The Story

This will be the abridged version of Reese's birth. Please remember I am a nurse, so I like to use the correct words for things {read on at your own risk}. I went in last Tuesday morning at 6 AM to be induced. My neighbor came to the house at 5:30 AM to be with the kids until Steven's parents could get here. All went well in the early hours. They started pitocin around 7-ish and my doctor was in to break my water around 7:45. I have to say that this was the most painful "break" I've had. Maybe it had to do with the little room my 9-pounder left in there. After breaking my water, my doctor said, "I would choose for you to have an epidural as soon as you're ready." I said okay:). I labored through two hours and felt really good. Around 10, I choose for myself to have the epidural. It worked wonderfully--with Grady only one side went numb and they had to kind of redo the epidural. After that, things were great. I was resting through it all. Around 12, my nurse checked me and said I was complete. I was so happy. This had been so easy and now I was going to push a few times, as I did with the other two, and little Reese would be here. I push through a contraction with my nurse and she says that I'm not actually complete. There was a "piece" of cervix still in the way. You can't push through that or it will swell and then you have to wait and things could get ugly. She decides we need to wait a little bit longer. She had to call the doctor back because she had already called him to tell him I was complete. She would check me every 30 minutes or so, and that stinking piece of cervix was still there. Around 2:30, the doctor came in with a scary, determined look on his face. Mind you, I have been at 9 1/2 centimeters for 2 1/2 hours. He lays my head all the way back and begins to manually try to get the piece of cervix out of the way. If I had not had an epidural, I feel pretty certain I would have died right then and there. I couldn't see his arm from the elbow down and his facial expressions were just as telling. I begin throwing up. My sweet husband was right there with the barf bag. The doctor also tells me the baby is "sunny side up" which means he was face up. Not the worst thing in the world, but not ideal either. When babies are like this, their heads are extended rather than flexed with their chins on their chests. It can make for a difficult delivery. He leaves with instructions on how to position me in order to try to make this piece go away. Steven and my nurse are rolling me back and forth in to all kinds of positions. She checks me again at 3 PM and says it's still there. She starts asking if I want to have my tubes tied if I have a c-section. She leaves the room so Steven and I can talk about it. I lose it at this point because this was my biggest fear going in to this labor. I knew this baby was big and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to deliver him and I really did not want a c-section. (I know all you moms who've had sections are thinking I'm crazy and it's not so bad, but I didn't want it. That's all I can say.) I'm crying and Steven is trying to encourage me. Then he gets on Facebook and Twitter {ah, the technology age} and in just a few minutes, about 35 responses came in and people were praying. I laid there crying and begging God to GET THIS PIECE OF CERVIX out of the way and turn the baby around. My doctor came back at 3:30 with the intent of doing his whole "manual" thing again. As I began to push through a contraction, he said, "Wait, wait, you're complete!" They quickly got everything ready to push. As I began to push, Reese turned around the right way. And then my doctor said, "He's going to be big." Then there he was at 4:05 PM. All 9 pounds and 9 ounces of him. All 22 1/2 inches of him. And he was beautiful. And perfect. And the Lord answered my cries for grace and mercy.

My doctor said I was a "phenomenal pusher". I have paid for that phenomenon for 8 days now. But it was all so worth it. Reese is doing so well. Nursing is going well. He is sleeping well. The kids are doing great with him and with not having Mommy quite at their beck and call. I have had help for all but a few hours here and there and I have been so thankful for that. Next week starts my time all alone, but I have faith we will be fine. I just can't say how much I love my family or how thankful I am to have an awesome husband and three amazing kids. I am blessed.

My sweet friend brought us dinner tonight and it was delicious! The kids enjoyed it too.

My husband's Father's Day present from my mom. Who doesn't want a straw that doubles as glasses. He did say it made his face feel cold. When Mom asked me what I was getting Steven for Father's Day, I said, "I'm making him a father again. I don't think I can top that." And what an incredible one he is.