Miriam = 1st baby

Miriam Shaori

February 3, 2002
weight 8lbs 14oz
length 18.5
time 4:28

Miriam took 7 years to make it to our home. We had 5 miscarriages before she finally stuck with us. The first 18 weeks I had periodic bleeding which scared me tremendously. Turns out the placenta was low. Eventually it moved upward. I was on bed rest with her much of the pregnancy. For the first 5 months we had daily progesterone injections in my hips. Oh wow! That was painful! My hips were solid bruises because of it, but it was so worth it. At 35 weeks they said I could come off bed rest - but I stayed down until week 37.

By week 39 I had had enough! Carrie, my sister in law, said I should take caster oil. LOL... I did. I took the max amount. 4 tbs. Oh wow was that a mistake! I had the runs all day long. By midnight it slowed down enough for me to lie down. I fell asleep for 1 hour when I felt what I thought was a Horse kicking me. When all I saw was Nathan reading next to me I asked him "What did you do that for?" He looked at me like I was an alien... then another hit. At that point it dawned on me. I was in Active Labor! I got out of bed and into the shower. I was rocking back and forth and breathing through the contractions. I asked Nathan to call the hospital and tell them we were on our way - so he did that while I tried to enjoy the shower. The contractions progressed so rapidly that I just wanted to go to the hospital.

I could not believe the intensity of the contractions. The ride was less than 5 minutes but was almost unbearable! We got to the hospital and they monitored us. I came in at a 2. an hour later they wanted to check me again. As I went to get on the bed there was a gush of water! I thought I had pee'd my pants and started crying and apologizing. The nurse said not to worry about it and to get on the bed. When I got on the bed there was another gush. I started bawling again. I was mortified!!!! I had never pee'd my pants - let alone in front of anyone. The nurse and Nathan started laughing. They told me that I was ok and that my water had broken. I had not pee'd at all. The nurse then checked me and I was a 3. Either way they were keeping me. The baby was coming one way or another.

The contractions were miserable (all contractions are miserable... but these were all over the place!) On top of the pain... each time I would try to work through a contraction the nurse would try to move me into another position or ask me questions while I was trying so hard to concentrate through the pain. She would not leave me alone to cope. I wanted to smack her so hard. Shortly I began to beg for an epidural! When they came to give it to me I threw the pressure cuff and o2 reader at the nurse. She was out of control! Thank goodness her shift ended and I got a new nurse who was a blessing!

Well, I progressed rapidly... but stopped at a 9. The epidural wore off of me 2 different times. The dr. was prepping the OR because he thought we might need a Csec. I asked that he give us another chance. At that time Nathan gave me a blessing. I was so grateful and felt a feeling of peace surround me. All the sudden Everybody and their dog started showing up! (I already had Nathan, Celeste (filming), and Ruby with me) My mom and Jenny showed up first. I had told them I would call when the baby came. Well - apparently the baby was taking too long for them. Next came my Mother in law, Verenda, and Vanessa (Nathan's little sisters). The dr. wanted to check me. He asked me to try pushing. So with everyone (except the SIL's who I sent out of the room) I decided to place them in different spots. You hold this leg - You hold that leg - you count - you down there - you up here. Amazingly enough I pushed my 8lb 14oz little chunky monkey out in just 28 minutes. She looked like a sumo wrestler. What was even more cool was that Nathan helped deliver her! It was an experience of a lifetime for both him and myself. We were so shocked with her size that when they placed her on my belly (Nathan and the dr because she was so huge it too both of them!) I asked - What is that? I could not believe her size! She was beautiful though! She definitely took after the Wilkerson side of the family :)