Blakely Paige Cushman

On April 10th, I went to a doctor's appointmennt where he said I could be going into labor anytime.  I was 39 weeks and scheduled for an induction the next morning.  When I got back, I quickly got Avery ready and we went over to hang out with our girlfriends on a water play date.  My friends gave me pineapple and had me on my feet a lot trying to get me to go into labor on my own so I wouldn't have to be induced. (I was a little nervous to be induced but also very done with being pregnant. While I only gained 17 lbs this pregnancy, I felt way huger than I did with Avery and had a much more difficult pregnancy.)  A couple hrs later we went home and I put Avery down for a nap.  I went outside to eat a snack when I realized I was having contractions.  I began to time them and they were anywhere between 2 and 3 minutes apart.  I did this for an hour and then told my mother-n-law.  We decided to go on a short walk to see if this changed my contractions.  They got stronger.  I immediately called Ryan and told him to come home from work since it takes him longer than an hour to get home.  I finished some last minute packing and began to tell my sis-n-law what to do while babysitting Avery that night.  Ryan arrived and we took some last pictures as a family of 3.  I started to get sad that Avery would no longer be our only child.  After this, we went straight to the hospital.  Once there, they checked me, I was at a 3 and they told me there was no way I was in labor because I was smiling.  I insisted that I was because I was the exact same way with Avery.  I don't feel too much pain until my water breaks.  I asked if I could walk around for a little bit.  After 30 minutes of walking, I was at a 5, in labor!  I decided to get an epidural at this point because I went so quickly with Aves that I didn't want to wait too long.  Ryan went and got us some dinner and we ate and watched Survivor.  Everything was going great up to this point but then hrs went by and my contractions had slowed so much.  It took forever to progress to a 6.  I told them I would progress so much faster if they broke my water but I had strep B and they wanted me to get 2 dosages of antibiotics in and they have to be 4 hours apart from each other.  Also they wanted a doctor from my office to deliver me. (Who wasn't going to be there till 6am the next morning).  So they wanted to prolong the labor....miserable!  They wanted me to sleep but the blood pressure band kept squeezing my arm every 15 minutes, or the machine would start beeping, or someone would be coming in to check on me. Ryan and my father-n-law slept that whole night and luckily my mother-n-law was there to entertain me.  By 6am I was tired from not sleeping at all but anxious for them to finally break my water to get this started! They broke my water and I went from a 7 to a 9 within a couple contractions.  However, it was then that I noticed my epidural wasn't working at all on my left side.  They tried to make it stronger but it was a no go.  I was in so much pain!  I held Ryan's hand and just bawled every time another contraction came.  An hour or more later, they finally checked me again and I was at a 10 but totally warn out and a wreck.  They said I was so tense that it may be hard to relax enough to deliver.  They gave me the option of delivering or having them redo my entire epidural.  With much thought I decided the experience would be much more enjoyable without pain.  They redid my entire epidural, remember I am at a 10!  But it started to work quickly and I couldn't feel a thing.  They needed it to wear off a little though so that I could push.  So I actually got a 20 minute nap.  When I woke up, they checked me and the baby was crowning.  With 2 easy pushes she was here!!!

Blakely Paige Cushman

April 11th, 2013

9:37 am

6 lbs 11 oz

19 inches

She was beautiful and perfect and all I could do was cry!  She had a hard time breathing and getting her color so before they bathed, weighed or did anything they had me nurse her.  Her cheeks turned pink almost immediately!  Crazy how different our daughter's labors were but the same feeling came with both arrivals.  Feelings of love, awe, and gratitude that our Heavenly Father has given us such healthy and beautiful girls.  I was so grateful to have Ryan and his mom there the whole time!  Thanks to my mother in law, we have all these amazing pictures too!  The first time Avery held her, she said "I don't like her anymore", so sad!  But then the next day, she was so in love with her "Blakey" and didn't want anyone to hold her.  We are now a family of 4.  I would be lying if I said it's easy.  I'm pretty sure I cried every day for the first 2 weeks home not knowing how I could do this.  But slowly it's getting easier and I am loving being a mom of 2 sweet little girls!