And now for the rest of the story (the birth story that is)

Carson was a late arrival. At 41 weeks my midwife suggested an induction, which I was not thrilled about, but understood the risks of going to much past 41 weeks, so at 9 days post term on 3/8/08 we scheduled an induction. We arrived at the hospital at 8am and the doctor broke my water at 10am. I walked the halls of the hospital for about 3 hrs, with contractions about 10 minutes apart, but not really building in intensity, so at about 2pm I was given pitocin. I had requested the lowest dosage and only turning it up every 45 min or hour, so it would start relatively slow. I watched the last disc of season 3 of Lost during that time, but then at about 4pm the contractions really kicked in and it got hard and intense. I had also requested no pain medication and not to offer any to me. I was shaking the whole time and worked with the pain, moving around and staying upright as much as possible. Of course once I hit transition, I started asking for some relief, but my awesome husband was right there coaching me through and helping me stick the to the plan as we had discussed. Reflecting back on those moments, I am so proud and thankful for how Darren helped me through those moments. They checked me soon after the "self doubt" stage and I was at 8cm- almost there!! It was only a few contractions later and I was ready to push. I was so encouraged that I was close- it was incredibly intense and I was literally not able to control and relax, but I had read so many books about natural labor that I was prepared and able to let myself lose control. Needless to say, my throat was very sore the next day from all the yelling. Anyhow, I pushed him out in about 10 minutes! Not very many pushes at all. It was so sweet to see him for the first time. He was very alert and all I could do was say thank you God over and over. I was so happy to have had the birth I had envisioned, even though it was induced. He started nursing before we left the delivery room and he hasn't really wanted to stop since then. An 8 lb 4oz, 20.5 inch little miracle. We are so thankful that Carson Richard Hawes is finally here. I will post some pictures here shortly.