Our Birth Story

Thursday, July 10 started out like any other day, except the fact that I had lost my mucus plug. I called the nurse and she told me not to worry, losing my mucus plug didn’t mean that I would go into labor. So I went to my parent’s house to clean for my baby shower that we were having on Saturday. I was having contractions every hour or so but didn’t think anything of it, I would wait for the pain to go away and proceed to clean. I had started to get contractions more frequently, but still the thought of going into labor didn’t cross my mind. I came back home around 5:00 and got in the shower to get ready to drive to Utah with Shane to get a transmission for a truck. I talked to him on the phone and told him I was hurting but was probably fine to still go to Utah. I got in the shower and my contractions started to be about 10 minutes apart. I called my sister and told her the pains I was having. She told me I was having contractions and needed to get to the hospital. I told her I would probably be okay and I didn’t want to drive to the hospital for them to tell me I wasn’t dilated enough and to go home. She told me now wasn’t the time to be tough and I needed to be checked just to make sure. We tried calling my mom, who was visiting teaching and didn’t have her phone on her and then my sister called my dad to come to my house and take me to the hospital. I called Shane and told him I was hurting really bad and my contractions were now 5 minutes apart. He drove really fast home and got here about the same time as my dad. They both gave me a priesthood blessing that told me everything would be okay. It was then that it finally dawned on me I was in labor (yes, I’m a little slow!). Shane rushed me to the hospital and we got there about 7:15 p.m. We got to labor and delivery and they got me to a room to be checked. They thought maybe my placenta had separated from my uterus. I got checked and was told they could see hair. I asked what that meant and they said the baby was coming that night. I started to cry, I was so nervous and scared. I was only 33 weeks pregnant and didn’t want my sweet baby coming that early. I went to a delivery room and got checked by Dr. Cox. He told me I was fully dilated and the baby would be here within the hour. It was too late for an epidural so I got a spinal instead along with a steroid shot to help with Axel’s lungs. About 9:45 p.m. I started to push. Shane and my mom were in the room with me. In between pushed Dr. Cox let me see down there with a mirror, which was really neat. At 10:16 p.m. my sweet baby boy was born. He had the cord wrapped around his neck, which thankfully I didn’t see or I would have been a wreck. The resident helping Dr. Cox got the cord off his neck and they got him over to the nurses to be weighed. I waited to hear his first cry and when I finally heard it I started to cry myself. It was so good to hear.  They got his weight at 5 lbs 1 oz, but they were rushing to get an oxygen mask on him because his chest was kind of caved in and he was struggling to breath. He probably weighed more around 4 lbs 12 oz. I got to see my baby for a split second from across the room before he was taken into the NICU.  I didn’t get to hold my baby and I was devastated. I started crying hard and asking when I could see my baby. I got to see him 2 hours later after my meds had worn off. It was the longest 2 hours ever. Shane and my dad gave Axel a blessing and that was so comforting to me. I am so thankful for the priesthood and the power of prayer.  I am also so thankful for miracles.