The Southams

The birth:

Kyler was LATE! One week late! Because I had a c-section with Xander I couldn't be induced but I'm so glad I wasn't even though waiting was hard. I wish I could go back in time and not get induced with any of the kids my labor and delivery were so nice without all the added stress of pitocin!

My contractions started around 2 am on Wednesday March 12th. They pretty much started 5-7 minutes apart and were about 1 min to 1.5 minutes long they stayed that way my entire labor. Every 3-4 contractions I would have one that was more like 10 apart. They weren't too terrible painful except the ones that were 10 min apart they hurt more. I kept telling myself that if the contractions all started hurting like that the 10 min ones that then I would go in to the hospital. They did keep me awake wondering if this could finally be it! I took a shower around 3:30 am to see if that would stop them from coming, it didn't. I told Cameron then that I was having contractions he didn't seem to care he slept right through most of my labor. Lucky him :) After my shower I just went to bed and counted contractions on an app I downloaded on my phone. Around 7 Cameron started getting up and getting the kids ready for school. Cameron's mom was staying with us so she could watch the kids when the time finally came. I was making lunch for the kids and had to pause because of the pain and that's when finally Cameron and his mom convinced me that I should probably go to the hospital. I didn't really want to go in yet. I have to say that if my labor would have started during the day when Cameron was at work or if my water had broken during my labor we would have had Kyler at home or on the way to the hospital. I would have put off calling him too long. I wanted to MAKE SURE I was in labor before I went in, this is my 7th child I didn't want them to send me home!
As we got in the car to go to the hospital I told Cameron that if I didn't have any contractions between our house and the hospital then I wasn't going to go in. I had 2 on the way so I had to go in :) I had one really bad one in the parking lot and had another before we even got up to labor and delivery. We told the nurses at the desk that I was in labor and they asked me how far I was and I told them 41 weeks I also started having another contraction so they brought me back into and exam room and had me change into a gown. I kept having more and more contractions and I think I finally thought yep, this is it. Even then I was SHOCKED when the nurse finally checked me and told me I was at an 8!! Whoops maybe I should have come in a little sooner. They got me to a room right away and it just so happened that the epidural guy was right there so they had me hooked up to the epidural by 8. I so wish I could have had Kyler without and epidural but my doctor told me that since I was having a v-bac it was safest to have an epidural. So of course after everything that happened with Xander I was going to do whatever my doctor told me was best. It was the best epidural I every had it was so perfect and they guy did a great job putting it in, had my first two experiences been like that I might not have stopped getting them. EXCEPT the one major thing I hate about and epidural is after I got it the doctor put off delivering me as long as he possibly could. I was dilated to a 10 by 8:30 and Kyler wasn't born until 9:50! I HATE THAT ABOUT EPIDURALS! We had a very chatty nurse who stayed with us the entire time she was very nice. Finally my water broke on it's own basically because Kyler was coming with or without the doctors help. I could feel some pressure down there and the nurse checked and said it was my waters bulging and then gush they broke. The water was nice and clear with no poop so that was a relief as people like to scare you with worries like this when you are a week late. The nurse called the doctor in and he says to me "you have big babies this one isn't going to get stuck in there sideways is he?" I was like IDK you nummy! Anyway Kyler was here 1 push later. Beautiful, healthy and with what felt like very little effort on my part. So then the doctor was like "WOW! that was easy, do you have any sisters I could deliver?" he wasn't my favorite doctor ever :) We stayed in the hospital until Friday morning just enjoying our last little baby. We came home on Friday to lots of happy brothers and sisters. Kyler has been such a joy to us and a sweet, sweet baby! We love him very much!