Erik Daniel's Birth Story. . .

Finding time to write this post has been, for a lack of better words, difficult. Laundry, diapers, nursing, etc. have made my days filled to the brim. Thankfully, my darling littlest one is waking once a night which has been helpful in allowing me to get enough rest to do each day's work. And, in my spare time, I have been nuzzling the precious neck of my newborn ~ taking in the sweet scent of newborn baby. Do you know that smell? It is heavenly to me, and I am trying to soak it in so that I never ever forget it. His soft sweet skin, his baby breaths, his soft baby hair, those precious little feet, his cord still intact, so new, so sweet. . . May I never forget each detail!!!


I have also been working on a little slide show. But, due to my lack of computer savvy, I am not quite ready to post the show. Hopefully, by early this week it will be ready! The pictures are precious to me ~ especially the ones of my sweet husband delivering our fourth son. Watching him deliver our boys has been a huge joy to me! And, it means the world to him. Dr. Y is so good to give Erik such liberty to do this. Dr. Y has been an absolute Godsend. He will forever be precious to our family ~ being beside Erik during the delivery of each of our boys. Anyway, the song playing in the background during this slide show is precious to my heart. It is the song that I listened to as I drove home from Wal-Mart this past January with a bag containing a pregnancy test. As I drove home listening to this sweet song, I became confident that the test was going to be positive. Even though there should have been no way that I could be pregnant. As I drove home staring at the beautiful sunset before me, it was as if God was whispering to me that He had different plans, wonderful plans for our family. And, now that wonderful little surprise is sleeping peacefully in his Moses basket on our kitchen table, taking soft baby breaths and smiling in his sleep. And, now one week after his birth, I cannot imagine my life without him. . . The slide show brings tears to Erik and my eyes each time we watch it! I can't wait to share it!




And, now for the story of his birth. . .

Friday, August the 22nd, I went to see Dr. Y, and Deana B. went with me. Sweet friend, she was afraid for me to go alone. Afraid that I might actually go into labor and I would need someone with me. God bless her for not giving up on sweet Erik Daniel. I had already determined that I was going to go to my due date. All last week Erik checked me and every time he did he would smile and say the same thing, "You're still 3-4 cm. and 80% effaced." And, so what happened when Dr. Y checked me Friday morning?


He smiled and said, "You're still about 3-4 cm. and 80% effaced." I just sighed the sigh of a tired, weary, and very pregnant mama. We discussed my options. Since I like to have my babies without an epidural, he said the best thing to do was just wait on the baby. I said that was great, but my only concern was the size of the baby. After all, Elijah was 8 pounds and 14 ounces and came at 38 weeks. I was now 39 weeks and afraid that this baby may be as big or bigger than Elijah. He measured my belly and looked back over the details of an ultrasound I had in July, and then said with great confidence, "He was only 5 pounds, 15 ounces a few weeks ago, and you aren't measuring very big." And, if I remember correctly his exact words were, "You're not measuring like a 9 pound baby or anything."

Yeah.

So, Deana B. and I left his office, got Chick-fil-a for our respective families, and drove home. I think most of our conversation as we drove home centered around the fact that I was never going to go into labor. Or, maybe, that is just what I was talking about. Anyway, when I got home I gave my mom the go ahead to go home for the weekend. I told her that I wasn't having any contractions and that I might sit at 3-4 cm for another week. After much deliberation, she decided to stay until Saturday morning then she would go home and come back on Monday. She made this decision, sweetly, so that Erik and I could go out on a date (you know, like the last supper).

At the last minute, we decided to make our last supper a double date with Sean and Deana. We haven't gone on a double date with them in years (without kids that is)! Anyway, Deana warned when we got in the car that Sean's driving might throw me into labor. I said, "Bring it on!" And, I thought for an hour or so that she might be right. I contracted throughout dinner. But, about the time I thought I might say something, the contractions stopped.

Completely.

And, so this just solidified the thought in my head that I was absolutely never going to have this baby. Never. We got home and my mom asked Erik to check me before we went to bed because she was going to leave before we woke up in the morning, and she didn't want to leave if I had changed. And, I was wishfully thinking that maybe some of those contractions during dinner actually did something. She asked me to leave her a note telling her how many centimeters I was. And, she went to bed. Erik checked me around 11:30, and he smiled and said, "You are about 4 cm. You may be tiny bit more than you were this morning."

"Thanks," I thought, "I am so never going to have this baby."

