Colby Andrew Leith 7.16.10

I had my baby boy on July 16th! He came almost 3 weeks early, but it was a wonderful surprise! I had thought he might be coming early, but i didn't know how early. I was hoping he would make it until the 22nd of July so that Andrew would be finished with his finals, but instead he came the week of finals...luckily it was the weekend so Andrew was able to go a couple days without sleep.

So here's my story for those of you who might possibly be interested (sorry it might be gross to some). It was about 11:30 Thursday night, I had just crawled into bed and thinking to myself "man i wonder what it'll be like to go into labor" and all of a sudden i felt a gush of water and was beyond confused. I ran to the bathroom and was pretty sure my water broke, but didn't know for sure. Andrew was studying for finals so i didn't want to bug him too much, but i told him i thought my water broke and we were debating whether to go to the hospital or not. i didn't want to go right away because i didn't know if my water really broke, i didn't want to go just for them to tell me i pee'd my pants! After about an hour of debating, we decided to head up to the hospital. After testing me and having me wait there for almost 3 hours, they told me my water didn't break and i might have just pee'd my pants (although they couldn't figure out why i kept leaking either). i didn't want to argue with them because they're doctors after all, even though i knew something was up. so at 3:00 they sent me home and told me to go to see my doctor in the morning to make sure. so we get home and andrew falls fast asleep, as for myself i get another gush of water at 3:30. and then again at 4:00. By this time i'm just counting down the time until i can call the doctor and figure out what is wrong with me. I called the doctor in the morning and talked to a nurse who told me that the litmus paper is so super sensitive so if there was any amniotic fluid they would know, so most likely i just pee'd my pants (apparently over and over). They tell me to come in at 9:50 (yeah that seems like forever on top of a sleepless, leaking night). I head to the doctors by myself because i told andrew the nurse thinks i just pee'd my pants, so he can just go to class at 10:15. I get to the doctors office and i'm struggling with my leaking problem, so there i am sitting on the bed and the doctor is asking me if i've been leaking, he goes to check me and i gush ALL OVER THE FLOOR!! Of course i'm all embarrassed, not only is this uncontrollable water coming out of me, but i didn't know if i was peeing or not! He just calmly tells me "well, i think it's safe to say your water has broken" THANK GOODNESS!! I quickly call andrew and catch him on his way to class and tell him they are sending me to the hospital and expecting me within an hour.
sooo in the hospital i got induced about 12:00 pm. Andrew called his parents right away when we got to the hospital, but my parents volunteer at the temple friday mornings until 12:00 (oregon time) so i couldn't tell him i was having a baby until 1:00, of course i couldn't tell anyone else either until my parents knew, so i had to wait. As soon as i could i called my parents and my mom started freaking out. they quickly went home and packed and headed over here as soon as they could. They got here Saturday about noon, and will be here for a couple weeks to help out. Meanwhile, I didn't even know i was having contractions until they hooked me up to the monitor and told me i was. i've been having braxton hicks contractions since about 6 months so i ignored all the tightening of the stomach. the contractions didn't hurt until a couple hours later, and as soon as they were hurting to the point where i had to concentrate on breathing the pain away (still not too bad, but not pleasant) the anesthesiologist came in and told me that he could give me the epidural within half and hour, or i would have to wait about three hours, so of course i took it then. I had already felt light headed when they gave me the IV so i was worried i would pass out with the epidural, i was so nervous! As i was selfishly thinking of myself and the huge needle that would soon be stuck into my back, i hear Andrew say "i'm not feeling well". Poor guy was about to pass out! Luckily, neither of us passed out, and the epidural was the best thing i've ever had in my life!!
The birth was so amazing, i'm so happy that i didn't feel any pain and that it was a wonderful experience for both Andrew and myself. i really didn't want andrew to have to see me in pain, and i didn't want to hate the whole experience. i spent about an hour and a half pushing, but it went by so fast. I would push during the contractions, and in between Andrew, the nurse, and myself would just talk and joke around. The doctor came in to catch the baby, when the head and arm was out he told me to reach down and hold my baby's hand while he was cleaning his face (ok i know that sounds gross, i was totally against doing this. i had seen people on tv do it and thought it was disgusting, but it was amazing!) so i was holding my little baby's hand, and then when his torso came out he told me to wrap my hand around his torso and pull. i pulled my baby out! it was so awesome! the whole labor and delivery experience was amazing. the most pain i felt was when they took the tape off my arm from the IV! (seriously...WAX JOB!) Colby Andrew Leith was born Friday July 16th 2010 at 9:47 PM weighing 6 lbs 12 oz and was 20 in. long. I'm glad the little guy decided to come early, if not he would have almost been a 9 lb baby! He was completely healthy and was able to come home with us Sunday morning. He's been such a blessing in our lives.
Wow, well that's the long story, and here's our little boy!