Birth Story: Part 3

I joked with them and said that I shouldn’t had come the previous two times, that this pain right now was NOTHING to compare to.

They checked me and I was 80% dilated and 3-4 cm. Praise Jesus. I spent all day in pain, and I had progressed! Dr. Mestemacher called to check on me and Sara the nurse came back in and said “Don’t worry, they are gonna keep you, you are going to have your baby”. At that moment, I felt RELIEF and Scared out of my mind! They explained that Dr. Mestemacher would come in shortly and break my water. Matt was busy calling family and informing them of my status…and that they were keeping me! I asked how long until I could get the epidural, and Sara said that I would need to get a bag of fluids via i.v first. The nurse, Kim came in to start my i.v and draw blood (I actually went to high school with her, yet I didn’t say anything….not sure why) and I asked her how long it would take to get the fluids into my system, she said 20 minutes or so. By this time, it was 7 o’clock and the nurses were switching shifts and soon after, Crystal, my new nurse came in. I immediately liked her and she took wonderful care of me! Matt hated that she said “Absolutely!” to everything I asked. =). Nowadays, I say “absolutely!” just to get on his nerves! By 7:30, my waters had been broken and they were about to administer my epidural. Patricia was the nurse who gave me my epidural and she was awesome ( I hope that she is around for baby Workman #2, I will ask for her! =) Matt was shocked at how fast she was. The epidural took immediately and I was feeling soooooo much better. Matt was thankful because he hated to see me in all that pain.  I was  6-7 cm about this time. Crystal gave me some Pitocin to move things along.

The next few hours were spent laughing and carrying on about this and that. My mom, Mike, Grandma, Ray, Debbie, Randy (who just got back from Texas a few hours earlier), Lindsey, Tim, Daniel, David and Adeline hung out the entire time! Apparently, David had a Mello Yello and was bouncing off the walls in the waiting room.  About 10:30 (guessing the time), I started to feel some pressure and Crystal checked me and I was at 8 cm. They turned me on my side to help me “thin” out on my right side and she said it wouldn’t be long after that.

At 12am, Crystal came into the room to check my progress and asked my family to wait behind a curtain in the same room because there was no waiting in the halls. Awkward! My nephew, Daniel asked my SIL Lindsey “ How come we have to wait behind here?” Lindsey told him because “Do you really want to see Aunt Ashlee in that gown”, he thought for a moment then got a look of disgust on his face and said “No Way”!

Crystal informed me that I was “COMPLETE!” 10 cm and 100% effaced! YAY! It was finally time to meet our son! My family kissed me goodbye and wished Matt and I luck! At this time, Crystal and some others began filing into the room getting ready and Matt prayed with me (I think it was at this point, maybe not. I do know that he prayed for me and us as a couple and us as a soon to be family at some point that evening.) I love that man. He is my best friend and I am so thankful for him.

Dr. Mestemacher was called and she was headed up to the hospital. They got me all ready and another nurse, Laura came to help me push. I LOVED her and Crystal. The sweetest nurses ever! Matt was even asked to grab my leg and to help. I am still shocked that Matt jumped right in to help me, just because we always joked that he would be so far behind the bed that he couldn’t see anything….he was a trooper! He was always touching my leg (that I couldn’t really feel) and telling me how great I was doing. I heard his voice above all the nurses, he really was my strength! I pushed for about 1 hour 25 minutes and it really was pretty easy. It helped that in between contractions, the nurses, Matt and I talked about cruising, (I can talk about that topic anytime!). Dr. Mestemacher came in the last couple of pushes and at 1:43am, Levi Maddox Workman was born! He shocked us all by being 9lbs, 21 inches long! He is just the most precious little boy ever and very healthy.

Your daddy got to hold you while they were finishing up with me, and once I finally got to hold you, I was in awe. So thankful for you and you being healthy and just stunning! All 10 fingers and all 10 toes were there! So perfect.

That is the story of your entrance into the world and into your daddy's and my heart! You are so loved and I can’t wait to spend my life as your mommy and show you all kinds of adventures and I am looking forward to learning from you too!

I love you Levi!