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So the story of Jared birth starts Saturday morning (June 27th).  Shortly after I woke up, I thought my water broke.  We went on a little walk to see if contractions would start.  I felt a few, so I was pretty sure that we would be seeing him anytime.  As you all know he was born on a Tuesday, so the visit to the hospital was a total disappointment.  I sulked for a while that afternoon and then decided to be proactive and try a bunch of labor inducing techniques that I didn't believe would work: cumin tea, the Spencer W. Kimball Tower stairs, a good cry, etc.  It didn't work. And Sunday was uneventful.

So early, early Monday morning I was woken up by contractions.  15 minutes apart, not that painful,but I started getting a little excited.  That excitement was short lived as the contractions stopped at eight in the morning.  I had a doctor's appointment at 9.  When he did a pelvic exam, he found that I hadn't dilated at all.  I had been at 1 cm for over a week.  I again was a little bummed, but I remembered that my mom reminded me that I would have this baby eventually.  I really couldn't be pregnant forever.  I went home, had lunch and took long nap that afternoon to make up for my sleepless night. 

After I woke up I made dinner and got the sparklers ready for Family Home Evening.  We had dinner and then went on a walk around Wymount.  As we were walking I felt some contractions, but they weren't any worse than the night before, so I didn't think that they were productive.  For FHE we had a little lesson on light and then went to light a few sparklers to celebrate the upcoming 4th just in case I wouldn't be able to celebrate later.  When we were walking around deciding where to light them, my contractions started to be more intense.  The kind where I didn't want to chat until it was over.  I could talk through them, but it wasn't fun.  So we went home and timed the contractions for the next few hours as we cleaned up.  The were between seven and ten minutes apart.  They slowed down after I showered, so I figured they weren't the real thing.  Also I didn't want to be disappointed again.  So I told Ken to go to bed and I would lay down in the living room until either contractions stopped or started to pick up.

Well I tried to read for a while, but I couldn't concentrate.  So I decided to try and watch a movie.  I chose Schindler's List because I had heard that having a good cry can speed up labor.  Well, the movie ended (after many pauses for contractions) and it was 1am and my contractions were no closer together.  In fact there were more spread apart contractions than close together ones.  I was devastated.  I was in a lot of pain and it wasn't even real labor.  Well, I did end up having that good cry.

I called the hospital and to ask if they thought I was in labor (I didn't really trust myself).  They of course wouldn't tell me, but said I could come in to be checked, but they usually didn't recommend women to come in until their contractions were about five minutes apart. Ken woke up spontaneously just a few minutes later at exactly 2am as I was having a contraction.  And as soon as he was with me my contractions were five minutes apart!  I was relieved as we grabbed our things and headed out to the car.  I had several contractions on our way to Orem and every time they started I could hear Ken accelerate the car and then his self control kicked in and he slowed down.

As we got to the front desk they were surprised to see me.  It seemed like they didn't really think I was in serious labor.  We went into the triage room and they hooked me up to monitors for contractions and for the baby.  Then they checked my cervix and I was dilated to 6 cm!  I again was completely relieved and started sobbing.  Just as the nurse was about to leave the room my water broke  and again  I was relieved.  They took me to the closest labor and delivery room where within the next half hour I got an epidural.  And in all honesty I am not sure who was more relieved- Ken or me.  It was good to not be in so much pain, but Ken was stressed and feeling a little helpless I think.

Of course I planned on getting a little sleep before the baby came, but now I was just too excited to sleep.  They checked me about every hour and at 3 I was at an 8, at 4 I was at a 9, 5 I was at 9 1/2 and then by 6:30 I was ready to push!  People started rushing in and out getting the room ready and transforming it into a birthing room.  I ended up doing about 5 or 6 sets of three pushes.  By about the fourth Ken started getting a little woozy, so I told him to sit down so I didn't have to worry about him.  After a few more pushes, I suddenly felt relief and to my surprise his head was out!  The rest of his body soon followed and Ken shot out of his seat and was following the baby around the room.  He was blue and angry!  His breathing wasn't great- just more labored than it should be so they suctioned his lungs and were rubbing him down to improve his color.  Thankfully, by his second APGAR test (a score from 0 to 10 that gauges how well a baby is doing) he was a 9.  They brought him to me all wrapped up and well a little cleaner than he had previously been.  It was surreal to know that he was my son. Come to think of it, I am not sure it has really set in completely.

It was exciting and frightening and difficult and most of all wonderful.  It went so much more smoothly than I feared and am thankfully not worried about having another someday!