Grant Richard- A Birth Day

Last Thursday started like the previous 20 Thursdays... In a rush to get out the door to preschool.  Once I got back to the house, I got busy rearranging things, doing some laundry, and felt pretty energetic.  It should have been my first clue.  I hadn't felt like moving a muscle in months, and now I felt like I could clean the whole house!

During preschool I started with some contractions that were every five minutes, but not painful.  I didn't think a thing of them because I had been doing that for weeks.  By the time I went to pick up from preschool they had stopped. Good, I had already committed to Grant staying put until the 25th of May so that I wouldn't miss the end of the year preschool happenings.

After preschool, Preston and I went to a local green house and got several hanging baskets to help the back yard look more like Spring. We brought home the flowers, had a picnic on the porch and then he went down for rest time.  He fell asleep, so I took advantage and took a nap myself. 

I woke up around 2:30 and noticed more contractions.  Slightly annoyed because Preston had a T-Ball game that evening, I started getting things together for that.  Never really paid much attention to what my body was telling me.  After two hours of them though I gave them half a thought and sent Brandon a text message.  Not really saying that I was concerned, just more of a, "hey, just thought I should tell someone." It occurred to me at that point though that I may want to put some things in a bag "just in case."

In order to still go to Preston's T-Ball game, I didn't want to alarm anyone. So I grit my teeth and tried to power through each contraction. At the game, I planted my bum in a chair and didn't move. By the end of the hour I was gripping the arms of the chair and holding my breath through each one.  Still not wanting to alarm anyone because I wanted to go get ice cream, I powered through.  When we got home, I insisted that we take a picture, that it might be our last picture as a family of three. I am so glad my husband knows not to argue with me when it comes to pictures.



Holy belly! It is hard to believe now, that he was in there!



On the way home from getting ice cream, I paged my doctor and got his opinion.  He was not concerned- they were only every four minutes, I was only 36 weeks, and I wasn't "huffing and puffing." His words. So then I started to doubt myself.  We went home, and Brandon gave Preston a shower and put him to bed while I changed the sheets on our bed. Just in case Linda came to stay the night.  I said an extra special goodnight to Preston and squeezed him a little tighter. Just in case.

Then because the Doctor had made me doubt myself, and I had never gone into labor on my own before, I called a good friend, and got her opinion.  I still had yet to start timing them, but had gotten to the point that I couldn't carrying on a conversation through one. She started timing them while were were on the phone, every three to four minutes.  She said that it was probably time to go.  So we call Linda, and ask her to come stay with the first born. 

By the time she arrived, I was in serious pain. I mean, serious. I am not the type of person cut out to deliver naturally. I know this about myself, and I have no problem with it.  I also would like to be as comfortable and numb as possible during delivery. So being in the amount of pain that I was in I started to panic internally that we might not make it in time for my beloved epidural. I did NOT want to miss that window.

Once we got to the hospital, Brandon got me as close to the ER door as possible, and I made it to the door, and had to stop for a contraction.  Some fool walked right passed me, while I am gripping a pole next to the door for dear life. He is lucky I couldn't move, I might have smacked him for not helping me.  Couldn't he see that I was in PAIN??? Lucky for me, though as soon as I walked in the door I was plopped in a wheel chair and carted off.  By the SLOWEST wheel chair driver ever, unless we were going over a bump, then it was all Nascar. 

We got in a room pretty quickly and they proceeded to register me.  Then everyone disappeared.  The nurse had promised to be right back with an IV and some pain medicine, and she was going to see how far along I was.  An hour later, she came back, apparently I was not the center of the universe that I had previously thought.  I am glad that everything turned out okay for the other lady though. I can say that now because I know how it turns out. I got my IV and meds, that took some of the edge off, but not nearly enough.  I was 4 centimeters along, so I wanted my epidural. By 12:30, I was in Heaven. I was ready to kick back and sleep the night away.

Then chatty Cathy showed up.  She wanted to tell me her life long story, and become best friends.  I have always been told, be nice to your nurses and they will be nice to you. So I humored her until about 5am. I was too tired to talk anymore.  Words were running together, I was spent. So I did the only thing I could think of, I closed my eyes and pretended to have fallen asleep.  I didn't have to pretend long, but chatty Cathy was persistent.  I have never been so happy for a new nurse.

Once Cathy was relieved of her watch, things really started moving.  I began feeling lots of pressure and I was ready to get the show on the road. My wonderful doctor strode in and said that he slept great and he wanted to know if I was ready to go. He checked me, and said that I was good to go.  The nurse asked me to do a practice push, and immediately told me to stop and wait for my doctor. He finished setting up all his gadgets and came over and I had to go-ahead! I couldn't lift my legs, let alone feel up to my breast bone (just the way I like it) so they put my feet on some stirrups and told me when I was contracting, and I did what I thought might be pushing.  I was nervous that I wasn't pushing at all, just holding my breath.  Next thing I know, Grant was here and screeching.  They instantly laid him on my chest and the world was right. I believe the earth shifted for this baby. I was later told that he had the cord around his neck and leg, but it wasn't long because he needed no assistance breathing. 



He is the proudest big brother, and is so happy to be one!


He is perfect.  The nurses, my OB, and his pediatrician all started making guesses at his weight.  I could have cared less about how much he weighed, I never wanted to let go.  I think that when God gives you a second child, he just knows that it is best to add a second heart as well because I know that my chest grew in that moment. It is amazing how instant you can be taken by someone. He will forever have me. Just like his big brother. I got to snuggle skin to skin and nurse him before anyone else had the opportunity to hold him.  It still causes me to swell to think that is how he started his life with the rest of us.

I couldn't have asked for an easier birth or more perfect little person to join our family. I am working to be totally present with this child. I now know how quickly all can be forgotten and how it flies by at alarming speed. As I type this, I am taken by the thought that tomorrow my baby will be a week old. It scares me to think that in two months my bigger baby will be four! How did that happen? I feel like I just left the hospital with him. I don't want to forget anything that this baby has in store for us, and all that Preston has yet to teach us. I love these boys more than I thought possible, and want nothing but good things for them.



It has to be said- I earned ever hair on that head!