed for 25 minutes and at 1:15 AM October 26, 2008.... Mason came to us at 7 lbs 19 inches and perfect.

This story cannot be complete without paying tribute to my support group. Seriously, I don't know how I could have done it without them. Through each contraction I had my devoted Husband and loving Mother and Father at my side encouraging me and cheering me along.

Matt was so absolutely amazing, I cannot brag enough about him.

He completely held it together through the entire ordeal and was beyond words wonderful. He is a rock. Did I mention I went natural - aka un-medicated? That's right, no epidural! I had the desire for this type of birth since day one and we took Hypnobirthing classes to prepare - but there is no doubt in my mind that this birth was so successful because of this support I had - plus lots of prayer and faith! Although in those final hours I started to question my sanity (I did labor for about 25 hours after all!), the absolute euphoria following his birth is so indescribable... all I can say is, every bit of it was worth it.

So, here we are, at home and getting settled into our new phase of life! Matt and I can't help but pause all the time and just stare at Mason in awe! We are completely and unabashedly in love.