Samuel David Hillyer

Don't mind my lack of grammatical correctness and coherence....I'm a little tired and don't feel like editing.

I was due to have a baby on Oct. 29th (at least that was the last due date I was given). I was early with Hadley and the boys obviously, so I just expected that it would happen. It didn't Nothing happened....at all, until Saturday, the 6th.

I started having minor contractions in the late afternoon. They didn't hurt much and were around 15min apart. John went to play hockey that night and we decided to come watch because we wanted the kids to see John play sometime this season and figured this would be the easiest without having a little baby too. By the time the first hour of hockey was over, I had had a couple contractions that were 3 minutes apart, so John left hockey early and we went home. The contractions slowed to about 15-20 min apart and were nothing major. We watched a lame movie and then went to bed. At about 3:30am I had a couple contractions that woke me up, but were still 15 min apart. Then at 5am, I had 2 that hurt more and were 3 min. apart.

We didn't want to wait too long to go to the hospital because I had decided that I wanted to try an epidural. I had wanted one with Hadley and the twins, but was too late both times. Well, actually, I wanted to try without for both labours, but once I was in labour, i wanted one. With Hadley, I had morphine because I was panicky and in pain obviously. With the twins, I had laughing gas while I was pushing. So, with both deliveries, I was very out of it when they were born. I didn't like feeling like that and wanted to remember Sam's birth better and feel like I was actually present. That is why I decided that I wanted to have an epidural. I didn't want to get desperate and try morphine or laughing gas again.

So, we called my mom at 5am and asked her to come over so that we could go to the hospital. By the time we got there the contractions slowed to 10 min apart and I was only 1-2cm dilated. So we went and had breakfast and then walked around Walmart for an hour to see if things would speed up. They didn't, so we decided to go home so I could get in the shower. We have hot-water on demand, so once we were home, I laid in the shower for about an hour. The contractions were getting harder, but were still irregular and far apart. This is how labour was with the twins, but once my water broke, I had them an hour and 20minutes later. We went to my mom's once they were done church and had lunch and I walked around their house trying to get things moving. The contractions hurt a lot more. Enough that I couldn't talk during them, so we decided to get checked at the Raymond Hospital before going to Lethbridge again. I was checked and I was still 1-2cm dilated. Argh! Yvonne Baines was the nurse there and after seeing me go through a contraction (mind you, it was while lying on my back) told me that I needed to relax my whole body to let the cervix open up. We went home and I got in the shower again. This was at about 3:30...I think. The contractions got a lot harder and were soon around 5-6 minutes apart. John said that we should go to the hospital. I didn't want to get out of the shower because I was scared that the contractions would slow again, but they hurt a lot, so I agreed that we should go. It was 6pm when we left. They continued to be from 4-6 min apart. When we got to the hospital I was 6 cm dilated. Yeah! I told them I wanted an epidural. The contractions were coming quickly now. I was doing really well through them. I would just breath slowly and calmly and relax my whole body and let the cervix do its thing. I went to the delivery room and laid on the bed to get monitored for a bit. I laid on my side because on my back was way too uncomfortable. Contractions continued to progress. I feared that the epidural wasn't going to happen because things were just going too fast. I stayed relaxed though and continued to be calm through the contractions. I knew that if I lost my focus during the contractions, that it would be awful....so I didn't. Dr. Gibb was on his way and I was at 9cm. I felt that I would soon need to push. Dr. Gibb got there and I was very close to 10cm. He said I could push if I wanted to. It was so weird feeling coherent and present at this time. It almost annoyed me. Between contractions, I felt almost weird laying there with everyone watching me, waiting for another contraction to come. Dr. Gibb broke my water with the next contraction and then I started pushing. Pushing was stupid. I kept saying "this is dumb", "I can do this", "I'm mad". I wanted to be in a different position. I was on my back John and the nurse would pull my legs in to my chest while pushing. I asked if I could go in a different position and they said no. I wasn't really sure what position I would have tried, but I just wanted off of the bed! I stayed and just kept pushing. I wanted that baby out as soon as possible! John kept giving me motivation, saying things like "I can see him", and telling me when to push and keep pushing. It helped a lot to keep up my motivation. Finally by 8:19pm, he was born! Yeah! I pushed for 25 minutes. He was born posterior and had a huge conehead. It was nice being aware of things at this point. I loved watching them assess him and then being able to nurse and hold him.

I broke like all the blood vessels in my face and chest. It looks awesome. I tore some, so while I got stitched up, they cleaned up Sam and weighed him, etc. He weighed 7lbs 15oz. and is 20.5 inches long. I was bleeding lots, so I had to get medication in my iv and then some other meds. The same thing happened with the twins. I nursed Sam soon hoping that that would help stop some bleeding. He took to it quickly and has a very strong latch.

The bleeding slowed and I went to the maternity ward. My Dad and Mom visited for a bit. I was very tired and a little faint-ish. I tried to sleep, but it didn't happen much. John stayed overnight, which was very nice. I had a hard time moving, so he helped me a lot. The kids and my mom came in the morning to visit. They were so excited. After they left, I showered and slept a bit. John and I were so bored! So we asked the nurse if we could try to go home. She called Dr. Gibb and he said ok. John's parents came just before we left. The kids were so happy when we got home. John put them to bed and then I fed Sam and went to sleep. John took Sam when I was done and got him to sleep. It felt so nice to sleep in a comfortable bed without the sound of two LOUD ticking clocks!

Welcome to our family Sam!

Here's some pics: