(It's a long post so if you just want the pics, scroll down.)
This is the story of his birthday.
On Wednesday morning, March 9, 2011, Kyle and I woke up bright and early...although there wasn't a lot of brightness in the sky when the clock chimed 5:00 a.m. After a couple weeks of walking and walking and walking, and bouncing on a yoga ball, eating pineapple and spicy food, pumping, and a few other at-home inducing ideas, we decided with our doctor to induce. It was important to us that our doctor be able to deliver me and that my parents be there for their grandson's birth. So at 7:30 we checked in at Admissions and were admitted to room 14 in Labor and Delivery.
When I came out of the bathroom from changing into my hospital gown, my doctor was waiting on us in the room. After the nurse hooked me up to my IV fluids, my doctor broke my water and started me on a slow pit drip. He also told me I could have my epidural anytime I wanted, but if I could labor a little bit it would help me progress a little bit faster. So after my contractions were every couple minutes a part, I decided to spring for the epidural.
At 10:00 a beautiful beautiful man walked in the room and took plenty of time explaining the procedure and listening to my concerns with what happened last time. He assured me he would take every precaution to make this epidural a good one. My nurse, who was incredible all day, helped me get into position and held me down for the procedure. While it didn't feel super comfortable, the procedure was actually not so bad. Almost instantly, the pain from contractions melted away and I was a very happy mama.
For the most part of the day, while my body was working very hard to progress towards a "10" and pushing, I was having a boring day: reading, talking on the phone, even playing on my computer.
Here are the 3 minor things that didn't go as planned:
At one point my blood pressure dropped and I thought I was going to pass out. The nurse came in and gave me some medicine to raise my pressure and then I was back to business.
At another point, I developed a hot spot on my right side and start to feel contractions a little bit on my right side. They rolled me to my right and within a few minutes the medicine evened out again and I was pain free.
I threw up 3 times when I started pushing. I felt better afterwards and resumed with the task at hand.
About 3:15 my doctor came in and started getting the room ready for delivery. I started pushing and within 30 minutes Shepherd had arrived. In between pushes it was very surreal. It was like we were just hanging out waiting for contractions. We talked and joked and then would pause and push.
While the doctor cut the cord, they laid a blanket and then him on my belly. The first thing we all noticed was his hair...oh my gosh he has a lot of hair on his sweet little head!! They quickly put him under the warmer and the next thing I noticed was how content he was. As the doctor sewed me up, my sweet husband reveled at his new son and talked and talked to him and Shepherd soaked it all in. Shepherd weighed in at 7lbs 9 oz.
After I was sewn up and cleaned up and Shepherd was cleaned up, they handed him to me and we had a few minutes just the three of us. I took advantage of the time and nursed Shepherd for the first time. After a few tries, he latched right on and has been a great eater ever since. Let me pause to tell you how much I love nursing a baby. One of my favorite things in life, easily.
After I nursed, my parents came in to meet their grandson. They were so excited they could hardly stand it! I'm so glad they were there to be a part of such a special day.
When it was time, the nurse took me and Shepherd up to the nursery to get him checked in so they could run some tests and give him his first bubble bath. While he was in the nursery, Kyle and I got settled into our room and before we knew it, he was back in my arms.
That evening, a friend who was keeping my girl for the day brought her up to meet her brother. The moment was so special for me as I looked at my family of 4 for the first time. Laura Kate was more interested in the fish tank downstairs at first than her brother, but she came around and sweetly kissed him on his head before she headed home with Grammy and Papa for the night.
That night, even though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep because I was overwhelmed with how blessed we were with such an incredible joy-filled day. Every small and large prayer was answered. I marveled at the goodness of the Lord, that he would choose to shower us with such affection.
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