Never before in my life did I think that I could experience something so wonderful as delivering my son into this world (besides of course marrying his amazing daddy). It was so wonderful it's hard to put it into words, but I will do my best to help express the love that I felt going through the amazing and rather long labor. It all started at 3:10 am on Tuesday, October 27. I woke up to what I thought were contractions, but I was rather confused with the fact that nothing else had happened other that I was feeling these strong cramps. (I thought for sure my water would break or some other sign would come telling me that I was for sure in labor). All Scott remembers that night was the random hand squeezes I would give him during contractions. Morning came and it wasn't progressing enough for me to want to go to BellaNatal (the birthing center), so me, my sweetheart and Izzy set out on a long walk hoping to help move things along. My wonderful mother-in-law advised me to walk through the contractions and I loved doing that mostly just because I could squeeze my sweetheart tight and I could feel the comfort of his arms.
I would say that after that walk I knew that this was going to be an experience that was going to draw me and my sweetheart closer. I was worried that I was going to be the mean pregnant wife that pushes and screams at my husband, but I never wanted to be closer to him than during this time. Back to the story, things kind of picked up a little, but by 11 pm I still wasn't far enough along to leave so that is when my doula (Laura) came over and we tried some different moves to try and help things really get moving along. After doing squats down the stairs and abdominal lifts, by 3 am we were ready to leave. 
They were all ready for us and I was so happy with the birth center I chose. I felt so comfortable laboring there and they took such good care of us. As for our stay at Bella I'll make a long story short and leave out some unnecessary details. After our 7 hours being there my little boy was not ready to come yet and my body was starting to really get worn out. My midwife advised us to transfer to the hospital because the last time she checked me I was dialated to a 7 when I was an 8 before. I remember being a little worried, but having Scott by my side really reasurred me that everything would end up okay. 
Once we got to the hospital I said what I didn't think I would ever want to say, " Please give me the epidural", but it really was a life saver. Once that came along with the pitocin it wasn't too long after that I was ready to push. Hayley, our nurse was so fabulous at trying her best to accomodate me and my desire for the more natural way doing things. It was a mystery to all of us why he hadn't come after this long, but less than 28 minutes of pushing and my little miracle entered this world. Dr. Glenn, who we later found out would be our bishop, did a great job, especially since the cord was about half as long as it should have been. Although we don't know if this was the sole cause of labor taking so long, I have a strong feeling that my body knew that it just couldn't deliver him without some help and his cord just needed time to stretch long enough. 
The moment I saw him it was love at first sight. It didn't matter that my body was exhausted or that I ended up in the hospital, I would do it all over again just to be able to see him for the first time and know that he was a miracle that we created together. Dresden weighed 7' 12" and was 19 inches long and was born October 28, 2009 at 5:20 pm. For being a week early I was very happy to see him so healthy and so perfect. I now look forward to all the many experiences that motherhood brings. Tune in more to hear about how I handled the first week.
