He's HERE! Jameson Munro Girouard

3 weeks and 3 days ago, my water broke. Just in time for my mom's visit, my 20-hour labor began. I have to say, it was a long day without food, but the first 10 hours were fairly easy. My water broke and I leaked like a water main break for 4 hours straight. But for the first 10 hours, I didn't have any contractions. I did have a couple hours of lovely dry heaves. Gotta love the body's way of "preparing itself" for what was to come. I tried to get some sleep in the wee hours of the night, but that really didn't happen. After 4 hours, I finally headed to the hospital, Mom and Scott along for the ride at 3 am. I was put in a room and in a johnny in minutes and I spent the rest of the morning walking around the birthing unit, trying to get my contractions going. No such luck. At 6 am, I was given a pill to encourage my cervix to dilate. That pill worked for an hour, getting me from 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm but then I stalled out. At 8 am, i was put on Pitocin, which got me to 3.5 cm. By 10 am, my contractions were painful and had moved into my back. I tried every position imaginable to get my baby off my spine. Nothing worked. By 1 pm, I asked for an epidural. Still only 3.5 cm dilated, they had turned up the Pitocin which made the contractions even stronger, and lucky me...I was having double contractions. No breaks in between. So when Dr. Mylar came in with her bag-o-medicine, I was very grateful. And those who say getting an epidural doesn't hurt...I beg to differ. Although the relief that came soon after, I did not enjoy the poking and proding of my spine. At 2 pm, the warm and numbness of the epidural were a wonderful thing and I was able to get a couple of small naps in while the nurses cranked up my Pitocin and within an hour, I was dilated to 8 cm. By 4 pm, I was fully dilated and 100% effaced. I was ready to push. After a couple of "test" pushes, I was full speed ahead by 4:15 pm. Mom retreated to the waiting area...she didn't want to see me in this way. Scott was an amazing coach. I couldn't have done it without him. Rose, my nurse, was an angel. I'll never forget her. She was the light that led the way for me. I pushed for 2 hours. Not once did I scream out or curse my husband. I couldn't say a word. All my strength and energy went to rocking my baby's head in and out of the birth canal as he stretched his way through. I did manage to tell my nurse she was retarded for chosing this occupation. I also told her to reach in and take my baby out after 2 hours of constant pushing. Finally, the baby's head peaked through and Rose knew that my next contraction, the baby's head would come out entirely. She called for the doctor, and he got in my room just in time to catch the baby's head. Literally. Rose told me to "push lightly" but there was NO way in Hell I was going to push lightly after more than 2 hours. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and I was so spent at this point. I wanted him OUT. His head came out and then in one more push, his whole body spit out. That was the greatest moment ever. It took a few seconds for Jameson to cry, but once he did, there was no mistaking his strong lungs. Jameson Munro was born on February 19th at 6:31 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs and 10 oz. He was 20 inches long and came 2 weeks early. He has changed our lives entirely. We love him dearly!