Happy Birthday Jareth Grae Anderson!

Jareth was born Monday, October 19th at 3:15pm. He weighed 7lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/2 in.

I had a great experience with labor and delivery! Jon and I were up at 4:30 am to get ready for my 6:00 am induction. We had to call the hospital before leaving to make sure they had room for us. When they said we could go in I let out a big "Woohoo!!" and the nurse on the other end laughed. I was so ready to meet my little boy that day and was preparing for disappointment. So on our way we went to Parkwest Hospital. When we got there we met our nurse and she took us to our room. After we got settled in I was given IV fluids for an hour before they called in the doctor to start my pitocin. At 8:11 my water was broken and the pit was started. When my water broke there was a pretty big gush. Each time I moved more leaked out. With all the fluids I had been given I needed to go to the bathroom. After I felt safe enough to get up without too much leaking Jon started to help me to the bathroom. As soon as I lifted my body what felt like a gallon of fluid gushed out of me. It went everywhere! The bed was soaked, the floor, my gown... It was crazy the amount of amniotic fluid I had in my belly.

Other than Jon, my parents, and our friends Mike and Erin were there for the entire process. After my water broke and the pit started my contractions began. Everyone had fun watching the monitor and telling me when to expect each contraction. By 9:00 they were coming on pretty strong. When I had gotten to the hospital I was 4cm dilated and by 10:30 I was at 6! That was when I requested the epidural. I'm glad that I got to feel the contractions for a while, I didn't want to miss out on anything. But, the pain got to be too much and at one point I told Jon we weren't having anymore children. So Dr. Tate, my anesthesiologist, came in to do my epi. I had been told that you can't feel the epidural being placed. Well I did! I could feel the tube going in my back and I could feel the medicine going through the tube. It hurt; it hurt pretty bad. After it was placed, my left side went completely numb. It took a couple of minutes for my right side to catch up. Then I felt no pain. It was wonderful. I could feel my uterus get hard when I contracted and I could feel the baby move so I was able to tell what was going. That was nice.

An hour later nurse Amanda checked me again and said that I was 9 cm and that we could start practice pushing. We did several practice pushes and finally she said "Well his hair is delivered!" I looked up at Jon and he had the biggest smile on his face. He was a great coach. He reminded me to breathe and keep my chin to my chest and coached me on how to push. I don't know what I would have done without him. After a couple more pushes the nurse asked me to stop and called the doctor. Other nurses filled the room and it went from a labor room to a delivery room in about 5 seconds. Dr. Walker arrived at 2:50 and I began pushing again. As Jareth's head was birthed the Doctor made me stop because the cord was pretty tight around his neck. She had to clamp and cut it before we could deliver the rest of his body. Also I had to have an episiotomy. I didn't feel anything but I heard two big "pops" and all of the sudden Jareth's body slid out. I have to say I honestly felt nothing, no pain from pushing or from the episotomy. It was amazing. I really enjoyed the entire experience.

As soon as Jareth arrived he was placed on my chest and I was in awe. I couldn't believe he was ours. They rubbed him down and he just sort of wimpered and never really cried. The doctor called him the "zen baby" and said he was relaxed because we were. Jon was so excited. He had the biggest grin on his face the entire time. After poking and proding him, Jareth was wrapped up and given to me. We just stared at him. Finally, I let Jon hold his son : ) He was one proud papa! About 45 minutes later I was able to breastfeed. Jareth did great his first feeding. I was so proud and so pleased with the way everything had gone. It was a perfect day.