The loooong version of James' birth story.

I have lots of pictures and details to share. If you plan on reading this whole post I hope you have a lot of time on your hands!

On the way to the hospital at 6:50AM on March 18.

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While waiting for contractions to start, Rod hooked me up with the laptop and some TiVod shows. I watched a couple of episodes of 17 kids and counting. If Mrs. Duggar could do this 18 times, I should be able to handle it once!

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Rod was with me from start to finish. He watched over my every move and made me as comfortable as possible. I knew he would be an awesome support person, but never imagined he could make me feel as at-ease and confident as he made me feel that day.

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When I arrived I was having contractions about 7 minutes apart but they were so mild I couldn't feel them. I was at 4cm dilated and about 80-90% effaced. The Pitocin was started around 8AM. At 10:25 the doctor broke my water. I felt pretty good until about 12:30 and got the epidural at 1:45.

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Mom arrived around 10:45.

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Amy arrived around 2:00.

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My sisters also came and sat with me for a little while. It was so nice to be surrounded by close friends and family. I cannot imagine having to go through labor alone.

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At 3:30ish the doctor wanted me to do some practice pushes. He said that I was at 9cm and just needed to get rid of a tiny bit of the cervix before I could push for real.

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I started pushing for real at about 4:30.

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They had me trying many different positions because I could not feel the urge to push. I look calm because I wasn't feeling pain. The only thing I was worried about was that pushing was going to last forever!

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I continued to show a few signs of making progress. Every time the doctor came in she said she would give me one more hour then we would talk about the options. I got to the point where the nurse said there was about a silver dollar sized amount of the baby's head showing and they thought that was really promising. The nurse reported that the baby had a ton of hair!

A little before 8 the doctor came in and checked me one more time. The baby would make progress during pushes but then would slip back after each contraction. The doctor and nurses said that indicated that he was just too big to fit through the birth canal. I was really disappointed but made the decision to go forward with a c-section at 8:02PM. Here is a picture of me and Rod after they started the prep work.

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The c-section was worse than I expected. Being as clausterphobic as I am, I have always been terrified of surgery. They strapped my arms down on the table, placed a curtain in front of my face (it kept getting moved so my face was covered by it), and they gave me oxygen in my nose. It was all I could do to keep from having a panic attack, but I knew that wouldn't help anything. Because I had been crying and the room was freezing cold, I was extremely congested and felt like I couldn't breathe well. I was all alone during the preparations as they made Rod wait in the waiting room. He later told me that was the scariest moment of his entire life. I was pretty scared, too! They made the first incision then let him enter the room. It was such a relief to hear his voice (even though he was complaining at the doctor for starting surgery without him!). Anyway, after much pain (which everyone told me I wouldn't feel), tugging, and hearing statements from the doctor like "wow, this baby is really stuck in the birth canal", they finally told Rod to stand up. As he stood up and looked over the curtain, I heard the doctor say "8:50PM" and then heard that adorable little cry that I've been waiting for! Here is James' first picture.

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Rod stayed standing up so he could see what was happening. He relayed to me everything he saw which made the waiting a little bit easier. All I could think about was "someone PLEASE bring me my baby!". After cleaning him up a little bit, I finally got to kiss my little man.

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They wisked the baby off to the nursery and I asked Rod to follow him. I knew I would be ok but wanted to know someone was watching over James. They told me I would be in recovery for about 1 hour. It turned into 2 1/2 hours due to some nurses that seemed to thrive on imposing pain. I was still having contractions, had just been sewn up after major surgery and they were pushing on my abdomen with all their strength. Despite the pain medications, I was screaming out in pain. At one point, my heart started beating in a weird pattern due to the pain which set off some alarms. It was the most painful thing I've ever had to endure. I would gladly do the contractions, pushing, and c-section again but that part in the recovery room was absolutely awful. Here is a picture of me waiting in the recovery area (Rod was finally able to come sit with me after about an hour).

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While I was being tortured, Rod was in the nursery with James. This was his first bath.

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James was crying his little eyes out until Rod starting singing to him. He immediately turned to look at Rod and quit crying. How sweet is that?

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At around 11:30PM they finally allowed me to go back to the family birthing center so I could hold my baby. I arrived in my room and was surrounded by lots of friends and family (and LOTS of cameras!). Here is a picture of the first time I got to hold James.

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This is Rod's first time holding James.

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I was so out of it that I can't remember the situation surrounding this picture but I think it is cute!

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Rod's first diaper change. Actually, he did all of the diaper changes the whole time we were in the hospital!

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Rod took such great care of me. He helped me in and out of bed, to and from the bathroom, putting my compression stockings on and off, getting me snacks and water, etc. the poor guy never got a break. He was SO tired by the time we left the hospital.

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Our sweetie pie.

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James loves to sleep on his daddy's chest.

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I could stare at him all day long!

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He wasn't too thrilled with his going home outfit but he sure looked cute!

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Finally going home! Saturday afternoon around 5 we were released from the hospital. I was sooo happy to be outta there.

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Thanks for reading our story!