Miles' BIRTH DAY -- June1st, 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.  

 We are praising God for you.  What a precious gift you are.  I love you, love you, LOVE YOU, Miles John.

Mom

Weston's BIRTH DAY -- August 9th, 2012

Oh Weston, I have to start out by telling you, I was SO ready for you to get here.  This pregnancy was a tough one for me.  I was often sick, fighting off infection and lots of back pain.  I felt HUGE (and kinda was) and it was increasingly difficult, if not impossible for me to pick up your 30+ pound brother!  Not to mention, it was one of the hottest summers ever!  Also our air conditioner broke twice for over a week in July!  Is that enough complaining?

So with all that said, it was a Wednesday, your Dad and I needed some time together and hoped to get a few more dates in before you arrived.  We arranged for a babysitter and planned a night out together.  We started by taking a walk next to the Harpeth River.  I distinctly remember how hard it was for me to walk even at a very slow pace.  Your Dad and I both made jokes about how ridiculously slow I was walking! After about 20 minutes of trying to walk we both decided it was time to just give it up.  So we left for Puckett's to continue on with the rest of our date.  We went there because they had a bluegrass band playing and delicious southern fried food :).  Our sweet waitress sat us at the table and immediately asked when I was due.  I told her, "hopefully tonight!" although your due date was still a week away (August 14th). We ordered these big burgers and a very large side of fries.  It tasted so good to me.  Fun fact, I ate more burgers with you in my belly than I  have in the last 6 years combined.  Just know that normally I have red meat about twice a year, if that gives you any idea.  Now you're understanding why I was "feeling" so HUGE aren't you?! :)  Not long after we sat down I started feeling what I thought were braxton hicks.  I had a lot of braxton hicks with you so it wasn't alarming.  We got our food and the band began to play.  A few minutes later I told your Dad I thought I might be having some contractions.  "Nothing to worry about", I said, "it was so hot today and we did just go for a difficult 20 minute walk (sarcasm implied)."  A few more minutes went by and it seemed as though they were coming at a regular intervals.  I told your dad, I probably just needed to get up and walk around for a second.  So I got up and went to the bathroom.  On my way, I passed our waitress who looked at me with sincere concern and asked if I was ok.  After getting to the bathroom, I quickly realized that I was in fact, experiencing real contractions.  When I got back to the table your dad had already asked for the check and was handing me my purse.  He knew it was time to go.  Our waitress was so sweet, she had wrapped up some dessert on the house for us and sent us on our way with well-wishes and excitement.  When we got in the car we called your Nana and told her to remain on stand-by.  True to form, I wasn't completely sure this was the real thing yet.  Your dad, however, was SURE it was.  We got home around 8:30 and relieved the baby sitter, your brother was already in bed.  I got in the shower, just in case we had to leave for the hospital (I couldn't go without re-fixing my hair right!?)  Your dad scurried around the house gathering everything we would need to take with us and already had Nana on her way over.  I was in the bathroom fixing my hair in between stopping to breathe through contractions when Nana arrived.  Both your Dad and Nana would not let me finish fixing my hair and had me in the car before I knew it.  Honestly, I still wasn't sure it was real, but knowing Baptist hospital was a good 30 minutes away without any traffic had me in the car just in case.

We arrived around 10pm and they wheeled me to an exam room and had me checked.  I was 5cm and 80% effaced.  They were keeping us.  Your dad and I were sent to the delivery room where we would remain the rest of the night.  Somewhere around 12:30am, your heart rate dropped.  All of a sudden there were 6 people in the room turning me from side to side, checking me, putting an oxygen mask on my face, and an anesthesiologist there asking me a million questions preparing me for an epidural and a possible emergency C-section.  I began crying in fear and in pain.  Your Dad held my hand while trying to stay out of the way of the nurses.  Finally, in what seemed like forever your heart rate began to rise to a safe range again.  A physician came in and looked things over, assuring me that everything was fine.  It was a terrifying 10 minutes, tears continued to stream down my face long after the hype was over.  God answered our prayers again by keeping you safe and by providing wonderful nurses to get us through.

After getting the epidural I was able to calm down again and rest a little.  Just like with your brother, we had a wonderful nurse, but one that talked to us the whole night through.  We heard her life story and found out we had a lot of things in common like; she had also lived in Ohio, Michigan, Alabama, and Tennessee.  Finally around 4:00am I felt like I needed to push.  It was such a calm scene compared to what had happened just hours ago.  The nurse calmly walked to the phone and called for Dr. Barret.  About 15 minutes later we were all set to push.  It only took 5 pushes and you were out!

They were able to place you on my chest and for the second time in my life, I had an overwhelming rush of immediate and intense love for you sweet one.   You were a healthy 8 lbs  20 inches born at 4:31am.  I don't think I put you down for hours.  The time with just the 3 of us in the hospital for those few days was so sweet.  It was easy going and filled with hours of holding you and staring at you.

You are the most perfect addition to our family, Weston, and I am so grateful God gave you to us.  We are incredibly blessed to call you our son.  We love you beyond measure Weston Lee!

In case you were wondering....  After your big brother got over all the buttons on the side of the hospital bed, he instantly took to you.  He was so curious about your hands and feet.  He gave you sweet hugs and kisses too.  Our prayer is that God develops in both of you a great love for each other and a deep friendship that starts early and lasts a life time.

