Orin Dale

Our little one has arrived! Orin Dale was born Saturday, February 21 at 6:27 AM. He was 6 lb 14.5 oz, and 19 3/4 inches long. I wanted to blog our birth story so I can remember all that happened on the special birthday.

Friday night, I went to bed with contractions and really bad back pain. I figured it had something to do with my exam earlier in the day, and went to bed. About 1:15 AM, I woke up in too much pain to sleep through. The contractions were getting more intense and the back pain was getting worse. I woke Ryan up and told him that I thought I'm in labor, but I still wasn't sure if it was from my exam, or if it was the real deal. My contractions were 5-7 minutes apart consistently.

At 1:45, I called my mom and asked her what she thought. She said I should just go into the hospital, or call and ask the doctor. Ryan called and explained what was happening, and the doctor told us to come in. It had snowed earlier, and the plows had not cleared the streets. Good thing we weren't too rushed to get there! We arrived at 2:45. My back pain had lessened during the car ride, and the nurse later said that he was probably working his way around to face the right way, which caused the back labor.

After checking in at the ER (since the front entrance was closed for the night), we got settled into our room around 3:15. We went through all the paperwork, and when the nurse checked me at 4:00, I was 6 1/2 cm dilated. Dr. Olson wanted to wait and see how things progressed naturally. At this point, my contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes.

After they unhooked me from the monitors, Ryan and I decided to walk the halls. I was tired of being tied to the bed. At 5:20, I was 8 cm. dilated, and not in very much pain. I kept waiting for the transition to happen, but I never went through any of that. At 5:50, they checked me and I was 9 cm dilated. I had alitle bit of cervix left, and Dr. Olson broke my water at 5:55. I was soon at 10 cm dilated, and I was ready to push. I never once thought I was in so much pain to need IV meds or an epidural. I wonder if my ulcerative colitis prepared my body for the pain of contractions. Or maybe it was just because I progressed so quickly.

I pushed through 3 or 4 contractions, and there he was. I am so blessed to have had such an easy and short 3 hour labor for my first child. I still cannot believe how quickly things went. I remember talking to Ryan between contractions about how things were going much better than we expected. You always hear horror stories about labor, and I had none of that. I went in expecting to need some kind of medication to get through the labor process, but there just wasn't a need for it. The head sure hurt though!! But as I was doing my last pushes to get the head out, the nurse's encouragement and reminder that I was about to find out what we were having, sure helped me get through the worst of the pain. Not knowing the gender helped me tremendously towards the end!

Ryan did wonderfully. He was extremely supportive and encouraging. He was in awe of the entire process. He got to cut the cord and take pictures during the process of cleaning and weighing the baby. He absolutely adores Orin, and he can't get enough of him!

We have taken a thousand pictures, and we think he is the most perfect thing in the world. We have been truly blessed! When you see someone so perfect, you have a redefined faith in God and what he can do. We are so thankful for this little life!