A lot of excitement in just two days!

After four months of waiting and stressing about getting in to grad school, finally, on June 21 we got the news of being accepted to A.T Still University in Mesa Arizona!! I am so proud of Eric and excited for this chapter in our lives. Though this is very exciting news and we couldn't be more ready and happy about this, life became very stressful when we found out they need him there a month earlier than we were thinking and planning to move. A lot of plans are now being changed and we are trying to figure out how we are going to get everything ready and done before moving day.We have quite the to do list: Eric is not able to work for the two years of being in the program so we have to start applying for financial aid and figure out how we are going to survive the next two years...gotta love big fat harry student loans. We also have to apartment hunt from Cedar and get a deposit sent in real soon so we are not homeless. The last and major thing on our list was to have our baby who was due July 22 the day before Eric starts school. We were worried about the possibility of him not coming before we had to leave and Eric going with out me and missing his birth. We were also worried about him coming days before the move and the baby and I not being ready for that kind of stress. I also wanted to bless the baby in Cedar before we left. Well, I guess all of this must have gotten to me, and Heavenly Father wanted to help out a little bit because at 1 am on July 23 I was woken up by painful contractions. First I didn't think much of it and tried to go back to sleep but they were very regular and uncomfortable so I gave up on sleeping and decided to get up. I wasn't convinced that this was the real thing yet but wasn't sure so I paced around the house for a little bit until they started to get worse. At that point it was almost 3am so I woke up Eric and we started packing for the hospital. We usually wake up at 3:30 every morning to do our paper route so we loaded the car and went a head and started on papers. Not even half way into the route I decided we should probably go get checked out in Cedar and find out how things were progressing, and if I was going to have enough time to get to St. George where I deliver. I was dilated to a 2 plus - 3 and 80% effaced and they told me if I wanted to deliver in St. George than we needed to leave right then. I was planning to go VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) and they needed to be monitoring me all through out my labor to make sure my uterus wasn't going to rupture. We found someone to finish the papers and we headed to St. George. When we got to St. George I was a good three and 100% effaced. Being only 35 wks and 6 days pregnant they didn't want to break my water and let things progress if they didn't have to. They let me labor for another hour to see if my labor would continue or stall out before they would admit me. The next time they checked me I was almost a five and it was official that he would be born that morning. I hadn't received the strep B test yet in this pregnancy but I tested positive for it in my previous two pregnancies so they immediately started me on the antibiotics. You are supposed to receive two doses before you deliver and it takes around four hours for it to drip in through the IV. When they last checked me the baby's head was not yet lodged in to my pelvis so they couldn't yet break my water. With that, they were able to pour in the first dose in pretty quick. We wanted to at least get the first dose which would take the risk of the virus affecting the baby down quite a bit. They checked me again, I was almost a seven, baby's head well engaged, and they were surprised my water hadn't already broken on its own its own. After they broke my water I had about three really bad close contractions and felt like I needed to push, they checked me again I was very close to complete, but I was having bad back labor from the baby being posterior. They had me labor and breathe through the contractions on my side constantly telling me not to push so he could turn. A couple terrible contractions later they told me he was turned and I could start pushing. I pushed once and he was here, 10:04 am!! PORTER THOMAS 6-23-2012 5 lbs 8 oz 18 inches long! ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL... AND BLONDE! *fun thing- All three kids have a 3 in there bday- 7-30-09, 12-03-2010, 6-23-2012* This labor was very different than my other two. I was expecting to be in labor, have them break my water and have him within the hour. Though it was still rather quick, through the labor I felt bored and anxious. My contractions weren't all that terrible and I had a nice break between each one. I was thinking this is so pointless, I'm never going to progress, lets just get this going! I was very surprised that I progressed that well and quick with my water still intact. They checked me ever 40 to 60 minutes and each time there was pretty big progress. Now that I look back I feel so lucky that I had less than an hour of the really bad labor. I walked away with my second success of a med free birth, a successful VBAC, and not one tear or stitch. I honestly have never felt so good after having a baby. I have close to no pain and am up and about taking care of my three beautiful kids, just like every other day. I am BLESSED! There is nothing better than bringing a new baby into the world and into the family. Oakley and Easton are absolutely in LOVE! They both love to hold him and kiss him, they talk to him and are very concerned when he cries. I truly believe that my life is perfect, and I have never felt so blessed. I wouldn't trade it for anything. There is NOTHING more amazing, heavenly, and beautiful than being a Mother!