Clark Cadence Caudle is born

It was the morning of January 18th 2007.  I got up to do my apartment management job as usual. I didn't rest as well the night before because I woke up many times to strong contractions.  The contractions continued throughout the morning but I went along doing my duties as a manager.  The contractions got stronger and closer together.  There was no way this baby could come now because I still had three weeks left before his due date.  I called my mom and she encouraged me to call the hospital and ask what to do.  I call the hospital and told them what was going on.  They said I should come in and get checked out. Brett and I quickly packed our bags and baby things since we hadn't had anything prepared.  We didn't even have a car seat yet! At the time we lived in SW Portland, close to the temple, so the drive took about 40 minutes.  I was nervous the whole time because a few days before it snowed a lot and there was still a good amount of snow on the ground and I just wanted to get there safely.  I called my mom and told her I was on my way to the hospital.  She found a good family friend to drive her there to meet me.  I was so glad she was there to hold my hand and support me.  I was glad Brett was there too but having my mom there, someone who has gone through what I was going through 9x was helpful and comforting.

When I got to the hospital  around 1pm they took me into a room and checked me.  I was dilated to a three.  They said, "Today is baby day!" I was excited and overwhelmed at the same time! I didn't think I was ready for this to happen already but the baby was ready and was coming today! I got in some comfortable clothes and laid on the bed.  They attached all sorts of monitors on me.  I labored for a few hours rotating between the yoga ball and Brett rubbing my back on the bed.  I got to a five or so and asked for an epidural.  The epidural was slightly painful for awhile but the pain of the contractions subsided.  I was able to sleep for a couple of hours and that was wonderful!

I woke up and got rechecked and was very close to a ten and fully dilated.  Tons of nurses came into my room and brought all sorts of things for the delivery and for the baby once it was born. I was getting really nervous, this was really going to happen.  I was finally able to meet my little baby boy! My doctor, Dr. Carter came into the room and prepared me to push.  Brett and my mom came on both sides of me to hold my hand and leg up.  I pushed and pushed for about half an hour and finally CLARK WAS BORN! I had a rush of emotions! I started crying because it was such a spiritual moment to have this baby fresh from heaven here with me.  I got to hold him immediately after he was born and I was in love!  I couldn't stop looking at him.  I loved watching Brett hold and admire Clark.

The nurses helped me learn how to nurse Clark and we both caught on fairly quickly.  The nurses and doctors there at the hospital were so helpful, kind attentive and just AMAZING! The food wasn't bad either.