The Birth Story

I went to bed on Wednesday night, not feeling well and hadn't really felt great all day long -- a little nauseous/queasy and generally "off". At bedtime, I thought I was having some contractions, but wasn't entirely sure if "it" was happening. I finally got out of bed around 1:30 am because I was afraid of bothering Kc and wanted him to be able to sleep in case he had to go to school the next morning. Ha. By 2:30, my mom had heard me up and restless and came to check on me. She kept getting up and down for the next hour and half and by 4:00 am, we decided to wake Kace.

Kc and I had taken some Lamaze classes earlier in February and thought we wouldn't really need to apply what we learned. Well. We did. Without Kc's coaching through the breathing ("In, 2,3,4 - Out, 2,3,4") I seriously wouldn't have made it.

By 6 am, we were timing contractions at 5-6 minutes apart and had almost been doing it for an hour (which is what we'd been instructed to do by our doctor). The call was made to her and we sat and breathed our way until she called. And she never did! The answering service kept calling us back to see if we'd heard from her and finally had L&D call us to let give us the word to head in. Mom and Kace frantically threw together the last few things and we were off!

Thankfully, we decided to choose a hospital in Dallas and to have a baby right in the throws of morning rush-hour traffic! We are cool like that. Hitting the highway at 7:15 am, I saw the back-up of cars, closed my eyes, requested that Chris Tomlin get turned on, and simply focused on Kc's voice as he counted out my contractions while maneuvering our car through the mess that is Dallas traffic!

Arriving at the hospital in record time (Thank you, Lord!!!), I literally labored my way (with Mom supporting me) to the floor, got hooked up to all the monitors and found out I was already 5 cm!!! Woo-hoo! Half-way there! The nurses kept coming in to remark on how unusual I was. They said they rarely get a patient who comes in IN labor! They were all very pleased with me. Go me.

About 9, the doctor decided to go ahead and break my water and I decided that I was done and asked for an epidural. I'm so, SO glad I did because while I waited on it to kick in, I guess I had some monster of a contraction that peaked out on the monitor 3 times and lasted for over 5 minutes. I think it was that one that caused me to vomit with the pain.
I was able to rest after having the epidural and during the next 2 hours, went from 6 to 9 cm.

They dimmed the lights for me, turned on Yo Yo Ma, and I rested while Mom knitted and Kc called family and kept the masses informed of the goings on via Facebook. :)

By noon, the nurse said I was ready to start pushing. The beginnings of pushing was causing the baby's heart rate to go down, so I was given oxygen to help both me and the baby.
Mom and I both needed to rest during contractions. :)

We started pushing at 1:08 pm (and by "we" I truly do mean we! Ha!) ...
... and just in the nick of time my doctor was able to break-away from surgery to come deliver our baby boy at 2:08 pm!!!!!

Words can't even describe the emotions we all felt when that baby entered into the room. Even the student nurse, who was witnessing her first birth, couldn't contain emotions and tears flowed. Seriously. I thought she was going to hug me and kiss me and she couldn't stop congratulating us! Presh.

Obviously, Kc was the first to hold the baby (once they got him stabilized - wasn't so much breathing when he emerged and they had to do a bit to him right at first. Let's just say I'm SO glad I was completely unaware of what was happening!!) I was able to snap this picture of him, holding his son for the very first time. We like to call it, "You had me at 'Hello'." :)

Me, I just couldn't believe he was actually out and how different I felt already without a 7lb baby pushing on all my insides. I also couldn't believe that this little baby was really MINE!

Mom just loved holding her first grandson. And I was glad that she actually made it to Dallas in time!

Our baby boy

Finally getting to hold him about 4 hours after his birth.
Our new family of 3

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"
~ Psalm 127:3-5