Looking at that picture and seeing how that little peanut developed over the course of 40 weeks and became a beautiful baby boy I am just amazed. We are so grateful that the Lord chose us to be his parents!
The due date was August 11, 2011. All of the ultrasounds had shown that the baby was about a week ahead of schedule so we were hoping that he would come a little early but no such luck! August 11th came and went but we didn't have to wait much longer. Around 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 12th I started to feel some mild contractions. I wasn't sure if they were real contractions but I decided to start writing them down just in case. I was feeling the contractions about every 15 minutes but since they weren't very strong I wasn't convinced it was real labor. I called Joe and told him there was no need for him to come home but I thought I might have had a contraction or two. The contractions were not hurting so I assumed that there was no rush. We talked again a little while later and I told him that I was still feeling them and the last couple had been about 6 minutes apart and that I would call the doctor to see what she said to do. I called but there was some sort of miscommunication at the office and no one called back (normally they are great and call back immediately!). Luckily, Joe did not listen to me telling him he probably didn't need to come home yet.
By the time he got home around 2:00 the contractions were much stronger and closer together. I called my doctor's office again but we decided to head to the hospital just to be safe. When they called back we were already halfway to the hospital and they said that was perfect and they would call Dr. Storck. We arrived around 3:30 p.m. and once we got checked in and it was determined that I was definitely in labor we got settled into our delivery room. The contractions were every 1-2 minutes and VERY strong when we got to the hospital and I didn't think I could make it much longer without the epidural. Once that was in place labor was much better. Here I am with my popsicle after the epidural :) I am aware that this is not a cute picture but oh well!
We spent the next few hours hanging out in the delivery room with my parents and Huston. I was progressing on schedule so it was just a matter of waiting for the go ahead to start pushing. That came around 12:30 a.m. Since the labor had progressed fairly quickly (or at least at a normal rate according to our nurse) I assumed that it would not be very long until we met our baby. However, the baby and the Lord had different plans. I pushed for two hours before the doctor came in and advised us that the baby was not likely to come naturally and she recommended we consider a c-section. She gave us the option to push for another hour before the c-section was necessary but we agreed with her that the baby was likely not going to come naturally and an hour of pushing was just going to delay the inevitable. I was not as disappointed as I thought I would be. I just reminded myself that this is the safest thing for the baby and myself.
Once the decision was made, it felt like the entire hospital came to prep me for surgery. Joe put on his scrubs and we were whisked away to the operating room. They said it would be a few minutes and we would get to meet our baby (and finally find out if the baby was a boy or girl!). I heard the doctors working and a few minutes later heard that first cry at 3:30 a.m.!
Apparently I was a little out of it because I missed the person saying "It's a boy!" All I heard was "He is huge!" So after asking the nurse if we were going to be on the news for having a giant baby (she said no) I double checked with Joe that our baby was indeed a boy. So exciting! Joe got to hold Jack while the doctors finished the surgery. I was in and out after his birth (due the medicine they gave me after I think) and just remember being wheeled into a recovery room where my parents and Huston were waiting. I had made a deal with Joe that he could tell them the gender but I got to tell them the name. I was excited about telling my dad the name because Jack was his dad's name and I knew he would love it! Here is everyone getting to meet Jack in the recovery room. I think it was 4 or 5 in the morning by the time we got there so they were troopers for staying up all night to meet him!
We are so thankful for Dr. Stork and the others that assisted with the c-section. They did a great job!
Jack had a little jaundice so he spent Monday under the lights. He looked pretty good in there though :)
We got the good news Tuesday morning that Jack's bilirubin levels had dropped so we could all go home that day! Here we are after arriving home.
Newman loves his new brother.
Jack is wonderful and we look forward to our new life as parents and the adventures that will bring!
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