Our Baby Story...

So... My due date was October 10th, clearly I didn't make it til then. Yes, I felt like I could have had him in August because I was so big and uncomfortable. So on Sunday, September 27th, the fam and I took a nice stroll up big Cottonwood Canyon at Silver Lake. We walked around the whole thing and my the time we were done, I felt like I had walked for a day straight. We were walking back to the car when I felt something.... I believe it was Gabe dropping. It felt like I had to pee my pants and I could BREATHE again!! It also gave me the sensation like I was carrying a bowling ball in between my legs. My sister April caught a picture if me in that moment. I was smiling because I thought my water had broken... not yet! We were all joking around that our little walk will induce my labor, clearly thinking that it wouldn't because I wasnt due for another 2 weeks. Well, that night I was getting in bed around 10:45. Dall was up on the computer doing Fantasy Football stuff. It was 11:30 now and I was going through my "list of things I had to get done tomorrow" in my head when all of the sudden I feel my water break! It was so crazy! I started yelling for Dallas and when I told him my water broke, he didnt believe me... well that only lasted until he saw my water trail leading into the bathroom.. ha ha, sorry tmi! Since we are living with my parents, my mom and sister rush downstairs to see what was going on. We all were getting my things together because I was kinda freaking out. It was so surreal. I wanted to get to the hospital before my contractions started to get bad. They were not bad by this point, just some cramping. So my mom and Allie follow me and Dall to the hospital and my dad just wanted us to keep him posted. Well the car ride was were the contractions started to get bad. Its a good thing I pain attention in my third trimester class. The breathing tactics helped a ton. We get to the hospital and the nurse hooked me up to monitors and checked me to see my progression. I was dilated to a 3 and was about 95% effaced. I had Strep B so they had to get the IV in so they could give me Penicillin. I had to be on it for 5 hours before they would start me. The contractions at this point were getting really bad and I really felt them in my back. I think that was the worst.. I hate back pain. For me it was worse than the actual contraction. So we made our lovely call to the anesthesiologist. It only took him a few minutes to get to my room, which was so great for me. I wasnt sure what it was going to be like since it was like 2:30am. Once I got the epidural, it was smooth sailing!! Oh goodness, I swear by the miracle of an epidural. I was able to relax and just enjoy everything. So the waiting game began. We knew nothing would be happening til about 5:00 because they had to give me another dose of penicillin. So we all tried to get some sleep. My mom and dallas' mom were there and so was Allie, my sister. During one of the checks, Gabe's heart rate went way down and it scared me so bad. The nurse was a little worried too. His heart rate would also drop when I would lay on my left side. Who knows why. So the Dr. got there around 7:00am, he talked to me for a little bit then checked me. Then he said that we are ready to push! So Dall stepped up to the plate and participated in the whole delivery, which I thought was a miracle in itself. He was awesome! It was kind of all a blur but I guess I only pushed for 10 or 15 minutes. A total of only 5 big pushes and our baby Gabe was here! They put him on my chest and the sound of his first cry was so amazing. I could not believe that he was ours! The spirit was so strong when our little guy arrived. The last day we were in the hospital, he had jaundice so he had to go under the bili lights and stay in there over night. That was so hard to not hold him and cuddle him whenever I wanted. They only brought him to me when it was time to feed him, then I had to give him right back! We also had to take the bili bed home and put him on that his first night home too, which was even harder. I hated hearing him cry and not do anything about it. I dont want to have to do that again. But he is doing great now and Mommy and Daddy are enjoying every hour of sleep lost because we love him so much! He is truly a miracle and we are so grateful for him. Now that he is here, I cant believe that we lived this long without him! Oh I am SO in love with him. So thats it, thats Gabes story. Sorry for the novel, if you actually took the time to read it.