Your BIRTH DAY -- June 25th, 2010

The week you were born was indeed a very busy week. Obviously, we had not planned on you coming early as everyone in my life was telling me-

"you have not dropped- you've got a long way to go"
"you are too small- he needs more time in there"

"you should emotionally prepare yourself to go over your due date"

Well these words stuck and your dad and I thought we would have to prepare ourselves for yet another couple weeks of waiting. I had planned on taking Friday the 25th off to start my maternity leave, 4 whole days before your due date. It had been very busy at work all of June and I had considered working that Friday just to help out but your dad convinced me otherwise. My last day at work (Thursday) I spent rushing around trying to finish up all the loose ends before leaving for good. That afternoon I had a weekly appointment with Dr. Meyers to check and see if any progress had been made. On the way to the appointment I called your Nana and aunt Joy and talked to them about how strange I was feeling. I told them that I seemed to be having a lot more "yucky symptoms" today (sorry to include that but it's true). Nana squealed with excitement and said, "Melissa, it's going to be soon!" I assured her it was not going to be soon and restated all the reasons why. I told her that your dad and I planned on going to Birmingham Friday night to stay at a Bed and Breakfast. We wanted to celebrate possibly our last weekend of "just us"( Little did we know that our last weekend of "just us" was in fact, last weekend). Nana was not happy about the Birmingham trip and said that she did not think this was a good idea. I told her that I would talk to Dr. Meyers and get her approval before going. Each time I had gone to see Dr. Meyers that month she would look at me and say,"Well nothing yet", much to my dismay. But today she had better news. She said that I was probably 1cm dilated and 70% effaced! I was pumped! Finally some progression. Dr. Meyers was happy for me too, but said that it didn't mean you were coming soon.   I asked her if she thought it would still be ok for your dad and I to go to Birmingham Friday night.  She gave me two thumbs up. So I happily went back to work to finish things up. I ended up working until 7:30 that night making sure I had not left anything undone. On the way home I called your Nana. I told her the good news I got from Dr. Meyers and told her we were still planning on going to Birmingham Friday night. Nana continued to try and persuade me not to go. I was still talking with her on the phone when I got home and all of the sudden a burst of liquid rushed out and then stopped. I thought- great just another one of the wonderful pregnancy pluses... loosing control of your bladder. I ended the conversation with Nana and thought- that was weird? When your dad got home I laughed and told him that I thought I peed my pants! We laughed and didn't think much more about it. About an hour later I became "uncomfortable". I didn't know what was going on, I was just restless. Soon after that I started to experience some contractions.  Well, I know now they were contractions, but at the time I was convinced I was just having some braxton hicks. Your dad kept telling me they were contractions and I kept assuring him that they were not!    He began to time them asking me every couple minutes if I thought I was having another one.  And I just kept saying, "I don't know?!"   About another 30 minutes later the contractions became a little more intense. Your dad went and took a shower and started gathering things up around the house to take to the hospital. I told him to "STOP!" ... I was determined not to go to the hospital because I was sure they would just send us home.  He just kept telling me- "Ok we won't go, I'm just getting things ready just in case".   Your dad was so sweet that night.  I was so argumentative and stubborn, but he handled me so well :).  Finally your dad said, "OK Melissa I think we need to go to the hospital.  You are having contractions about 5 -7 minutes apart." At this point, I was on the floor on my hands and knees still arguing with your dad. I finally caved in and got in the shower to get myself ready to go.  This made your dad very uncomfortable thinking we were going to have you at home.  We got to the hospital at 12:00 am almost exactly. Dad wanted to drop me off at the emergency room doors, but I could not stop my argumentative ways and insisted on walking. I don't know why I was acting so stubborn, but I was convinced you were not coming this soon. They wheeled us to the maternity ward where they hooked me up to the monitors and found that my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I kept saying, Eric they are going to send us home". Soon after being hooked up to the monitors they admitted us and brought us into our room.  I know your dad was thinking "I TOLD YOU SO!" But, being the good husband that he is, he didn't say it :).  The contractions were very strong and continued to come 2-3 minutes apart lasting about 1-2 minutes. I was exhausted and your dad was also exhausted.  We had been up since yesterday morning!  We decided to get an epidural at about 4am Friday morning. This is when we met our awesome nurse Ashleigh. She was a God-send. Your dad and I had been praying for a great nurse as we learned from the classes- nurses are the ones that get you through labor. I learned a lot about Ashleigh's life that night and I truly think God brought us together for a reason. (more on that later). Friday at about 7:30 am I started to get visitors much to my surprise. People from work came to wish us luck. At about 8:00am I was only dilated to 2. Each hour I dilated more and more. By 11:00 I was fully dilated and it was time to push!

Your daddy and the nurse were so encouraging.  In between contractions your dad got out the ipod dock and decided to play AC/DC Thunderstruck- in an effort to "pump me up".  We laughed so hard and I think nurse Ashleigh thought we were CRAZY! :)  I was in labor with you for about an hour and then Doctor Emig came in to deliver you.  You were born at 12:09 pm 7lbs even and 19 3/4 inches long.  When you came out you had the cord wrapped around your neck so the Dr. quickly cut it and took you away to make sure your lungs were not full.  You had also swallowed some meconium so they were making sure that it did not get in your lungs.  About an hour later they finally gave you to me.   Daddy then played "How Great is our God" on the ipod dock and even Dr. Emig sang along.

Luke, I cannot describe the overwhelming feeling I experienced when they put you in my arms.  You were instantly and intensely loved by your dad and I.  You are our perfect gift from God.  

Luke 3:22 "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Thank you God for our precious son Luke Lawrence.