The Gowan Journey : The birth story of Sophia Lee Gowan

What a month! We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and our greatest blessing is our little bundle of joy, Sophia Lee Gowan, born Tuesday, 11/12/2013 at 10:31 AM. I was in the hospital for 18 hours and had contractions starting 2 days before she arrived. Here is a glimpse into her journey into the world...

Caleb's parents came in the beginning of November to give me all the help I needed...what a blessing they were! They spoiled me (and Angel!) rotten! =)

A couple days before she was born. "Sophie, are you in there?! We can't wait to meet you!"

My beautiful family. They came up on Sunday to give me some love and support as well. That night, I was experiencing contractions every 10-14 minutes. Caleb was on the phone with me and was already coaching me through them. The pain was moderate and I was waking up every time I had one.

40 weeks pregnant! (to be exact, I was 39 weeks and 6 days).

I went to the doctor's that morning and he told me I was 4 cm dilated already. He also scraped my membranes to help the labor progress. We headed to the hospital several hours

later when my contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart.

We arrived at the hospital at 4:00 PM. They had a nurse check how far along I was and she informed us that I was only 2 cm dilated, not 4. Because I wasn't that far along, they were going to monitor me for an hour and have me walk around the hospital for another hour to see if that would help me dilate more. If not, I would be sent home.

Walking around the hospital...I really didn't want to get sent home! I wanted this baby out!

We went to the cafeteria to eat something (even though I couldn't eat anything because I had no appetite!). I was still experiencing contractions every 4-5 minutes as well. I had my phone with me so I could

tell Caleb what was going on every step of the way and when he should Skype!

When they rechecked me, I was at 3.5 cm, so they decided to admit me at 6:30 PM. We got one of the nicest suites in the hospital too =) I called Caleb and told him that it was happening and he should get on Skype!

One of the worst pains ever, (besides a contraction) is getting an IV! This was the only time I cried during the whole labor experience. One of the nurses tried 2 times to get the IV in and failed, and it HURT. A LOT! I was in tears the whole entire time, but thankfully I had my dad's hand to hold and my husband's handsome face to look at. The third time they tried, it finally went in, but I was already a mess at that point!

The sitting area in the room...That's my sister, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law!

At 12 midnight, the nurse checked how far along I was and I was only at 4 cm! The nurse asked if I wanted Pitocin to help speed up the contractions and hopefully it would help me dilate faster. After weighing our options, I decided to go ahead and get the Pitocin.

From midnight until 4:30 AM, I was in pain...contractions are NO JOKE! I had one every 3-4 minutes, and Caleb was coaching me throughout that time, telling me to breathe and encouraging me to get through it. It was the loooooong and tiring night for everyone...

At 4:30 am they checked me and I had only progressed 1 cm. I felt very defeated and tiiiirrrred! It was then that I decided to get an epidural to help me relax and rest so I could have enough energy and strength to push when I needed to...

...and it worked! I slept (as well as everyone else!) from 5-7 AM and progressed another 1 cm, pain free! When they checked me at 8 in the morning, I was at 9.5 cm!!! They had to break my water because it wasn't going to break on its own. When they did, I went back down to 8 cm, but was at 10 cm ready to push 15 minutes later.

I pushed for 40 minutes.

And then this little miracle came.