Monday, October 27, 2008

Will's Birthday

October 15th. The day of Will's birthday and this is how it came to pass. Shall we pick up from pumpkin spice latte?



Okay. So we already know by now that I woke up feeling kind of crampy and the baby seems to have noticeably dropped lower. Gravity seems to be taking place. I ask Adam to work from home (yada yada yada...you know this already I know) just in case. He's practically calling everyone under the sun saying the baby is coming and I, not wanting to get my hopes up, tell him to stop calling people until we are admitted at the hospital. My dad flys in from AK about 12:00 that afternoon. We all go and get him and eat chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. At this point I'm ready for my usual afternoon nap and my dad is ready to turn in also from flying all night. About 2:00pm, I am pretty much just laying there in bed opening my eyes to contractions about every 5 minutes. So I get up, do some work around the kitchen and am able to forget about them unless I am sitting down. 2:30- Now it's time I called the dr. and they said they can see me at 3:10. They sound skeptical since they want to see my contractions last about 1 minute and I told them they feel like they last about 30 seconds. That really wasn't something I thought I was supposed to pay attention to, but anyhow I'm grateful for the appointment to make sure. At this point I'm kind of skeptical myself. 3:30- I'm at the dr.'s and Amy the nurse is checking dilation and says I'm 7 cm dilated!! Adam and I start laughing (kind of a freaking out sort of laugh) and the other nurse calls me a rockstar! They are like, "We need to send you over to the hospital NOW". At this point I'm in complete disbelief that I am still walking around at 7 cm. dilated since with Greta I was barfing in pain at 5 cm. My contractions are not coming in waves and I am starting to get concerned that I won't get to the hospital in time for an epidural. Adam gets the go-ahead to get back on the horn and start making the rounds of phone calls which I've already started myself. Adam drops me off at the front of the maternity ward while he parks the car and I waddle my way in and wait to be checked in while a foreign man receives directions in front of me from the security guard. As I make my way off the elevator a nurse greets me and about 10 other nurses are all looking at me saying, "Here she is! Still smiling at 7 centimeters!" My assigned nurse , Lydia, and Adam usher me into my room where I get into my gown and into the bed. About 30-45 minutes later I received my epidural and we played the waiting game from there.


I think the epidural is working....


W for Will. W for waiting. Waiting for Will. :)
My precious little girl coming to wish her mom and baby brother good luck.




Last family pic as a family of 3.


Mr. Will. Born at 7:49 pm. When he came out, Dr. Henderson said he had to be at least 9 lbs. Well, he was 8 lbs, 13 ounces and that was shocking enough!! Looking at my pregnancy photos though, I guess we could've seen this coming! I look exhausted because I am exhausted. Pushing only took 20 minutes (just like with Greta) but my epidural did not take away the pain. It probably took away some, but I could feel a lot and it did not feel good and tingly. The part that hurt the most was the nurse shoving the contraction monitor on me every time a contraction came on. For as sporadic as my contractions were in the beginning, they were definitely coming in waves by the end.


Proud daddy finally has his linebacker.


Minutes after he was born, the dr. and nurse noticed him grunting and struggling a little bit to breathe. They said he was getting used to breathing on his own but they were going to take him up to the nursery to oxegenate him and care for him up there. He was gone about an hour and Adam was able to go up with him. It worked out for the rest of the gang in the waiting room to get to see him too at that time through the nursery window. We had so many friends waiting for his arrival and it was fun for us to see his welcoming commitee later. It was a weird feeling for me though because I was stuck in the hospital room by myself for an hour, but used it as a good time to call my mom who was waiting for all the details.


It's all good now guys!


My dad was in the waiting room and was able to welcome his 6th grandchild into the world. For the next two days Greta got some good G-Pop time while we were staying in the hospital. He did a great job caring for a 16 month old and would pull up her schedule on his Blackberry that I typed up for him to make sure everything was going to plan. :) 2 visits to Chick-Fil-A in 2 days and an outfit of jean miniskirt and pajama top makes one happy girl!

Our sweet little addition. What a blessing.

6 comments:

Amy said...

Oh, I loved reading that. What a great story!

Anonymous said...

Don't tell anyone, but I had to brush away a tear or two as I read this even though it wasn't new to me. It just reminded me of how blessed we are when God gives new life and how thankful we are for your safe delivery. Natalie, you I are a rockstar!

Tucker Family said...

A healthy baby boy, and a healthy Mama- what a sweet blessing!! We are so happy for y'all!! :)

Anonymous said...

Will is the man ;-)

Beautiful little ones all around these days.

- Josh

Unknown said...

Congrats, natalie! i always love a good birth story! you are a rock star walking around at 7 cms!

Dori and Chris said...

Congrats Nat & Adam! You are such a trooper Nat! I love the way you tell the story :) Hope that you are all doing well - Can't wait to meet Will!!