I successfully trained my replacement at work so my duties wouldn't be neglected while I was out on maternity leave. My last day was Thursday, Nov 19th. I had planned to have 1 week off prior to Baker's arrival so I could have some relaxation and down time and boy was I excited about it! My disability paperwork was complete so now it was just a waiting game until Baker decides to come! I will get 6 weeks 100% pay so it will be nice to stay at home with Baker and get paid as if I was working!
Me and Miller after my last day of work!
We had my 38 week appointment on Nov 20th. My blood pressure was a little high (for me) so my Dr. wanted to be humored and have me come in on Monday, Nov 23rd to check on me. Baker was weighing around 6.5 lbs and was looking great! His head was still head down and in the position to come see us any day so we were excited to hear the good news. I was still only 1-1.5cm dilated so I made some progress on that front but not too much.
Me before the Squadron dinner! 2 days prior to Baker's arrival!
I was up cleaning until 1230AM that night and then we called it quits and decided to head to bed. I got up at 3:15AM just like any other night to go to the bathroom and then got back in bed. I had just closed my eyes and then it hit me. Something felt like I had totally wet my pants! I wasn't sure what just happened so I headed back to the bathroom where I could turn on the light. I didn't see anything but was thinking to myself that possibly was my water breaking. I waited a few more minutes before waking up Gordie. I didn't want to wake him up if it was a false alarm! After about 5 minutes and me contemplating is this really it? I woke Gordie up and we looked in my pregnancy book to see if what was going on was really my water breaking. You always hear stories of ladies waters breaking and it was some gush of water in the middle of a grocery store isle or something and it wasn't really happening like that for me so I wasn't sure if that's what had happened or not. We decided that it was and we should head to the hospital. My Dr. instructed us to head straight there when my water broke instead of waiting for contractions just in case labor was short so we weren't having to deliver the baby on the side of the road. We gathered our thoughts, selves, and stuff and headed for the truck. We were almost in disbelief only because it wasn't "time" yet or so we thought! We got to the hospital around 415AM and entered through the ER. They wheeled me up to labor and delivery and we were checked in at the front desk. They then took me to Triage where they assessed my condition, took some vitals, and looked to see if it was indeed my water that broke. Once they checked, she nurse confirmed that my water did break and I was 2 cm dilated. They hooked me up to several machines to monitor my contractions. I didn't even know I was having any contractions because I couldn't feel them! I was looking at the monitor in disbelief because contractions were coming and going and I didn't even know it! However, in due time I was starting to feel them come on slowly. They were almost like bad menstrual cramps that were in your stomach and they would come on strong and go away fairly quickly. We immediately called our parents and siblings to let them know we were at the hospital and about to be admitted. Around 5:30AM my contractions were getting stronger and although irregular. They moved me to my delivery room shortly after where I met my nurse and had a ton of paperwork to complete. They sure throw a lot of paperwork at you to complete while you are going through contractions and everything! Sometimes I would have to put the pen down and wait for it to subside and then try to finish. Contractions were pretty strong and I must agree they are fairly painful. Kudos to you mothers that have your babies without medication because I was all over the time at which I could get an epidural! At 630AM there was a change in shifts so a new anesthesiologist was coming on, Dr. Silver, and my nurse said if I could wait through the contractions that I would be best having him do my epidural. I agreed and waited for him to get there. The epidural was the thing I was most concerned about getting. I was very anxious and nervous since I had watched a video of what they actually do and read the disclaimer on the paperwork of what "could" happen. However, just like my mom said you have to put all your faith and trust in them to do their job and know they'll do it right. I have to say, either Dr. Silver was just fantastic or the epidural isn't that bad! It wasn't that bad because I couldn't see what he was doing. Dr. Silver had been to SC several times before so he took my mind off of what he was doing by talking about the places he had been there and stories he had about his trips to Beaufort, SC. Once the epidural was done, I was on cloud 9. I couldn't feel any contraction that I was having and it was smooth sailing. I even had a push button for when I could administer a little extra to give me a "boost" of