He's Finally Here!

Well, he's 17 days old as of today. I can't believe that he's almost 3 weeks old. Let me rewind a bit and indulge you all on how he entered the world. 

On September 24th I attended the squadron's wives halfway party for our husbands' deployment. I had been having minor contractions throughout the day and ignored them because they weren't consistent at all, so I just figured they were those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions. I did let Adam know that I thought that I'd passed my mucus plug and that I'd been having some more contractions then normal... which might have freaked him out, but I reassured him that they weren't consistent contractions. Anyways, so I went to the party that evening with the other wives and let them know that I had been having contractions so that they would have a heads up. As the night continued, my contractions were getting a little bit more intense. But they weren't so intense that I couldn't muster through them. I was out late that night with the ladies and when I came home I was wiped out and the contractions weren't getting any better... I tried to sleep that night and wasn't successful. I got about a whole 45 minutes of sleep that night and woke up exhausted... naturally. My friend Sarah had stayed the night with me since it was late and she lived a little bit further away. She had invited me to have lunch with her and our other friend that Sunday, the 25th, but I had to decline since I hadn't gotten any sleep and so badly wanted sleep. As Sarah was packing up to leave I passed out asleep in my room and she so kindly let me be as she left. She was maybe gone for 15-20 minutes when... I either peed myself or my water broke while I was laying in bed... I ran to the bathroom before I could make a mess anywhere else. I then called my doctor to ask what I should do. They advised me to go ahead to the hospital to get checked out. So I started to get my things together and called my neighbor, Camille, to ask if she could take me to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital and after the nurses checked me, they confirmed that my water had broken and that I would be staying at the hospital until Noah came. I was dilating quickly and within two hours of arriving at the hospital I was already 4cm dilated. Right before I was 7cm dilated I decided that I couldn't take much more of the pain and pressure from the contractions, I was exhausted because I'd only had 45minutes of sleep... and so I caved... and asked for the epidural. The anesthesiologist quickly became my newest and bestest friend. After the epidural the nurses would ask me if I'd felt the last contraction because it was a doozy... I would just smile and say nope. Because I was dilating so quickly, my doctor was certain that I would deliver that day, September 25th by 10-11pm. I was getting so excited. Every few hours my doctor would come and check my cervix... and that's when the unfortunate news came that I wasn't dilating as quickly anymore. Hours then passed and I finally dilated 10cm... however my cervix hadn't softened... We all waited and waited and waited... and then my doctor came in and gave me the news that I'd been dreading. My cervix wasn't softening, instead it was swelling & my only option at that point was a c-section. He gave me time to let everything soak in and I'd asked for some more time since Noah wasn't in any distress. I wanted time to pray... pray that a miracle would happen and my cervix would soften so that I could give birth naturally. He gave me the time to pray... except God had other plans for how Noah would arrive and half heartedly I agreed to the c-section. I was so distraught over the fact that I'd have to have a c-section. I had never really thought that I'd need a c-section because I'd known so many other women who had given birth naturally and were my size or smaller. I cried and cried and tried to put on my brave face as I told my doctor that I was finally game for the c-section. So they called in the OR team and prepped. A little after midnight I was wheeled into the OR and by 1:47am on September 26, 2011 Noah arrived. The c-section was more then traumatic for me and I was so thankful to have such a wonderful friend by my side. 

Regardless to how Noah arrived, he arrived and I couldn't be more happy to have such a handsome little man. I see a little of me and a little of Adam in him. I can't wait to see who he looks more like as he continues to grow. I've had my share of sleepless nights and I'm sure that won't stop anytime soon, but I love this little guy and can't stop staring at him. He's become our whole world and all I can think is, "Man I don't mess him up." 

I'll leave you with his tiny toes. 

Enjoy.

The K-13s.