borncrabby5: Maddox's Early Arrival

Posted Monday, March 16, 2009 5:07 PM

"I was so afraid of giving birth but having experienced it now, I see why so many moms do it again and again..."

The beginning

The day my son arrived is one that will stick with me for life. He decided to make his appearance a week early, at 4:15 in the morning in October of 2007. We were staying at my grandparents house until our new house was done being built. My water broke on the way back to our room from the bathroom and boy did it ever! I was almost to our bed when I felt the gushing of water and all I could do was stand there in shock -- with no lights on, of course, since it was still the wee hours of the morning. I choked out a quick "Joooooooooon!" to my sleeping husband. Half-asleep, he jumped at the thought that something was wrong! He flipped on the light switch and there I was: Legs stretched apart, standing there in the middle of our bedroom, above a soaked floor. I said weakly, "I think my water just broke."
 
My husband went and got a towel so I could sit down and it was then that my "mucus" plug plopped its way out as well. So here there we were: Water broken and mucus plug out... We thought: What do we do now? I had no contractions whatsoever, so we were kind of in limbo. It was so not the picture we had in our minds of how this would happen, so we did what any other naive couple would do -- we waited. We opted to take the morning slowly, until we could talk to someone or at least, feel something closer to a contraction. We downloaded music for the iPod we were taking with us, surfed the internet on the topic of "water breaking," cleaned up our room, made sure the crib was ready, etc. the whole time, we were completely unaware that we probably should have been heading to the hospital. Even Grandpa poked his head in at around 6:30 a.m. and noticed we were awake. "So what are you guys doing up?" he asked. "Um, I think my water broke," I said, as we casually hung out with the laptop in front of us. He jumped a bit and said, "Oh shoot, really? I'll go wake Grandma. Do you want some breakfast?" My response: "Um, yeah!" So we opted for biscuits and toast.

Getting a move on

It wasn't until about 7:15 or 7:30 a.m. that I started feeling the twinge of contractions, which was when we decided it was time to head to the hospital. The drive there felt like the longest drive ever! Living in Southern California, all I have to say is thank goodness for carpool lanes! We got there pretty quick, the contractions started coming fast, and that's when the fear of giving birth really started to set in.
 
Once at the hospital, we checked right in, got situated, and I threw on my Wonder Woman socks just for the occasion. I was in fact in labor, as the nurses confirmed, but it seemed our boy didn't want to come as quickly now, since waiting was still the chore of the day. I ate ice chips, visited with my mom and best friend Lindzey, and listened to the iPod. The highlight was the red cherry Popsicle I had -- Mmm, it was delicious... until of course, it came right back up a little while later. (What a treat!)

Finally, at about 7 centimeters dilated, the epidural came. It was Heaven! I slept on and off until I hit 10 and then it was time. I pushed and pushed during my "pre-pushing stage" and felt as if NOTHING was happening. Not only are you tired, hungry, uncomfortable and well, numb, but you are trying to comprehend what is going on as well. It was bliss seeing my doc, who's office was across the street, show up at around 4:30 p.m. and i knew we were getting close.

Finally here!
 
 At 5:13 p.m., Maddox James Jackson came into our world and with a little surprise -- his umbilical cord was in a knot! (Something that doesn't happen all that often.) It apparently caused no problems whatsoever during the pregnancy, but was a shock and surprise to even the doctor and nurses. Maddox was beautiful though. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces -- a heifer, we called him. (It must have been all those daily trips to In N' Out burger during pregnancy... hmmmm.) He had a little bit of hair too. Initially I did not want to hold him right after birth -- you know, when they put the baby on the mother's chest after he comes out. But my nurse was great and she did it anyway and I was just in heaven. It really was sheer bliss.
 
Although I had to be cut (not to mention I tore as well) and I couldn't feel my legs for hours after, it really was the best thing ever! I was so afraid of giving birth but having experienced it now, I see why so many moms do it again and again. Maddox is a blessing. He makes Mommy feel things she never ever knew she could.
 
Now he's a thriving toddler with no concept of walls (he runs into them constantly) or toys in his way (trips over those if they are in front of him), and lets everyone around him know he is there (hello? Deafening screams do the trick for hearing loss). But he also is the most affectionate, comforting (yes, comforting) and smiley child! I could not see how my life would have been complete without him. 

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