Cooper's Story

Today is technically my due date.

My days are so jumbled right now so I hope that I can get this story written without much confusion.

I started to have contractions on February 20th.  I knew they were Braxton Hicks contractions, but I started to panic. MY MOTHER WAS LEAVING FEBRUARY 26TH AND WOULDN'T BE HOME UNTIL MARCH 3RD!!!  I was relying on my mom to watch Maycee while I was in the hospital.  It is so weird having to worry about a kid at home while going to have another one.

I continued to have contractions for 2 1/2 weeks, so I didn't have to worry about my mom.

At my appointment with my midwife on Wednesday, March 7th, I was dilated to a 5 and was 85 percent effaced.

Holy Hannah.  I was very surprised.

That night my contractions got a little more intense, but definitely not regular.  I went to bed that night wondering if we were going to have to go to the hospital.

Nothing happened.

Thursday I was getting impatient.  I was ready.

Considering that my contractions were never consistent with Maycee I was still unsure as to when I should go to the hospital.  My contractions were coming more frequently but were not "regular".  I called Stephen at work and he came home a little early to help me handle Maycee.  I called my doctor's office around 2pm and the nurse that I talked to panicked when I told her what I was dilated to at my last appointment.  She told me to go to the hospital.

We dropped Maycee off at Kenna's and headed off to the hospital.  We still didn't know what was going to happen.  We got to the hospital at 3:30pm.  The hospital kept me until my midwife, Georgiana, could come over and check things out.  She came an hour later and I was only dilated to a 6 and didn't have regular contractions.  Georgiana said that I could either have her break my water to get things moving or she could send me home, which she didn't want to do considering I was still dilated to a 6.

We had her break my water.  She broke it at 4:30pm and we were committed.

We started to walk the hospital halls to get things going.

Wow.

You really do forget how intense those contractions are.

I started to push at about 6:50pm.  It took 2 pushes and he was here!  It took 45 minutes to push Maycee out.  This was a lot quicker.  Georgiana had me pull Cooper out the last little bit of the way and place him on my chest.  As painful as the whole birthing process is, I cannot believe how miraculous it feels to be a part of the whole thing.  Georgiana said that Cooper was really banged up because he came out so quick.  His mouth was bruised and it looked like he had skid marks on his face.  Poor guy.

I cannot even explain how amazing I felt after Cooper came out.  I actually felt human.  That might sound weird, but after having Maycee I felt like a walking zombie.  After having Cooper I felt great!  Number 2 really does make a difference.

My mom grabbed Maycee from Kenna when she got into town a few hours after we were admitted to the hospital.  Mom brought Maycee to the hospital to meet Cooper the next day.  It was so cute to see her with her little brother.  She is currently "loving him to death".