So here's the story!

As I mentioned in my last post, little Miles made his appearance surprisingly early! Here is the story of how it all unfolded :)

First, up until about 9:00pm on Monday January 27th, I was feeling totally normal and would have thought I easily had another two or even three weeks to go! At my previous doctor's appointment, I was 0 cm dilated, 0% effaced, and the baby hadn't dropped at all. However, that evening I started having some unusual things go on (I'll spare you from providing TMI), so I called my doctor to see what I should do. To be on the safe side, my doctor sent me to Labor and Delivery to get checked out to make sure everything was ok, however none of us were too worried/excited at this point. In fact, Evan and I debated even bringing our hospital bags, but at the last minute decided to do so just in case.

Also at the last minute we decided to drop our dog off at our in-laws just in case it ended up being a really late night, but we told them we thought we'd be back in a couple of hours. We also called my parents to let them know what was going on, but warned everyone this was not the big show! I started having some really light contractions on the way to the hospital but seriously nothing significant and of course they stopped the second we got to the hospital. When we got there, I was even feeling a little upset because after our hospital tour the week before,  I was hoping that the next time we were at the hospital we'd be walking out with a baby and instead we were going because of this little "episode".

At about 10pm we were sent to a triage room where a nurse took my vitals and the baby's vitals and of course everything looked totally fine! Fifteen minutes later we were waiting for the doctor to come in and just take a quick look, at which point we assumed we'd be sent home. However, about two minutes after the nurse left my contractions suddenly started picking up again. The first one I would have rated a 2 on a scale of 1-10, and the second on a 6, and the third one an 11! They were about three minutes apart and just kept coming and coming! I told Evan to get the nurse, because at that point was in some serious pain! About two minutes after that, my water broke! The doctor finally came in and they could barely believe how quickly I progressed (I was then at over 5 cm!)

They ended up sending me directly to L&D and got me an epidural ASAP. Let me tell you, having to hold still during two intense contractions while they inserted the needle was probably the strongest and most focused I've ever been in my whole life! I was already exhausted from a long day at work and the insane contractions (even for 15 minutes) took so much out of me! I definitely tapped into some strength I had no idea I even had. But let me tell you, once that epidural kicked in it was AMAZING!! Being able to catch my breath was absolutely huge. Additionally, it gave us a moment to realize "this is it!" We were so excited! (Let me tell you, that makes labor a whole heck of a lot easier too, because you know that SO SOON you will get to me your baby and you are just so happy!) Anyway, at that point, I felt human again and the doctor/nurses wanted my labor to progress until I reached 10cm. They dimmed the lights, gave me some ice chips, and said they'd check on us in a couple of hours. We texted our parents what was happening at this point, which was crazy! We had kept warning them nothing was happening, but then our next update was telling them that my water broke, I'd had an epidural, and that this baby was on his way! We were ALL shocked!

During this time, I was feeling a lot of contractions but it was more pressure than pain. We basically just used this time to rest! Evan fell asleep and I was definitely dozing in and out. At my first progress check at about 3:30am, they discovered I was 10cm dilated and they started prepping the room for me to get to ready to push and for the baby! I could not believe how quickly it was all progressing! When I first started pushing, it was just me, Evan, and the most amazing nurse I've ever met. I always pictured this part would resemble how they depict labor in the movies with the doctor and tons of nurses and bright lights, but it was actually a really calm, chill setting (all things considered!) Of course just my luck though, my contractions started slowing down in terms of frequency and didn't feel nearly as intense as they had the whole rest of the night. (Go figure!) So I pushed.. and I pushed.. and I pushed! 2.5 hours later the baby was getting SO CLOSE but it seemed like it was two steps forward, one step back. And boy was I EXHAUSTED!! (I've decided 10pm is probably the worst time you could go into labor!)

I think they were starting to consider sending me in for a C-section, but I insisted on taking a short break and then giving it ONE more shot. During this "down time", my contractions picked up again and I swear they were naturally doing the work that needed to be done to move the baby down without me even pushing! At 7:00am, I started pushing again and FINALLY made some real progress! The doctor was called in and with a few more extreme pushes, Miles Matthew entered the world at 7:23am, weighing 7 pounds 2 ounces, at 19.5 inches long :)

Hands down the best moment of my life!! 

Just knowing that there is now this little person in the world that is part of our family forever going forward is just amazing. Words cannot even describe how overflowing with love our hearts are for this little guy!

Here are pictures of our first times holding him:

It is still so surreal to me how early and how quickly it all unfolded! Wouldn't change it for the world :)