Introducing......Randy Wayne VanTilborg!!

Randall Wayne VanTilborg

Born: September 21, 2010

6 lbs 0.6 oz

17 inches

Natural, Un-medicated

So our birth story begins on Sunday night about midnight. Tommy noticed I was bleeding and when I went to the restroom, I realized it was my bloody show! I called the midwives and they said it was a normal occurrence and that I should be just fine. The next day I had an appointment scheduled with my midwife and I figured I would see how things were progressing then. I awoke to some cramping 4 or 5 times throughout the night, but it was mild and I was able to go back to sleep. At 7:30 I got out of bed for the day and was online talking to a friend. I noticed I was getting waves of cramps that felt like menstrual cramps and it seemed they were quite close together. I downloaded an app on my iPhone for tracking contractions and realized they were between 5 and 7 minutes apart all morning. I drank a few large glasses of water thinking I might be dehydrated and the cramps eased up to about every 8 to 13 minutes apart but definitely growing in intensity.

Tommy was supposed to meet me at the Midwifery center for my appointment at 4:30, but I called him at work and asked him to come and get me so we could go together “just in case.” When we got to the office, I told my midwife what was going on all day and she seemed to want me to not get my hopes up, after all, people can be dilated to “2” for days or more! So when she checked my cervix, she was surprised to find I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced! She proceeded to strip my membranes to encourage labor and sent me home to take a nap and get ready for tonight. When we got home, my contractions were definitely stronger. At around 8:30pm, They were intense enough to decide to go to the hospital and at least get checked again. So we called my friend Loretta and we all headed up to the birthing center.

They checked me in and hooked me up to the monitor and took my blood pressure. The midwife, Ann, came in and checked my cervix. I was so sure I was at a 6 or 7! But I was only dilated to 5 centimeters. So they checked me in and walked us up to labor and delivery room where I would spend the next 2 ½ hours laboring with no pain medication. Ann checked me again at 11:00 and I was disappointed to learn that I had not progressed at all! So I kept with it and decided to get in the bath to see if that would ease the pain of my contractions. It definitely did NOT. It made them worse and I had to get out every time a contraction would come. I asked the nurse if she would give me some Tylenol in hopes that it would maybe take the edge off and she obligingly gave me 2. After another hour and a half, I was so tired and the contractions just kept coming I told Tommy I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural. I was just so tired and wasn't confident that I had progressed at all but when the midwife came in and checked my cervix I was at 8 ½ centimeters dilated and she recommended that we wait on the epidural another 20 minutes and see how it went. She also suggested we not even bother with trying the water birth since I had such an aversion to laboring in the regular bathtub. I agreed to wait another 20 minutes and when that was up, it was time to push a baby out!!

Ann proceeded to break my water at about 1:15am and I started feeling the urge to push. The midwife and nurse were wonderful about encouraging me as I pushed. I kept saying I couldn't do it, and I didn't want to push anymore, but my body didn't agree with that. Once his head was out, Ann pulled his umbilical cord from around his neck and I pushed a few more times and Tommy and I were finally parents at 1:43am. They laid him on my chest and we were both amazed. He was so beautiful!!

Baby Showers, slide shows and my 37 week appointment!

Well, My baby showers have come and gone and they were wonderful! The lag in blog posts is due to my serious nesting problem. Well, I guess it's not too much of a problem since I now have everything ready for the baby in his room, all my craft junk organized, a super clean garage and some of the cleanest floors you could imagine! I've also been finishing up thank you cards, volunteering with Tommy's Squadron and have been trying my best to be social and make new friends.

Back home in Texas, I was amazed at how many of our family members and friends showed up to celebrate with us. We were truly blessed by their presence! My sister in law, Lisa and my sisters really spoiled me with the cowboy themed shower! We were truly blessed by our wonderful family as well and were able to fit everything into our 4runner, however, poor chesty had to sit in the front seat with me!

Here is a (very long) slide show with the pics from the shower!



Then, when we got back to Colorado, Amber threw me another shower for my friends here. The theme was "little prince" and was really adorable! What an amazing group of ladies I have come to know here in Colorado. I really believe God blessed us when we got orders back here.

Another great slide show...



And Today, at my 37 week appointment with my midwives, I found out baby Randy has indeed "dropped." There are no other signs pointing toward labor at this point, but we will see how long that takes! Anyone want to pick the date you think he will be here? I also got to hear my little man's heart beat (140 bpm) and we put in our deposit for the water birthing tub. I know most people will think I'm crazy for that, but I'm actually really excited. I can't wait to hold him in my arms, but I'm glad he is still cooking.