We have liftoff...

Leaving for the hospital--I was so swollen!!

After the epidural...Feeling great!!

Really excited family!! Mindie's face is priceless!!

Meet Mr. Colten Scott Tanner!

Well, he is now a week and a day old and I am just now getting the time and energy to sit down and write this!

First of all, I am an amazing baby and am VERY, VERY happy and blessed! But, I'll get there in a minute. So, last Wednesday, March 10th, we left the house around 7:15 to head to the hospital. I had to call before we left to make sure they had a bed ready for me, and sure enough they did. We got to the hospital around 7:45 and checked in and they had me in a room around 8:05. The nurse was with us and she asked a few questions and then had me change into the lovely hospital gown. After I had changed, before I could get into the bed, Dr. Babb walked into the room ready to break my water! Talk about things moving quickly...

So, I jumped up on the bed and he told me what he was going to do. When he got down there, I was still only dilated to a 2 and this time he said I was 50-60% effaced. I'm still not sure how you go from being 80% effaced to 50-60%, but oh well. So in Dr. Babb went to break my water at 8:14. He said my cervix was still high so he tried to rotate it and pull it down a little bit...OUCH!! Then the nurse started my IV and turned on the Pitocin around 8:20. The contractions started shortly thereafter. At first the were very mild. My mom got to the hospital around 9:30 and I was still feeling good. The nurse offered me to use the birthing ball and i did. i really enjoyed being able to sit on that and move around since I wasn't allowed to get up and walk around.

By 10:30, Nelson, Myra, Grandpa Junior, Grandpa Bill, and Grandma Joy were all there. I was having pretty strong and constant contractions at that point. The nurse had checked me a couple times and I was dilated to a 3-4 and the contractions were coming quickly and painfully. I dealt with them for another hour when the nurse came in to check me again.

At 11:30, I was still only dilated to a 4 and having contractions. She offered to give me my epidural at that point, but I wanted to wait for Dr. Babb to come in again (supposed to be there around 1), so just to help out until he arrived, she offered me a shot of Stadal to help with the pain. In the mean time, she decided to turn off the Pitocin and see what my contractions did, since they had been hard and quick until that point. The Stadal really helped and also made me pretty loopy for about 45 mins, but then it started to wear off. When Dr. Babb got there around 12:45, I was still only at a 4. He was okay with me going ahead with my epidural though, and I was more than ready so we called the anesthesiologist!

Around 1:15, the amazing anesthesiologist arrived. The epidural didn't hurt any more than a bee sting and the results were amazing! Of course I had to be in the bed from that point on, but I couldn't feel a thing! My lefts were basically numb, especially my right leg which I couldn't move at all, seriously, not at all! The nurse continued to check me, and I was not progressing past a 4.

At 3:00, the nurses had a shift change, and I lost, Laura,my morning nurse. Christy was my new nurse and she was nice, but I really liked Laura better. Around 4, Christy realized that my Pitocin was still off. I had been having contractions (although I didn't know it because I couldn't feel them), but they were so mild they weren't progressing me. She turned my Pitocin back on at 4:00. I watched the monitor as my contractions returned and spiked off the chart several times. Wise choice to go with the epidural!

Christy came back in to check me at 4:30, I had dilated from a 4 to a 6 by that point and we were on a roll. At 5:30 when she checked me again, I was at an 8. By 6:00, I was at a 9 and she left to go call Dr. Babb. He told her he was on his way and by around 6:30 or so, I was at at 10 and ready to push. I began pushing three times for 10 seconds each time per contraction. I couldn't feel anything and Christy had to tell me when to push because the epidural worked so well! I didn't even realize I was pushing, it just felt like I was holding my breath and bearing down.

I didn't push for long when Dr. Babb came in. He nonchantly walked to the foot of the table and when the next contraction hit and I pushed, I watched his face as his eyes got as big as his glasses. He said something to the effect of, "I have to go change clothes now!" and raced out of the room. Before he returned, Christy called a delivery tech, who wheeled the cart of all the delivery materials into the room. After Dr. Babb got back and got ready, I pushed for three contractions. Colten was born into this world at 7:06!


Dr. Babb had to do an episiotomy to get him out, but I didn't feel a thing. As soon as he was out, they suctioned his mouth and nose and he started crying. Chase immediately cut the cord and I cried, then they laid him on my chest. He looked at me at that point and I was instantly in love! They took him over to the cart to weigh, measure and clean him up and Chase and mom went with him. Dr. Babb delivered the placenta and then spent time sewing me up. He said he wanted it back like God made it. :) Colt weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 inches long. Chase held him and showed him the OU/OSU basketball game that was on TV and I just laid there and cried because I was so happy.

When Dr. Babb finished and we had taken some pictures, we asked mom to leave for about 10 mins. so that we could have some time just the three of us. It was awesome!! When she came back, Mindie, Tiff and Myra were with her. Soon, dad and Nelson and Travis, Travis, and Crystal came back. Then, the grandparents came back to see him. It was really hectic and busy and I was really tired by that point. I was happy to share him, but really I just wanted him all to myself.

I'll finish about our first few days together and how much in love I am with my perfect, adorable baby boy later...