..since Silas was born and it has been the most
exciting,
exhausting,
trying,
memorable,
happiest,
emotional,
joyful,
can't find just the right words to describe it,
time of my life.
I decided to start blogging about the past few months and what is to come, because even after only three months, my memories are already foggy (possibly due to sleep deprivation :).
And so I'll begin at the beginning of this great new chapter in mine and Jack's lives.
It was 7:30 in the morning, and I was awaken by my full bladder. Groggy, I went to the bathroom, and then crawled back in bed. And then it happened! I thought I wet the bed. I was disappointed, because at 23 years old this should not be happening. But I was 9 months pregnant now, and so grace and poise were long gone at this point. I rolled back out of bed, literally rolled out of bed, and headed back to the bathroom, and could not figure out why I couldn't stop wetting myself. The thought should have struck me sooner, because my due date was one day away. Then it dawned on me, my water had broke!
I woke up Jack, we packed our bags, I vacumned the house (I don't know why, but at the time it just had to be done), we called our families and we headed to the hospital.
By 10:30am I was hooked up to and IV that was giving me liquids and had monitors strapped to my belly. I really wanted to have a natural birth with no medication, and Jack and I had taken a Lamaze class to prepare. Once I left triage and was wheeled to the room I would give birth in, I was informed that I was bed-bound, and couldn't even get up to use the bathroom. Helloooo bedpan. Gross, I know, but they told me that there is a small chance Silas' umbilical cord could drop out, and that would result in an emergency C-section.
Around noon, I started having some contractions, but they weren't too bad so I continued reading the seventh Harry Potter. My nurse was really pushing pitocin to increase my contractions, but I really wanted to go drug free, but she told me by 2pm that I had no choice. Looking back, I wish I would have been more informed, because I don't think I really had to be put on pitocin.
And so at 2, I was hooked up to more IV's and the drug started to do its job. I have NEVER felt anything that painful before! Jack was so great though, and would tell me where in the contraction I was, and how much longer. My nurse would come in the room about every 30 minutes and turn up the pitocin.
Soon I was having back to back contractions. The doctor came and checked me around 5pm and I had gone from 2cm to 2.5cm and I cried. I thought it had to be more than that. I couldn't even talk anymore! After that and a couple other stressful circumstances, I raised my white flag and called in for an epidural.
By then, the nurses changed and I had nurse Carrie, and she was an answer to prayer. At 7:30pm I was given the epidural, and was feeling pretty good, and by 10pm I was fully dilated. Jack's family had started driving up and my family booked a flight when we called that morning and told them I was in labor, and so by 10pm, both families had arrived at the hospital. We all got to hang out until around 11pm.
Jack had told nurse Carrie that he was hoping for Silas to be born November 14th, because my birthday is October 12, Silas' would be November 14, and Jack's is December 16. Jack had also called it from the beginning that he would be born on the 14th. So, nurse Carrie told us to get some rest before I started to push.
Around 11:45pm I started pushing and after 3 pushes she told me stop, because little boy was almost here. We had to wait about 10 minutes, because my doctor was delivering another baby. The next part is a bit of a blur. I remember my doctor Gigi telling me that after the next push I was going to have a son!
And then like a good friend of ours puts it, I saw colors.
Silas was out. I don't remember if he cried or not, but they put him on my belly and Jack cut the cord. Then they took him and weighed him and he was 8 pounds 2 ounces!
After we were all cleaned up, Jack, Silas and I got to spend the next hour together as a family.
Over the next 2 days in the hospital, friends came and saw us and met Silas, and Jack and I got time to reflect on how faithful the Lord had been to us. He answered so many of our prayers from having a healthy baby to my doctor, Gigi, being the one that was on-call to deliver my baby. We prayed that Silas would come in God's perfect timing and he did! Not only was he born on his due-date of November 14th, he came with just enough time for family to get here to welcome him!
Our life since Silas has been born has been a whirlwind. Time is flying by. We are just starting to get in the swing of things. We have had trouble with Silas eating. Since a fews weeks of age, he's been crying when he eats and won't eat very much at once. We now have him on acid reflux medicine, and we've seen a little improvement. We are trying our hardest to be Godly parents and asking for wisdom continually. We are definitely tired, but we are really trying to savor this time because everyone says that it goes by so fast.
