The Big Day

This is how it went:

My contractions started Tuesday morning around 2 AM so I didn't get much sleep. By the time Ryan woke up around 6 AM they were getting pretty strong but he had an IPUG (instructor pilot upgrade) ride and I wanted him to complete this ride before our new addition made his/her appearance. Ryan left around 7 and I was in tears. I was praying that the day would go fast until he came back home. I was suppose to go to Cloudcroft with my grandparents but I had to call them and tell them that I wasn't feeling up to shopping. The contracts slowed down a little so I was able to get about a hour of sleep. I woke up and decided to go for a walk with Amanda, her son and Duke. This walk felt good but made the contracts strengthen. I talked to my mom at about 7 PM and she told me to call Ryan, but I needed to wait until his ride was done. I spoke with her again around 9 PM and the contractions were now about 8-10 minutes apart and Ryan still was at work. She told me I needed to call him in case something happened. I reassured her that I'd be ok. Ryan called around 10 PM during a break in his debrief and I told him that the contractions were getting stronger all the time but I wanted him to finish his ride. He gave me a number to call him in the vault in case I needed him to come home. Ryan said that he should be done around 3 AM. I cried but knew I could do it! I decided to try and get some sleep so I crawled (literally) in bed and prayed that Ryan finishes fast and come home because our baby might be here sooner than later. Ryan called for the last time at 12 AM when I told him that the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart but reassured him that he needed to stay and finish his debrief so he could be done with this ride. Through the tears Ryan told me that he was on his way home. I said no, finish your ride... ok, come home please! I was trying to be tough but this was my breaking point. Ryan talked with me the whole way home. We timed the contractions as we spoke and his voice was very comforting.
When Ryan got home he said let's go to the hospital, but I said it wasn't time yet. I had been reminding him of things that we should do if we got to this point so he had me walk around, take a shower, relax and eat some food. As I was doing all this he packed the truck and called the hospital to tell them we would be coming in soon. He made sure all the last minute details were completed. After everything was done we sat in our baby's room to relax before leaving for the hospital, Ryan was able to sleep for about an hour. At 4:30 we finally decided that it was time. I didn't want to go to the hospital early so I waited until I couldn't take it anymore. Ryan drove slow to the hospital because the bumps were killer! I even made him stop during some contractions. We arrived at the hospital at 5:18 AM.
When we finally got to Labor and Delivery I was 6-7 cm dilated. They set me up with an IV just in case we would need it even though I was going to have our baby without any drugs. After hearing the baby's wonderful heartbeat we walked around and waited to get to 10 cm to get the show on the road. Ryan and I thought that we would have our baby by 10 in the morning! Little did we know that we were several hours off! At 12:50pm they finally broke my water to help me dilate to 10 cm. After they broke my water I took a shower and prayed that our baby would be here soon. At about 2 PM I started to push and pushed for 3 1/2 hours and nothing. Our baby was face up so the back labor was intense. This was something that my grandma talked about but I never thought I would experience the pain. From here on I don't remember all the detail but I do remember them telling me that this baby was not moving and I had two choices. C-section or epidural. I said no and no. They gave me some drugs through the IV to relax me so I could push some more without all the pain. This didn't work either. I decided that I was not going to be able to do this without drugs at this point because my contractions were one on top of another and I couldn't get a break. They said that I needed to get an epidural to relax me so I could regain strength to push this baby out. I cried and said ok. I was able to get 2 hours of rest and then woke up to start to push again. At about 8 PM I started to push again and pushed until 10:15 PM. They said there was no progress and that they needed to talk to the doctor about what to do. I wasn't going to have a c-section so I just needed to push harder. I didn't think that our baby was too big to fit through my pelvis but it was true. The doctor told me that we needed to have a c-section because the baby was wedged in my pelvis and it's heart rate was elevating. I cried and agreed. Ryan helped me through this time before going to the OR, he told me that if this was before they completed c-sections that our baby would die and I might too. This realization was harsh but true. I was wheeled to the OR crying but excited to see our baby soon.
At 11:47 our baby boy, Brayden Bradley was born. We had our St. Patty's Day baby and he was beautiful! I have to thank Ryan for everything he did for me. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have been able to make it through this day and the days that followed the c-section. I love you Ryan!