Introducing...Blake Cody Calderwood

Blake Cody Calderwood

Born: July 11th, 2010

Time: 4:21 AM

Weight: 7lbs. 6oz.

Length: 21inches

Here's the story! Blake decided he was coming into this world 1 day earlier than was planned. I went to bed about midnight Saturday and woke up at 2:20 to do one of my nightly runs to the bathroom. I noticed that it was a bit bloody and thought to myself, "I should go google that." I figured it was the mucus plug or something. I don't remember ever seeing that with my other kids. Well, instead of googling immediately, I thought it would be better for me if I just got some sleep. I climbed back in bed and lay there for 30 minutes thinking there was something going on with my body. I haven't felt contractions since I was pregnant with Tucker, and wasn't convinced that I was having them. But about every 5-7 minutes I was feeling something. I headed downstairs to turn the computer on at 3:00 and googled mucus plug, checked my email/facebook etc. I was finally convinced I was having contractions when they started hurting my back. I had intense back labor with Tucker and knew that I must be at the beginning of labor. My contractions were really close together so I woke Cody up at 3:30 and told him we needed to head to the hospital.

Now luckily, my sister and her family had driven down from Logan the day before to show off their baby to family members that were passing through after our annual family reunion. I woke them up and told them we were headed and to take care of the kiddos. My contractions were really starting to hurt now. Cody had to move their car off the driveway so we could get out and I took all our carseats out of the car. Cody drove as fast as he could and was safe to get to Park City. (I guess one bad thing about living where we do is you have to watch out for wildlife at all times of the day. The last thing we wanted to do was hit a deer or moose on our way.) At this point I'm pretty much in extreme pain with each contraction. I'm clinging to the handle above my door and moaning/complaining in pain. Poor Cody, there really is nothing he can do, but drive fast. My contractions are now every 3-4 minutes apart. 

He drops me off at the ER entrance and I walk inside stating that I'm having a baby now and to get my doctor stat. They put me in a wheelchair and take me upstairs to labor and delivery. As I'm being put in the elevator I'm crying that I want to push. The nurse is telling me "No! You do not want a baby in the elevator!" Right - I don't want that. As we approach the nurses in L&D the first thing I say is that I need an epidural NOW! They wheel me to room 1 (small hospital - only 4 beds) and I'm still dying with pain. Between contractions they help me into a gown and I climb in bed. Thankfully they know where the good pressure points are on my back and that helps a little - but only a little. Cody gets there and the nurse checks me while I'm still telling everyone to get me pain meds and my doctor. She looks at me and tells me "Sorry sweetie, you're complete, you aren't getting anything for the pain." I'm a 10, have a bulging sac, the baby is crowned and she tells me that I'll be having a baby in 15 minutes. Not good, not good. I want an epidural - ANYTHING to take some pain away. I'm rolled over on the bed squeezing Cody's hand as hard as I can yelling/moaning that I can't do it. I even thought about biting Cody's hand several times just to clench on something, but thank goodness all my sense hadn't left me. How would that look, my dentist husband with severe bite marks in his arm from his wife. I am not a vampire.

After being in the bed for a minute or two I have a contraction and my water breaks all over - I'm still yelling that I can't do it. I want to push with every contraction and my doctor is not there. The nurse is lying on the bed next to me trying to keep the monitor on to check babies heartrate. The other nurse keeps telling me that Dr. Falk is on her way, she'll be there any minute, she's probably coming up the stairs now. Now I know that my doctor is pregnant herself and has preclampsia and placenta previa and I know she's not running up any stairs to get to me. She may be on her way, but not the way the nurse is trying to tell me. The nurses do keep telling me that I'm doing great (yeah right) and that everything I'm yelling is normal. Well, at least I'm normal.

Finally, with another contraction I just push the baby out. It is so amazing how after you feel the body squiggle out, that the pain and pressure leaves. Hallelujah! But, I'm so exhausted from the pain that even when they place the baby on my stomach I just have to look at the ceiling. Granted, I am lying flat on my back, not in the sitting up, legs in stirrups position. There was just no time to prepare the bed they way it should have been. My fantastic nurse Holly was able to deliver Blake for me. To demonstrate even more how fast it went - the nurse checked me in at 4:02 and Blake was born at 4:21.

My doctor arrived 2-3 minutes after I pushed him out. She is great and finished the rest of the job getting the placenta out and stitching me up (1 stitch). I am now able to relax and enjoy my new baby and start to laugh at the situation we were just in. I just seriously did now think I could progress that fast from 2 hours before using the bathroom, noticing blood, having contractions and delivering a baby. Crazy stuff! If Cody and I have another baby - my doctor has promised me that we will convince the hospital that I'll need to be induced even earlier. I can't imagine what would have happened had I gone into labor with Cody at work or gone somewhere. There is no way I would have been able to drive myself to the hospital with the pain I was in. And for all you Mom's that have gone natural before; 1 - you must have taken some kind of class to focus your pain (which I will take next time just in case) and 2 - you must not have had back labor like me.

Now for the pictures!

After we had the chance to hold him for awhile, attempt to feed and ate our breakfast, we each did some of this. Cody told me that if the hospitals in Baltimore would have had chair/beds like this, he just might have spent the night. Apparently they were super comfy. Oh and Blake has blond hair. None of our other kids were blondies at birth - even though Tucker is now a blond. We'll see if it grows in that way or changes color.

Heather and Dan brought the kids over later in the morning. Tucker and Aubrey were sooo excited to see their new baby brother. Cole just wanted me to hold him and didn't really care about the baby. I'm sure that will change next week when he comes home. We have fantastic parents who are taking Tucker, Aubrey and Cole for the week.

Unfortunately with Aubrey, after they had been there for 30 minutes or so she was lying on my pillow telling me she was cold and started to look a bit lethargic. She was burning up and we had to send them all home. I'm not sure what she was sick with, but she threw up a couple times, slept a lot and then was fine the next day.

Blake meets his cousin Ethan. 3 weeks apart.

I love this picture of Tucker. He is so cute and was carefully holding Blake while my nurse, Sarah took his vitals. I have to tell you all that Park City Medical Center is the BEST hospital I have ever been to. Every single one of the staff members was incredible and awesome. Because it's a small hospital you actually feel like they want to help you and you aren't just a number. When I pushed my nurse call button it wasn't just a voice over a speaker asking what I wanted. They would come in person and help me. And they were all fun to talk to and hangout with. I highly recommend the hospital to anyone that can go there.

Another awesome thing about the hospital is their food. It's incredible! Gourmet food for every meal. We tried some great dishes, with my favorite being my last meal there Monday night. It was a Thai chicken stir fry. Cody and I were also given a complimentary dinner of our choosing with choices like Flank Steak, Salmon, Tortellini, etc. I think we'll have some date nights to the cafeteria in the future. The prices are actually really reasonable and like I said, the food is awesome!

We opted to come home Monday night because Cody had to work on Tuesday. I'm feeling great - Blake is finally eating well and doing great and we're happy to be home. : )