Cooper's Birth Story

by Whitney Pegram - Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Cooper turns 7 this week! I just can't believe it.

In honor of his birthday, I am sharing his birth story with you!

In July of 2009, after being married only 3 months, Dan & I found out we were expecting our first baby & the due date was April 5, 2010.

Fast forward to that October & we found out we were having a sweet baby BOY!

Before I go any farther, I want to tell you that in June 2009 my paw-paw passed away. The night he died, before I left the hospital, I sat down on his bed [not knowing if he could hear me], told him how much I loved him & told him to please let Jesus know that if it is His will, Dan & I were ready for a baby. I got pregnant a week later.

Only God.

...

Being a first time mama & having no clue what labor actually felt like, I went to the hospital with contractions the weekend before I had him. I just knew that it was time. But, I got sent home. Sigh.

I worked up until the day before I had him. I remember leaving work early on March 23rd because I was just so miserable. I went to see my mom & just cried. I was 38 weeks pregnant & ready to pop.

At 12am on March 24 I woke up with contractions ... you know, the ones that stop you in your tracks & take your breath away. I woke Dan up & told him it was time but I was terrified that if I went to the hospital they would send me home again so I labored at home for about an hour & took a hot shower. I had very bad back labor with Coop so every single contraction my lower back hurt SO bad & the only way I got any relief was when Dan would put pressure on it with his fist. Sounds crazy, but it helped!

We got to the hospital about 2:00am, they hooked me up to monitor me, checked me [I was almost a 4], & made me walk for about an hour to see if they could get me to a 4. They checked me again after walking & I was 4cm dilated & ready to be admitted :).

By the time we were put into our room [around 5am] my contractions were coming fast and hard. The doctor came in to introduce herself since she wasn't my actual doctor & was the one on call [she was INCREDIBLE ... & her hands were A LOT smaller than my doctor, Mr. Big Hands. Ha!!] & she asked how my pain was. When I told her my back was hurting so bad, she offered me the epidural. YES, please! After my epidural she came back in and broke my water. He had pooped so I'm thankful my water didn't break on its own because seeing it, I would have freaked out. And y'all, my epidural worked wonderfully. So much so that after I got it, I slept until it was time for me to push.

If I had to describe Cooper's delivery it would be :: a piece of cake.

At 6:15pm my nurse came in and checked me ... to her surprise, she could feel Cooper's head. That is how good my epidural worked because I felt NOTHING! I remember her getting on the phone calling my doctor and telling her to get to my room fast because he was coming. My doctor made the comment "this is her first baby, it's not supposed to go this fast!" ;) I'm positive my nurse thought she was going to be the one who delivered him. At this point Dan was on one side of me & my mom was on the other ... both with their hands down at the bottom of the bed just in case he decided he needed no help coming out ;). It wasn't long and the doctor ran in the room and as she was running she was pulling up her scrubs. She didn't even take the time to break down my bed, she literally jumped up on my bed, told me to push & he was here.

My sweet Cooper Lee was born on March 24, 2010 at 6:35pm weighing 7lbs 6oz & 21inches long.

He was perfect.

I didn't get to hold him right away because he had pooped while still in my belly & he hadn't cried yet so they wanted to suction his mouth out to make sure he didn't swallow it. But I remember watching them with him & not believing that he had a head full of blonde hair!

It wasn't long & I got to hold my baby boy & I was completely in love.