Then, we went to bed, and around 3 a.m. I had a dream that I had a contraction. I woke up and went to the bathroom, and you know what? I had a contraction. A real live somewhat painful labor-like contraction. The kind of contraction that makes you go, "Hmmm. Maybe I should pay attention to my body. That hurt!" At first I had like one every fifteen minutes, but as I lay in bed watching my alarm clock they slowly got closer and closer. So, I rolled over and woke my peacefully sleeping husband. He checked me. And, this time he smiled and said. . .

"You're about 6 cm. This is it."

Whew, Yes! I jumped out of bed ready to make all the appropriate phone calls, grab my bags and head that way! But, Erik calmly stopped me and said, "You're only 6 cm. We have plenty of time." He then proceeded to take a leisurely shower and even clean out his ears with his silly little ear pick thingy. While I stood around watching him, wondering what in the world was wrong with this picture? I did however use the time to primp a little! Finally, I went upstairs to get my mom, I woke her up with these words, "Hey, we are going to a party! Wanna come?" She smiled and said that she had a feeling I was going to wake her up during the night!

I can't remember what time we finally left the house and headed to the hospital. But, eventually we got on the road. When we got to the Women's Center, the nurse that met us in observation is a friend of ours, and it was so fun to see a familiar face! She checked me and smiled and said. . .

"You're 8 cm."

Whew! This really was it. I was actually going to have this baby!!

As we walked towards my Labor and Delivery room, I asked if Bernice (my scrub tech from Elijah's delivery who I fell in love with) was working that night. But, our friend told us that she actually got married that very night, so needless to say she wasn't working. Then, as we passed the nurses station, I said to Erik, "Look, there is Anna, the nurse that took care of me when I had Elijah!" And, guess who came in the room a few minutes later to be our nurse? Anna! So, fun!! Isn't God sweet!

A few minutes later Dr. Y came in to check on me. He was all smiles as per his usual. We debated breaking my water vs. letting it break on its own. He left us for a few minutes, and then I called him back in to break my water. I was ready to get. this. thing. done. He broke my water and told me to call when I felt like pushing. He left and I had several seriously painful contractions. I didn't really feel like pushing, but I thought that if I was possibly complete the contractions would be seriously easier to bear if I could push, so I invited him back in to check me.

Big mistake. The next 10 minutes were quite painful. I was in my own little world unaware of all that was going on around me, but I did hear him say something about an "Anterior lip" and "The baby's head is turned sideways, and I need to turn his head." I just layed back against the pillows and pushed when he told me to push. It was not fun, and I was very sorry that I had invited him back into my room.

But, ten minutes and a few pushes later, my sweet son was born, delivered into this world by the hands of his precious Daddy. Right after Erik delivered him, before the cord was even cut, Erik layed the little guy on my chest and let me hold his little wet body. I loved it. I was the happiest woman in all the world!! He was here. He was crying. He was pink, plump, and beautiful!! And, now the hard part was over, and it was on to another one of the happiest days of my life!

And, a happy day it was! After I nursed my little babe for a while, they took him to the nursery. We should have known that he was going to weigh in on the large side. After all, we couldn't keep that cute little nursery cap on his head for anything. It just simply kept popping off the top of his head! But, we were clueless and completely shocked when they told us that he weighed 9 pounds and 7 ounces!! Shortly after that I went to my post partum room and Deana B got us chicken biscuits from Chick-fil-a. It was a sweet time as we sat there - Mom, Erik, Deana B., and me. We sat around eating chicken biscuits and recounting every detail of the delivery until they brought my Erik Daniel back to me! It was a good day. And, the best part, as always, was introducing my big boys to their new little brother! They were all immediately taken with him ~ especially Elijah! What a day! I just wish that I could live it all over again! I'd even go through the pain of labor to get to do that day all over again!!

And, so yesterday I was going along as usual when my phone rang. I answered it and guess who was calling?

Dr. Y.

He said, "I just have one question for you. How big was your baby?" Smiling, I told him. Laughing, he said, "That is what the paper said that came across my desktop this morning." It was a fun little conversation that we had!

Erik Daniel has been an absolute joy. And, the peace that a new baby brings is reigning over our home right now. He is peaceful and sweet, and wonderfully precious! His big brothers adore him!! I am feeling great! Gearing up and getting ready for the last of our big transitions - J.C.T. starts preschool on Tuesday! After that, I can relax completely and begin to get into a good, flowing routine with my sweet boys! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Every good and perfect gift is from above. . .