Welcome Max!

Max Stillman Taylor was born early Monday morning March 14, at 12:51am, weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz., 19" long. He is just perfect.

This is the story of Max's arrival. It may be TMI for some of you, but I wanted to remember it all, so it is all here....

I had been having labor contractions on and off ever since his due date of March 9th. I'd have contractions that were 10 minutes apart for a few hours at a time and then nothing. I was getting a bit frustrated with it since with Grant's birth I had contractions 10 minutes apart and then he was born just a few hours later!

Come Sunday morning, I had lots of pressure and pain down there, as well as some bloody show, I knew he would be arriving soon!

I had trouble sitting through Sacrament meeting at church, my back was really hurting with the sporatic contractions that had started, so David took me home. My mom stayed with the kids for the rest of their meetings. It was quite nice being home with David without our kids....so quiet! We went for nice walk and then came back for lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, still having contractions, but not painful enough to have to go in yet. They were still at least 10 minutes apart too.

We all went for another walk after the kids had naps.

By 6:30pm, I was getting restless again. The contractions were becoming more noticeable, but still 10 minutes apart. I needed to get out of the house to be able to focus better, so David and I left for a drive and also went for another walk along our neighborhood loop.

Contractions increased in strength and I practiced breathing through them. They were now around 8 minutes apart, sometimes closer. We went back home for a bit.

The kids were all down for bed when we got home, except for Celestia. She was quite excited about the new baby coming!

Grandma Taylor called just after 9pm. It was good to hear from her. She reminded us that I needed a blessing before we had this baby. I had thought about it over the last few days, but was waiting until we were closer to having the baby. I was so glad she mentioned it, as I was overwhelmed and frustrated that labor was stalling out so much.

After the phone call, David gave me the sweetest blessing. It brought me peace and comfort, which I needed at that time.

The contractions continued in strength and length, were still 8 minutes apart. By 10pm I thought we'd better head over to the hospital before I was too uncomfortable.

After we got all checked in, the nurse checked me and I was only 4 cm dilated, 80% effaced. I was a little disappointed as I thought for sure I was at least a 6! LOL! I was 2.5cm, 50% effaced at my last appointment, so at least there was some change.

I started to doubt my choice to come to the hospital so soon. I really wanted to do most of my laboring at home. The nurse said she'd come check me in an hour to see if I had progressed any and then I could make a decision to stay or go home. I agreed that that would be a good idea.

After she left, the room was silent and dark. No beeping of machines, no IV drips, no monitors, no heartbeat checks. It was peaceful and calm. Just me and David.

Contractions increased to just 5 minutes apart and were now quite uncomfortable. I labored back and forth from leaning on David, to leaning on the bed, to my hands and knees on the bed. I just tried to relax and breathe through the contractions as they came.

At 11:40pm, the nurse came back in to check on me. I was now 6 cm. dilated! I couldn't believe I had made progress! Yay! I was able to really relax and focus after that since I now knew this baby was coming soon.

The nurse wanted to get a blood draw to see what blood type I was, which I already knew was O+, but she said she needed a sample to get a better match in case there were any issues with needing a blood transfusion in case of emergency. I agreed, and the lab lady came up to draw blood.

Right as she was ready to take the blood, a HUGE contraction came on......HUGE......I started to lose focus and sternly told David to "get her out of here" as I would not be giving any blood, ha! I was really breathing through this one, on my hands and knees on the bed and then my water broke! His head moved down a bit and WOW, the pressure and pain was INTENSE! He was making his descent! I told David to "get the nurse" and the baby was coming NOW! This was about 12:30am.

I turned over in the bed, trying to figure out what position was most comfortable. I was gripping the side rails and David's hand and was trying to breathe as the contractions were now one on top of the other. Talk about INTENSE! I could totally feel Max wiggling his way down through the birth canal with each contraction. It was an amazing feeling. I just kept breathing through and he kept wiggling on down....painful, but manageable, since I knew he'd be out soon.

The doctor that was on call, since my doc was out of town, didn't make it in time. My sweet nurse, another nurse and David were the only ones in the room for his delivery....still quiet, dim, and peaceful....everyone just waiting for his arrival....

His little head came right on out and I gave a push to get the shoulders out. It was 12:51am. He was here. He was placed right on my chest, was crying his little heart out and was just beautiful. It was so amazing. I couldn't believe what a peaceful hospital birth it was. Just perfect.

We waited for the cord to stop pulsing, then cut it. The doctor came in, was also very calm and patient. He waited for the placenta to detach and come out. No tears, everything was great.

We were then left alone for at least an hour. Just David, me and our new little Max. It was wonderful. We will always remember this perfect night when our sweet baby was born.