Kolt Asher Keeling is here!

I started having contractions early Sunday morning at 12:45 am, but they stopped after about 3-4 hours. Then my contractions started back up again Sunday afternoon at 12:00 pm. I started timing them, and they were coming every 5 minutes and lasting for 1 minute at a time. After a couple hours of this we decided we'd better head over to the hospital. Since I was positive for Beta Strep I was supposed to come to the hospital as soon as I started having contractions, so I could get the antibiotics before Kolt was born. Our first stop was at Carl's Junior! I wasn't going to go through labor without eating like I had with Kade. We got to the hospital about 3:00 pm, and they hooked me up to the monitors to see how my contractions were going and to monitor Kolt's heartbeat. The midwife checked me, and I was dilated 4+ cm, so they said they would definitely keep me. I was hooked up to the IV and given my first round of antibiotics. After that I was checked again and was at 5 cm. So I got up to walk around for a while. At this time my contractions were coming pretty often, but they were bearable, so I was actually feeling pretty good. Jake and I were just hanging out talking most of the time. Then at 7:30 pm I had my 2nd dose of antibiotics and was at 6+ cm. My midwife decided to go ahead and break my water around 8:00 pm so we could get my labor overwith. I was very agreeable to that! I was still doing ok at this point. A little while later my contractions started becoming a lot more intense, so I asked for some IV pain medication. After the 1st dose of that I was feeling pretty good again. My brother, Jake and my mom were all there in the delivery room with me at that time. The 1st dose of IV meds wore off, and I asked for a 2nd dose. It didn't work. So I asked for the epidural at this time. The pain was getting almost unbearable. The midwife checked me and I was 7-8 cm. They called the anesthesiologist, and it seemed like it took forever for her to get there. The midwife informed me that she was looking for my paperwork that I had signed for the epidural. She couldn't find it, so she came into the room and had me sign more paperwork and went over all the side effects and asked me a million questions about my health and families health. I couldn't even hear her at this point because the contractions were so intense. My mom was answering all the questions for me. So she went back out of the room to get her cart to come in and give me the epidural, and the nurse had me sitting on the side of the bed bent over ready to get it. As the anesthesiologist was heading back into the room, I started feeling a ton of pressure and could feel Kolt's head right there. I started telling them that I had to push, so they quickly layed me back, got the midwife, I pushed about 3 times, and in 5 minutes Kolt was born! It was probably the worst 5 minutes ever, but at least it didn't last long! And I can say I went through childbirth without an epidural!! Kolt was born at 11:02 pm and was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 1/2 in long. When they put him on my chest I said, "He's heavy." He had some fluid in his lungs so he didn't cry right away, but it didn't take long. He is completely perfect in every way! Jake and I are very lucky to have 2 healthy, handsome boys!