If you want to go into labor....

(this is a long boring labor story...not intended for those with short attention spans, ADHD, the male species, or anybody who just wants to get to the point...if you are one of those people, just skip to the end to view the pictures)


I kept telling my husband that I just needed to make it through the weekend, then I'd be fine with the baby coming. My doctor had planned on stripping my membranes the following Tuesday, and said that it takes 12 to 24 hours for it to put you into labor, if it's going to work. I figured that was perfect! I had a lunch date with some friends from work on Saturday...sort of a quick type baby shower. Then I had to get my kids ready for school. You know....all the school shopping that we hadn't done. I just wanted as much done as possible before the baby came. I got my wish!

Saturday lunch with the girls was a blast! We spent a lot of the time talking about completely inappropriate things at the table (like nursing type things). If you don't work where we work you would be disgusted...but we were laughing so hard I was almost crying. I got some really incredibly adorable things from all of them! This baby is spoiled. It was just a really good day, so much fun! These pictures were taken just before my shower...yes I'm gigantic!



After lunch I met up with my family at the mall for some school shopping. We got Peyton some new glasses...since he broke his other brand new ones, then bought some random things that were on sale. We spent the rest of the day at target, and were about 90% finished school shopping. I was exhausted...and with my big belly and sore feet and hips, I just couldn't do more shopping. We decided to finish shopping on Sunday.



Peyton and I went shopping early in the day and finished getting everything he needed. Plus I grabbed some things for the house that I didn't want to shop for after baby got here. The plan was to take the older kids to get back packs and shoes after I got home, then Jared and I were going to go grocery shopping together. We were going to do a 2 cart shopping trip so that I wouldn't have to worry about going to the store for a couple weeks. Jared ended up shopping by himself because my feet were so swollen I couldn't even walk on them (I mean literally I had cankles...I still wish I would've gotten a picture....they were huge)! He got the kids some shoes and just one cart of groceries....it'd have to do!



Jared was home from shopping very late...around 11 p.m. I was tired and cranky...the kids were still up. It was just a long day. We finally were getting the groceries put away....then we were all going to go to bed. This is where the fun began. I grabbed some big cans of ravioli and a couple boxes of who knows what off the table, and headed toward the pantry. Apparently at the exact same time, Peyton dropped a toy and dove to the floor to get it. I didn't see him, my arms were full of stuff. I literally took one step, tripped, tried to catch myself but just stepped on Peyton, fell forward, had nothing to catch myself on. I hit the ground, the cans and boxes flew. Peyton was screaming and I was in shock. I started crying, but nothing hurt...yet...I think I was just scared to death. Jared ran over to me and picked me up. At that point I was laying on my belly, but not quite sure if I actually hit my belly on the ground. Jared put me on the couch and went to check on Peyton...who was still crying. Apparently I smashed his ear on the way down. Poor guy. Other than that, he was okay. I sat on the couch trying to figure out if anything hurt. My elbows both hurt, my knees hurt and my chest hurt. My belly felt fine. I sat there waiting to feel the baby move....he did. I wasn't bleeding or cramping. I called the L&D department at the hospital to ask what to do. They said that if I could feel the baby moving and I wasn't bleeding or leaking fluid, everything should be fine. Jared was freaking out and wanted to take me in anyway. In the meantime, I noticed a big 3-4 inch bruise showing up on my forearm. I'm pretty sure I landed on the ravioli cans that I dropped. Later a big bruise about the same size as the one on my arm showed up on my chest.



