Introducing Joshua Ackley Hermosillo

Our sweet boy was born June 16th at 7:22pm.  Weighing in at 7 lbs 3 oz and 19.5 inches long.

Here is his birth story. (read at your own risk I want to get everything written down before I forget it so it's long and sometimes graphic.)

I had been telling him since the beginning that he had to stay in at least June 16th.  His due date was June 27th but AFLAC became effective on June 15th so we didn't care when he came as long as it was after the 15th. The past few Tuesdays and Thursdays my friend Rachelle has been coming over and helping me get some things done around the house and with the nursery since I was getting pretty tired.  This Tuesday we just had to get my room cleared out to make room for his bassinet and get things a bit more organized, and get the nursery finalized and curtains hung.  So we ran a few errands and jokingly I told her today's the 15th so park further away I wanna walk more and go into labor tonight, so she did. and I helped her with moving things around and was feeling just fine all day.  That night I went to bed and slept till about midnight when Ricky came in to go to bed.

Right about midnight I started feeling contractions, but as I hadn't had any Braxton Hicks or any other symptoms I wasn't sure if I was in labor or not.  So I started timing them and they were coming 5-6 min apart and lasting about 60-90 seconds.  I fell back asleep in between contractions for an hour or so, but mainly I was just starting to freak out.  I mean I didn't think he would really be listening to me about coming since I still had 11 days till my due date.  Poor Ricky didn't sleep that night either since I was breathing so heavily with the contractions.  This went on till about 8am when I called my Midwife Jessica and told her what was going on.  She told me to keep going and when I felt ready come down to the office and she'd check me before I went to the hospital.  I was afraid that I was going through all this and I'd go down to the hospital and they'd tell me I was at only a 1 or something and send me back home so I stayed home till about 11:45am I figured since this was my 1st pregnancy It'd take me at least 12 hours minimum and since my contractions were still 5-8 min apart I had time.  So I took my time in the shower, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some orange juice and got ready. About 10am I passed my mucus plug then we left about 11:45am to go down to the hospital. As soon as we got into the car the contractions started coming every 2-3 minutes and holy cow going over bumps are loads of fun when in labor. ha  We got to the Clinic and they told me since they were coming so close to just go to the hospital which was down the street.  So we got there and got checked into Triage, changed into a gown and hopped up to be checked.  Right before the nurse was going to check me I had a contraction and I felt a huge gush.  The nurse went to examine me and said did your water just break?  I said either that or I totally just peed on your table. ha  So my water broke about 12:45pm.  She said I was at a 5 and 90% so I was staying. ha  So they put Ricky and I into room 11 and we started to settle in for what would be a long afternoon.  The nurses, Becky and Michelle were so incredibly helpful.  We had told them that we were planning on a natural drug free birth and that I didn't want to be IV hydrated or continuously monitor.  I wanted to be able to move around and do what I felt to be most comfortable through this process.  They were all over it helping me to do this.  They kept telling Ricky and I how impressed they were with our control and ability to handle it with never having gone to any classes. ha  They showed Ricky some different counter pressure techniques to use with me since I was having really frustrating back labor.  He was absolutely AMAZING!!  I can't even imagine having done this without him!  I spent quite a bit of time in the jetted tub which made it so much nicer.  I labored on the birthing ball too which was nice and I was able to rest in between contractions a bit, by this point I think it was like 4:30 and I was at a 7 or 8.  I felt the need to eat something since I'd felt a bit nauseous for part of the afternoon so I ate a saltine cracker and almost immediately I started to throw up.  It actually felt good to throw up, and it helped with the contractions too. ha I headed back to the tub for transition which seriously was RIDICULOUS!!  In between contractions there really wasn't a break because the pressure started to become so much more intense.  I stayed in the tub for what felt like and hour or more.  When we got out I went back to the the table and we began the process of getting ready to push.  Jessica my midwife I have to say was so great!  She didn't leave us really at all the entire time.  If Ricky needed a break from counter pressure she was there to step in.  I was never left unattended through the whole process.  Ricky's sister Maria got there just in time to help with the pushing.  I was still in transition and ended up back on the table working towards getting rid of the last of the cervix.  I ended up throwing up again which again was nice and Maria started laughing saying what was the deal with me and throwing up on my big days, since I threw up on my wedding day too. 

Jessica had asked Ricky earlier in the day if he wanted to catch the baby and he said umm probably not.  So when Maria got in Jessica asked her if she wanted to, she said Heck ya!  So the plan was to have Maria catch him and Ricky would cut the cord.  This last part I always thought wouldn't take that long maybe 30-45 min tops.  I was so wrong!  Because I had a tiny lip of cervix that kept coming back I ended up pushing for 1 1/2 hours!  They had a mirror up for me to be able to see my progress and I ended up finding this frustrating, I would see his head start which was awesome to see but then between contractions he'd fall back a bit, which is normal and supposed to happen, but it still just frustrated me because I wanted to be done at one point in the processes I begged Jessica to just reach in there and pull him out already.  By the time I started pushing it was like 6 or 6:15 and I was getting tired.  But I never once asked for drugs.  It just never dawned on me to ask or use it as an option.  I was pretty proud of myself.  But when I started pushing I began to question what the heck I was thinking. ha  But I don't regret my decision.  My contractions seemed to slow during the pushing phase, which again is normal, but that's when I wanted it to speed up so that I could be done and see him already.  But it was a good thing so I could have time to rest and stretch and not tear.  So finally about 7:20pm he crowned and his head popped out, oh my gosh a freaky feeling, it burned really, really, really bad, so much so that I didn't even see him come out because I was closing my eyes and covering them saying It Burns!! ha  but as soon as I felt the release I opened my eyes to see Ria holding him and then she put him up to me and Holy COW!  such an amazing feeling!  He was absolutely beautiful!  He had a HUGE cone head given the fact he was in the birth canal for 1 1/2 hours at least.  But he was perfect!  He didn't scream a whole bunch just kinda whimpered which we have figured out that's just what he does.  He's not a huge crier just a chill lil boy. I did end up tearing a tiny bit, just level one so I had to get a few stitches.  All in all it was a great experience and I'm glad we were able to do it.  I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and now that I have, next time I'll use the Epidural. haha

Ricky went with him down to the nursery and watched him get his bath and said it was heart breaking to see him get his heel prick done because he started to cry.  And he didn't like the bath a whole lot, but when he got his head washed he quieted up and enjoyed it.  Just like his daddy, Ricky loves to have his head scratched!  Now that his swelling had gone down and his cone head is going away it is a total likeness of Ricky!  He even weighed as much as Ricky did when he was born.

His first visitors were Aunt Ria of course then Grandma Jennifer and Grandpa Todd, and Aunt Andrea. 

He slept great the first night sleeping all night.  Yesterday we started the business of nursing.  I'm happy to say it was tough at the beginning but he's definitely getting the hang of it.

We love him more and more every second! and feel so blessed to have him here healthy and happy and perfect!  I'll post more pictures up when I find my cord :)

Love, Lish, Ricky & Baby Josh