The Nicolaysen's: Welcome baby Jack-Jack!

Jack Sterling Nicolaysen was born on September 10, 2013 at 12:12pm. He weighed 9lbs 3oz and is 20 inches long. Here's how it happened (warning: I tried to make the pictures as modest as possible, I think they're all ok now, but just a forewarning!)

Sunday afternoon I started having contractions that gradually got more intense as the evening wore on. They were never timeable but they were pretty strong. When I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night I was pretty convinced I was in labor but since they weren't timeable still (they were about 4-7 minutes apart) and I could talk through them I didn't go into the hospital yet. I called mom and talked to her while laboring and then around 2am decided to try and rest a little so I wouldn't be exhausted at the hospital. 3 hours later at 5am I woke up to no more contractions :( I slept another 2 hours and then went swimming to see if maybe they'd start back up again. Contractions started back up and became more intense around 11-noonish on Monday. I went to Sean's work and had lunch with him, then went and got a pedicure. Contractions were still strong but not timeable again (between 4-9 minutes apart). I had contractions all afternoon. Sean came home and we went to his brother Ryan and Bonnie's house for dinner. While we were there they got really strong, I couldn't talk through them. But still not timeable! So frustrating! Sean and I went home around 8 and watched something on TV while I fought contractions. Finally around 9 I decided to call the hospital because the contractions hurt so bad. At first the nurse said to wait it out, rest, drink water, it's probably not the real thing. Then I had a contraction and she changed her mind. Said something like, "well you could come in and get checked just to be safe if you want." So we got our bags together, I took a shower, and off we went. I was totally thinking we'd get sent back home, so it wasn't even an exciting trip.

Got to the hospital at 10pm and they checked me. I was 4cm dilated and 80 effaced, so the admitted me! Yay!

They came and checked me again at 3am and I was 6cm and 100 effaced. It hurt SO bad, but I had enough of a break in between contractions I thought I might be ok without the epidural for a while. But I was exhausted, and the nurse wouldn't let me walk through the contractions to help with the pain (every time I stood up she stood awkwardly right next to me waiting for me to lay back down) so I got the epidural at 3am. It actually turned out to be a blessing. The anesthesiologist did an awesome job, and I progressed from a 6 to an 8 in 2 hours. My contractions were still 4-5 minutes apart. I didn't sleep though. I think because of too many nerves at meeting my little boy soon. I got a new nurse sometime in the morning. Her name was Gina. AMAZING nurse! She was absolutely a lifesaver! She helped me through the whole thing, talked with me, stayed by my bedside a lot, and just followed my lead. It was awesome. I got stuck at an 8 for a couple hours, so when Dr. Watson got there around 8 or 9 (I think?) he broke my water and started me on a little bit of pitocin. I started to really feel the contractions. Epidural's are awesome, I could feel and move my legs still, but when the pitocin started and the contractions got so strong it wasn't working so well. The anesthesiologist came and added a little more meds to the epidural to soften the pain a little and it helped. Gina turned off the epidural around 10:45-11, right before we started pushing, so that I would be able to feel when to push. Her turning that off was sooo scary! But it was SO good she did because it felt good to push through each contraction. Gina didn't want to call Dr. Watson in yet, even though we were pushing. She said he would rush me too much, and I was not quite fully dilated, so she didn't call him in until later. She is awesome! I was so exhausted from only having 5 hours of sleep since Sunday morning that pushing was torture. The hardest thing I have ever done. Sean was amazing through it. Helped me relax and push the right way through each contraction. Gina said she wished he could stay and be a labor coach for all the women haha. I did hit him at one point though. Gina walked away for a quick second and told him to count for me. He counted to 3 and then started talking me through pushing. I grunted a quick "count!" at him and then hit him...oops! He's ok though ;) It got to a point though when I didn't think I could push any more. Every time was torture and I was EXHAUSTED. They brought the doctor in and I was still pushing, and at this point I was crying and asking when it would be over. Gina took my hand and put it on Jack's little head. Total motivation! A couple more pushes and he was out! (I did yell through the last 2 pushes when his head and shoulders were coming-kinda embarrassing). They laid him on my chest where he stayed for a full hour. The most beautiful sight I've ever seen. He is gorgeous! And I did it!! It's absolutely amazing what our bodies have been designed to do. It is truly a gift from God.