I'd been having a lot of braxton hicks and false labor contractions for the last couple months. About an hour after falling I noticed I was having them a little more often. I started timing them....they were consistently about 5 minutes apart...but not painful...more like a menstrual cramp. Jared sat there staring at me, wanting to rush me in to the hospital. I told him we'd give it some time to see if they got more painful or closer together. I reassured him again that the baby was moving and we were both fine. After a couple hours of waiting and timing, nothing more happened. The contractions stayed 5 minutes apart and weren't getting worse. Jared slept on the couch, just in case he had to work the next morning. I tried every trick in the book to see if they would stop....everything from taking a warm bath, drinking lots of water, laying down on my left side....nothing worked. By about 4 a.m. things started speeding up...the contractions were about 3 minutes apart, not much more painful though. I called my sister to give her a heads up, since she had such a long drive to get here. By 6 the contractions were much stronger and still about 3 minutes apart, so I woke Jared and grabbed a few things that I might need. Then we headed to the hospital. On the way I started getting double contractions...I'd have one, it would end, and about 10 seconds later another one would start. After the second one ended it would be 2-3 minutes before the next one started. They were painful only because I didn't get enough of a break in between. I was scared that I'd get to the hospital and they'd tell me I was dilated to a 2 after all that work! We got to the hospital and in the room by 7. Yeah, I was only a 3 and 80% effaced! Can you believe it!? I almost cried. They told me they'd watch me for an hour and see how I progressed. There was no way on Earth I was going to leave that hospital! At a little after 8, when they checked me, I was a 3+.....geeze. So, they moved me to a labor room. I got all hooked up to their baby monitors and had my epidural put in, then they rechecked me. This was about 10 o'clock. I was a 4+. About 45 minutes later the doctor came in to break my water....I was a 5. By the way...I thought my water broke after they put in the epidural, like it did when I had Peyton. I felt the warm water running down my legs. This time however, I actually was peeing the bed. How embarrassing! The Dr. and nurses were so kind about it. They hadn't put in a catheter, and I couldn't really stop it. The funny thing is, I peed a lot! I mean really a lot....I hadn't been able to pee like that for months! I was on the "tinkle for one second, then 10 minutes later come back and tinkle some more" regimen. So when I started going, I really thought it was my water breaking. Anyhow, the epidural was kinda weird. It worked well, but at first I had a spot on my stomach that wasn't numb. I turned to the side that wasn't numb so we could get the medicine to the right spot. After we got that figured out, I realized that I could still move my legs and lift my own butt...which was kind of nice! I was a little numb, but not much. I called my sister around 11 to let her know what my progress was. She was sitting at home with my kids. I told her it'd probably be a couple more hours at least. So about 11:30 I felt a bunch of pressure....sort of like the baby was going to fall out...then the baby's heart rate dropped to the 80's. Jared called the nurse and they came right in...gave me oxygen, flipped me to my other side and said that I was complete! 10 cm! Yay! Let me just say....I could feel pretty much everything. I couldn't feel the contractions, but I could definitely feel the baby trying to make his way out. I tried pushing my epidural button...but I don't think it even hit me until after the baby was born...oh well. So, next thing I know, the doctor is there, and they are telling me to push. Since I could feel everything, this was really easy, except that I couldn't feel my contractions...so they had to tell me when to push...which was kinda funny. Anyhow, I pushed 2 times and his head was out, one more time was his shoulders...and sort of a half push to finish everything off. Wow....3 1/2 pushes....that was awesome! It was so quick, Jared hardly got any pictures, I couldn't stop to see what was going on...and the next thing I know, the baby was on my belly crying. Jared says that the cord came out on top of the baby's head and was sort of strung around his neck, but not tight. It was enough pressure to cause his heart rate to dip during delivery though. He also said the cord was super long....so we are fortunate that the baby wasn't completely tied up in it. It was an amazingly fast experience...and our little guy was officially here at 11:43 a.m. It's a good thing they didn't decide to send me home! I wouldn't have gone home anyway. I would have sat in the lobby for a while and rechecked in a little later.


After the birth, the doctor and nurses were joking about how they were going to tell their patients that if they want to go into labor, they should trip and fall with ravioli cans. We all had a good laugh. I told the doctor that I was just grateful that I didn't have to have my membranes stripped the next day! From what I hear that is painful!! Jared was worried that the baby was going to come out with a dislocated shoulder or something...but everything seemed great! I only fell twice during the pregnancy...I think.



It's so fun to have a new little one. It's amazing to see how they develop, who they look like, what color their hair is. It really is a miracle...and you can't help but be overwhelmed with emotions. It took us 36 hours to name our new little guy. We had the name as an option a few weeks earlier but didn't officially fill out the birth certificate for a while. We just wanted to make sure that one of the other name options wasn't a better fit. I think we picked the perfect name for our little guy! We named him Preston Thatcher Egbert. His middle name is his Great Grandpa Rolapp's middle name. Grandpa Rolapp passed away last year and it seemed appropriate. Preston's hair (we were surprised with how much hair he had...well for our family it was a lot!) is brown blond with some red highlights in the sun. In other words...we have no idea what color it is really going to turn out! His eyes right now are midnight blue...really cool looking. We know they won't stay that way, but they are beautiful! He has a little butt chin like Jared. I didn't get that instant, "He looks like Jared" thought in my mind. He definitely has some of Jared...and some of me? I don't know....I guess he looks like me in some ways. He's just got his own little look. I don't know what I was expecting...maybe I was thinking a miniature Peyton, because I couldn't imagine any other little face. Anyhow, he is beautiful...we love him. That was another thing...I wasn't sure how I was going to love another little one the same as I loved my first. It was so easy...I guess I knew when he got here it would just happen. It did...I love him just as much as my other kids!


I spent 2 days in the hospital...I was so glad I did! With Peyton, I couldn't get out fast enough...but this time, I knew I was coming home to 3 other kids. I was going to milk it for all it was worth! It was nice to be waited on and have all 3 meals brought to me. I got to enjoy a couple days of just my new son and I bonding. I did feel a little bit bad that I left my husband to deal with all the stuff at home. We did have help from my sister and my Mom...but Jared had a lot of stuff to deal with...like getting the kids ready for school! Thanks for all your hard work hunny! Recovery from this birth was much easier too....no stitches! I wasn't prepared for all the after birth contractions though. Wow, they were so much worse this time! I had to take pain medicine just to ease those! Other than that, things went really well.



We are home now, trying to adjust. It's difficult going without sleep after I've grown so accustomed to sleeping! I know I'll get the hang of it soon...it just takes time. We are so happy to have a new little addition to our family!

Preston Thatcher Egbert

August 17, 2009

11:43 a.m.

6 lbs., 9 oz.

18 inches

Me and my new son Preston, just minutes after delivery.




He's sooo sweet!



Preston getting his first bath at the hospital!



All clean!




Wow, I can't believe I have 4 kiddos now! It's crazy!

My adorable boy

Look at those chunky cheeks and all that hair!!

Heading home from the hospital!

At home with big brother Peyton!