on December 7th our sweet baby boy was born!  the birth story is pretty long...as in it took me 2 weeks to write it...so I'll give as condensed a version as I can. Basically, my water broke on the 6th and it took me about 18 hours to notice it. Then, even after I noticed it, I thought it was so little liquid that there was no way it was the real deal. The whole day we joked about going in to the hospital. I was anxious to see if i was dilated at all (I had an appointment a couple days later) and my mom and Kory kept saying "well, if you really want to know you can just go in." If we were ever bored or had down time that day we'd just say "well, we could always go to the hospital.." we were totally kidding, of course. and little did we know, I actually needed to go in.

We had a very active, out and about day. We went to the Beehive Bazaar, watched several football games, got J Dawgs, went to an art show, played Super Mario, and walked and walked and walked. We got home at the end of the day and plopped down on the to watch the Bowling Green vs. Northern Illinois game. I kept feeling the spirit telling me to go in to the hospital so I went to the other room and tried to tune in to my body and see if I really felt like we needed to go in. It only took me a few seconds to decide that we did, indeed, need to go in. My main concern was that, if there was even a one percent chance my water broke, I didn't want to risk our little man getting an infection.  I went out and told Kory we should go in. We talked for a minute about whether or not we should bring our bags, toothbrushes, etc. We thought that we'd be back home on the couch before the game ended but decided to bring our bags and all the little extras just in case.

I shook the whole way to the hospital. I was so nervous/anxious to see what they'd have to say and as sure we'd just get sent home. When we were about halfway there I almost told Kory to turn around because I didn't think my water had actually broken, luckily I didn't. We got to the hospital, laughing and talking as we walked in. I remember feeling totally fine but trying to look sick/weak/in labor when we checked in so they'd take us more seriously.

They admitted us to a little room to go through a million questions, then the nurse said she'd check to see if my water had broken. She told us that if it had, the little paper she had would turn blue. We told her we were almost positive it hadn't but we just wanted to be safe, etc. She said that was the right thing to do. And then, a few seconds later she said, "Well, it turned blue." We laughed for a second, said "Seriously?" about a million times and then we were just thrilled. We called our families, they checked my water again to be sure (they ran a test at the lab that took 45 minutes to verify...that wait was torture). They came back and said it was for sure broken and admitted us around 11:00, starting me on Pitocin about half an hour later.

When we got to the hospital I was at a 3 and 80 % effaced. After we were admitted and they came in to check again, I was at a 5. I couldn't really feel any contractions and that really surprised them since my body was progressing pretty quickly. They broke the rest of my water to get things going (before it was just barely leaking, which is why it took me so long to notice) and then the contractions started killing. immediately. They told me I had more amniotic fluid than they had ever seen and that it had likely been acting as a sort of cushion so I couldn't feel the contractions.

After my water was totally broken things started happening quickly. I got an epidural, and that was wonderful. Especially since I went from not feeling anything to full-on major contractions within seconds. I didn't get any extra doses of the epidural because I wanted to feel enough so that I was in control and could push really well. I could still move my legs and support their weight and that really helped. A few minutes after the water breaking/epidural business our nurse came in and put me on oxygen because she said baby's levels were low. The contractions were really stressing his body and they kept having me move from side to side to see which was better for him. They got his oxygen stabilized and we were happy.

A few minutes after that, the nurse noticed that baby's heart rate was really dropping and staying low. She said she wanted to check to see if I had dilated more (she wasn't going to check me for about another hour) because sometimes sudden dilation can stress out the baby. She checked and was shocked, "you're at a 10." I was so surprised. Less than an hour before I had been at a 5. They went and told the doctor and he said he wanted the baby to rest and descend for an hour - basically just letting the contractions do their work. We got about half an hour into that when the nurse said they needed to start me on antibiotics because I had a fever which could mean an infection for me and the baby. She left to get the antibiotics and just seconds later came running back in (along with 6 other nurses and a respiratory specialist). "We've gotta get this baby out of here, you need to start pushing now." Baby boy's heart rate was really dropping. It was supposed to be in the 130's but dropped to 55 for 2 minutes, so I was really feeling the pressure to get him out.

We forwent the antibiotics and the pushing started right away. I knew I just needed to get our little guy here as quickly as possible. The nurse who was helping me push kept saying how narrow my bones were and how I really needed to push hard to get his head past them so they could get him out. They talked about my narrowness about a billion times and it had me pretty nervous but I just kept pushing and pushing. We started pushing around 4:15 and at 4:49 our sweet little boy was born. It all happened so fast. The next hour (and, lets be honest, the 3 days that followed) were filled with happy, happy tears. Our little boy was finally here and our hospital room honestly felt like heaven on earth. Right after we had him they detected a heart murmur and Kory noticed that his left hand only has 3 fingers (more on that in another post). They also told me they were surprised he weighed as much as he did (7lbs 3oz) because I only had two-hose cord. Typically there are 3 parts to the cord - two parts going to baby and one part back to mom. With this pregnancy though, for whatever reason, the cord didn't fully develop and only one part was going to the baby. They explained this might have been why the labor was so hard on him. They also said in that sort of a situation, typically the baby only grows to 4 or 5 pounds tops and has to be induced weeks early so that they can provide all the nutrients the baby needs. We were so thrilled and relieved his weight was healthy and he didn't have to be induced early, especially considering we knew nothing about the issue until after he was born.

The next few days in the hospital were wonderful albeit stressful as Jeremiah was taken away often for x-rays, tests, and antibiotics. Everything came back clear, though and we were thrilled. They said his heart murmur was self-healing and that his hand wasn't an indication of any underlying problems, it simply developed that way. Throughout the pregnancy Kory and I both felt that something was different and very special about this baby. We wondered if he would be deaf or blind or have some other impairment but didn't know what to expect. When they told us about his hand, I was so relieved and knew his hand formed exactly how it was supposed to and that he was meant to come to us that way. And man, is it the cutest hand you've ever seen.

There are about a million more things I could say. Those days in the hospital were so wonderful and so sacred. I know this whole birth story may not mean much to anyone else but I really felt the need to record it because it is so special for us. We are so grateful for our sweet boy. Our hearts are full to bursting.  We love watching Jeremiah hold in his pacifier (something he's done since the day he was born. honest.) We don't sleep much but watch hundreds of episodes of Pawn Stars. all. night. long. We love trying to laugh quietly while baby boy is falling back asleep in the middle of the night and We love waking up together and talking while we take care of our little man. its so fun, it really is.
We love when Jeremiah laughs in his sleep. oh how it kills me. The first two years of our marriage have been so wonderful and special and beautiful but having this sweet boy with us just feels like home. how sweet it is.