medicine if any contractions were particularly stronger than any others. Our nurse came in periodically to check on us and my progression to see how far along Baker was to making his appearance. They gave me some petocin to speed up the process so I wasn't in labor all night. Our delivery room was really nice. It had a DVD player with the TV so we brought some movies to watch to keep us entertained during the long wait. We decided to watch "Over The Hedge" first. For those of you who haven't seen it, it is a really cute animated movie. I needed something light and funny to keep focused on. The hours were passing by and we kept our minds busy with watching movies, TV, texting friends, talking to each other, and keeping our family updated on our progress. Around noon, I was fully dilated and our Dr. was called to head to the hospital. They started having me push around 12:45PM. It was a very interesting experience. For the most part, it was just me and Gordie in the room doing our routine breathing exercises along with pushing. Every now and then the nurse would come in to check on me and see how we were doing and give us some encouraging words. Basically for the entire hour I pushed, we were alone for 45 minutes of it. It was actually was a very special time for the two of us spending it alone and preparing for Baker to arrive any minute. As the time passed, our Dr. came and got all the bells and whistles ready that she needed for the delivery. She got us through the last two pushes and Baker was born at 1:58PM on Nov 22, 2009. Baker Liam weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! Both of us were speechless! Gordie watched as they pulled him out, he cut the umbilical cord, and helped walk him over to get cleaned up, weighed, and tested. I was extremely tired but everything felt so surreal. We were living in the moment and soaking everything in as we are now a family instead of just husband and wife. After Baker got tested and cleaned, he was ours to hold! There is nothing like the feeling of holding your baby for the first time! I didn't cry when I saw him but I sure had a big smile on my face. The nurse tech had offered to take pictures so she took our first family picture and then we were moved to our postpardum room.
Our postpardum room was nice and cozy. We finally got situated in our room and then the nurses came in to do Baker's footprints and give him his first bath! I was nearing exhaustion at this point because we went to bed SO late the night before. I had no idea I was going to have Baker the following morning but I was too excited to sleep! I guess the girl dropping the root beer at Texas Roadhouse should have been a sign of symbolism to me looking back on everything. The drink dropping resembling my water breaking but who knew?! Once the nurses were done with doing all the checks they needed we were able to spend some quality family time together. I stayed on top of my medication so I wouldn't have any pain and tried to rest. I don't know who can get a wink of sleep in the hospital because I sure can't. We were there Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and I don't think I slept once until we got home on Tuesday afternoon. The nurses had to come in and check on us every 2 hours and in between that, changing diapers, and breastfeeding, I felt like we were constantly up. Gordie had to leave every now and then to go home and check on Miller. Since Baker came early, we didn't have any plan for Miller or someone to take care of him. It was good for Gordie to come home though and spend sometime with Miller and Freida so they weren't feeling too neglected! Our friends, David and Zita, brought us dinner and we were ever so grateful. I hadn't eaten since the night before (except for lollipops and ice chips) so the chicken tenders were delicious! Since the H1N1 flu was going around the hospital had tight visitation policies. No one could come up to visit us which at first was a little of a downer but then ended up being nice since it was just us we didn't have to worry about people constantly coming in or wanting to visit. Since Baker came early, we were able to get home and get into a somewhat routine before our families came to visit. We were really worried that if he came on time that Gordie's parents wouldn't get to see Baker much due to the visitation policy but we didn't have to worry about that at all. We were finally discharged from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon! We couldn't wait to get home and get in our own bed! Gordie was so wonderful in running to the store to get somethings I needed and then he watched the baby that evening so I could rest. I don't think I've slept so hard in my life. Gordie said my nose was planted into my pillow so hard that it looked sideways! hahah. A coworker brought us thanksgiving dinner so we were ever so thankful to have dinner at home ready for us to heat up when we wanted it so we didn't have to cook.
Welcome to the world Baker Liam Moore!
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