Surprisingly Southern: July 2014

I had a lot of things I felt pretty sure about with this pregnancy, Miles. I felt sure I would go early because I did with your brothers, I felt sure your labor would be quicker since you were my third, and I felt sure I didn't need to fret over what day you would come, because after all, it's out of my control anyway...... Famous last words.

It was the Friday before your due date, we made plans to have dinner with some neighbors who promised some spicy salsa to maybe help things get moving. I ate a lot of that delicious spicy salsa thinking it definitely wouldn't hurt progress. Well that night I started contracting around 7:00pm. Nothing alarming but contractions non the less. They kept on through the night and at about 2:00 a.m. I was sure things were going to start progressing. I got in the shower and your dad and I gathered a few things around the house. The contractions kept on but did not increase in intensity or time. At about 5:00am things started to fizzle out. Your dad and I got up and took a walk around the neighborhood a couple times hoping they would start up again. No luck. I was so tired from a night of contracting and not sleeping . I felt so defeated thinking you were coming only for it to turn out to be a false alarm. My relaxed attitude quickly turned to anxious thoughts and I instantly became extremely ready for you to be here!

Later on Saturday evening around 5:00pm my contractions started up again. This time they were noticeably more intense from the get go and they were coming 5-7 minutes apart almost immediately. Your Aunt Katie and Uncle Tim came over at about 8:00 to stay with your brothers and we decided it was time to head to the hospital. We drove towards down-town Nashville and detoured to Bicentennial Park to do some walking before heading into the hospital. We walked for about an hour, stopping to breathe through contractions about every 3-5 minutes. We ended up at the hospital around 10:00pm and were brought back to be checked. I was only dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. What?! Disappointed is not a strong enough word for what I was feeling. I asked the nurse if we should just head home. She called Dr. Schlecter who asked that we stay because "third babies often progress quickly".

They brought us back to labor and delivery and settled us in. Without going into too many whiney details I'll hit the bullet points:
* The nurse couldn't place my I.V. Three pokes later and one giant bubble forming on my hand I passed out. Embarrassed and sore I regained composure for the 4th try.
* No progression
* A student placed my epidural. OUCH. Not a good idea
* No progression
* The epidural was turned up all the way even though I asked for it to be set low. My blood pressure kept dropping which caused nausea, vomiting, body shakes, and more passing out.
* No progression
* Your heart rate was worrying the nurses.
* No progression!
* Dr. Schlecter came in @ 4:00am just as I was finishing vomiting into a pan. She took control of everything and had them turn the epidural down and I immediately felt better. I could even feel my legs enough to move them around.

I had a few good cries throughout the night, feeling like I made all the wrong decisions. I was fearful I would end up having a C-section. Then God sent us a wonderful new nurse at shift change. She did such a great job taking care of me and even put my fears to rest without me even having to explain them to her. Dr. Schlecter was also amazing, coming in to check on us as often as she could. At around 9:00 a.m. I finally started to progress and at about 10:45 a.m. Dr. Schlecter was called in. It only took 5 pushes and you were finally here at 10:54 a.m. right on your due date!

Crying very loudly you were placed right on my chest. Oh, what relief and complete joy your dad and I felt at that moment! You were an absolute perfect 7.8 lbs 19 inches long.

It's hard to describe the feeling of being given such a precious gift. I can only say you'll never really know the depth of our love for you, sweet boy. Your Dad was so proud and with teary eyes kept saying, "He's perfect, He's just so perfect".

It was just the three of us at the hospital for those few days. We spent them staring at you and snuggling you. Being our third baby, we were really able to just relax and soak up all your sweet newborn goodness. We knew once we got home our time with you would be divided.

We introduced you to your brothers when we got home. Luke knew just what to do with you. He wanted to hold you right away. He snuggled you and kissed you and wanted to know all about you. Your brother Weston also absolutely LOVED you. In fact, we call him "baby eater" because left to his own devices that's exactly what he would do. He has a little too much love and doesn't quite know his own strength when it comes to his snuggles. We have to watch him a little closer when he comes near you.

Miles, you are the perfect addition to this family of boys. I don't think I quite know what I'm in for but I know I couldn't love 3 boys any more than I love y'all.