5lbs and 2.4 ounces of LOVE was born on December 30th, 2010

Where do I begin?!?! On the morning of Dec 29th, Bryan and I reluctantly left the house to go my appointment with the specialist. I started going to a Maternal and Fetal Medicine Doctor towards the end of my pregnancy because I was measuring small. To be on the safe side we were going weekly and checking Reed's progression. I had been warned that if by my 37th week appointment if he wasn't showing a huge growth progression they may want to induce labor. Knowing this could be a possibility we reluctantly went to our appointment. Bryan was sure that they would just tell me to go home and rest a few more weeks. My intuition was telling me otherwise. Luckily I had bags packed and had really tied things down at work. Bryan didn't want to bring our hospital bags to the appointment, thinking it would jinx us. We went to the appointment and after his nerve wrecking non-stress test and sonogram they decided the safest thing to do was to go ahead and deliver.....that day! The Doctor called my OB and they told me to drive straight to Laurel Regional Hospital to get things started. Bryan and I dropped by the house to pick up the bags and told Lena that someone would come by to get her. We then made the scary drive to the hospital with the knowledge that this would be the last time it will ever be just the two of us. I was excited but nervous, I wanted to get this little guy out soon and safe. I always imagined myself rushing into the hospital in labor, running to the labor & delivery room with no time for questions. But because I was going to be induced I was obviously not in pain, yet... It was a very casual check in process, we had small talk with the receptionist and even took our time. We walked up to the third floor, the doors opened to labor and delivery and all the nurses behind the desk had big smiles on their faces like they were waiting for me. They showed me to our room, handed me a gown and socks and told me to go ahead and change. This was the strangest part to me, knowing that I was changing into the outfit that I would meet my son in! I looked at Bryan as I went to the bathroom to change and jokingly asked him if we could run out of the building now? Was it too late? It was about 1:30pm at this point, my Doctor was in surgery, so they couldn't start the induction process till he came in and gave the ok. So we went over all the preliminary items and just waited. My parents and Bryan's parents came to the hospital and waited wih us. My poor Doctor was having one of the busiest weeks of his life, it was the week between Christmas and New Year's so he was the only Doctor on call in my office. By the time he saw me he had already completed some 5 surgeries in just that day. By the time he came around it was 4:30pm and he started the process of inducing me. The meds started off slowly and gently so I was feeling pretty good for quite a while. I had my family in the room to keep my mind of things. The Doctor decided to break my water around 7:40PM, that was quite an experience feel free to contact me if you'd like more details, haha. It was a strange strange feeling! After that my labor started to progress, my contractions got progressively stronger and closer together. Wow, contractions are no joke. Luckily I had Bryan's strong hand to hold through each contraction. If he stepped away for 1 minute and I had a contraction coming I didn't know what to do, I didn't realize how much I was focusing on squeezing his hand and how much I needed it. They always stress having a focal point during contractions and that's exactly what he was and it truly helped. A cold washcloth on my forehead also helped displace the pain some. They were coming every minute at this point and I couldn't do anything but breath and focus with each one. I was about 3cm's around 7pm when they broke my water, I was so afraid it was going to take all night and the next day. They anticipated me delivering sometime around 5am, so I thought it was going to be a long night. They didn't want to give me an epidural yet for this reason, thinking it would be much later. Around 10:30pm they came in to give me my epidural, you have to sit very still and push out your back, a really hard thing to do when you're experiencing contractions, the most painful thing in your life. Luckily the epidural felt like nothing compared to my contractions. After about 15 min it kicked in and I started feeling better except for one localized spot. The medicine didn't quite reach the far right part of my uterus, fortunately they had me turn to my side and after an hour it became numb. It was very strange feeling, having a contraction in one spot, it was almost worse! I was finally able to catch my breath and relax as the epidural worked its way through my body. Around 12:30am (only 2 hours after getting the epidural) the nurse came in to check my progression. To everyone's surprise I was 1ocm's and she could see Reed's head!!! She got very excited and practically yelled that I was ready to push! In just 5 hours I went from 3cm's to 10cm's, no wonder my contractions hurt so much, I was practically fully dilated when I got the epidural. The nurses started breaking things down and prepping the room very fast. They woke my Doctor up who I think was half asleep when he delivered Reed, and everyone got in position. About 4 contractions and 15 minutes later at 1:10am I was holding my beautiful, amazing, baby boy in my arms! He weighed in at 5lbs 2.4 ounces and 18 and a half inches long. I cant even begin to tell you the emotion I felt when they handed him to me, absolutely surreal. You know you're pregnant, you feel the baby kick inside of you, you see his sonograms, you give him a name, and a nursery, but there's nothing that can ever prepare you for that moment when you first lay eyes on your child's face. His cry sounded like music to my ears, I couldn't believe that was my son's cry. As soon as the Doctor handed him to me I said " I can't believe he's all mine" and the Doctor responded " Forever and ever". I felt like the luckiest person in the world. Bryan was absolutely amazing, he helped with the delivery process and was in just as much awe as I was. They cleaned Reed up and performed all the normal tests, he passed everything just fine! In no time I was holding my baby boy in my arms again and enjoying him. I didn't sleep a wink that night and I didn't sleep at all the next day, I was running on pure adrenaline. Before I gave birth to Reed they decided to unplug the epidural because they didn't think I would need it anymore since everything was happening so fast. They continued to check me every two hours after I gave birth to see if I was still numb, apparently it should wear of within 2 hours of giving birth....it hadn't. Two hours later I was still completely numb, two more hours later still numb, nothing had changed. I started to get really nervous and so were the Nurses, I could see it in their eyes. They tried to help me get in a wheel chair to move to my postpartum room but when they went to lift me and felt that I was dead weight (and almost dropped me) they knew I was absolutely still numb. At around 5am Bryan and I heard something beeping. The battery pack on the epidural was dying....why was this still on? Apparently it had back up batteries, which means it had been left on this ENTIRE time!!! I couldn't walk the next day till about noon. I was happy to find out it wasn't me but a bit disappointed that it was left on and no one knew! Regardless of that the Nurses were absolutely wonderful and I received great care. We stayed in the hospital through New Year's Eve, so we purchased the TV just so we could watch the ball drop for the first time with our brand new son. We brought him home on New Year's Day, 1/1/11. :-) I can't thank my family and friends enough for all they have done. The endless amounts of food, support, hugs, and love is so very appreciated. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that just open their hearts to help with whatever is needed. Thank you. Bryan and I have experienced so many different emotions since we've had him home. It is quite the journey and there truly isn't anything like it. We've had many sleepless nights but it's all worth it. When we left the hospital on 1/1/11 the last thing the Nurse said to us as we put Reed in the car to take him to his new home was " Have a wonderful life Reed". I intend to make sure he has just that, a wonderful life. :-)