June 17th 2011
Three and a half weeks have already flown by and yet it seems like it was only yesterday I was in labor.
It was about 11:30 at night on June 16th--we had just finished celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday at a local restaurant. I had a feeling all day long that labor was very close even though my due date was still 6 days away, of course I told Jared I thought it would be soon, but we didn't mention anything to my parents or anyone else-not wanting to get anyone's hopes up. So there I lay in our bed, and almost like our little boy knew when I clicked off the light, the contractions started.
I decided to wait to say anything to Jared until I was sure the contractions were consistent. I kept an eye on the clock as each contraction would come and go. After 30 minutes of contractions that lasted 30 seconds each and were 5-7 minutes apart, I decided the time had come to wake Jared up. I must not have done a very good job waking him up as his response to me was "ok well I'm going back to sleep, let me know when they get closer together."
Ten minutes later as I was laying in bed I very distinctly felt a snap inside, I turned over and told Jared "I think my water just broke." My husband jumped out of bed faster then I could have even imagined and started making sure everything was packed, pacing around, and asking how he could help me. Our plan had been to stay at home as long as we could, knowing that the longer we were at the hospital, the more they would try to offer me drugs etc. (and we live about 2 min from the hospital) As soon as my water broke, (just like my doula forewarned me) the contractions become much stronger. We were probably at home for 10-15 min later when Jared made the call that staying at home was no longer an option. I believe at that point the contractions were about 2-3 min apart and lasting close to a minute each time.
Upon entering the ER, episodes from the Cosby Show and other sitcoms kept running through my head as I sat in the waiting room as Jared desperatly sought out the attention of the Dr.'s and everyone else is staring at me as I'm breathing and making weird noises like a crazy person. It thankfully only took a few minutes before a man came over with a wheel chair and started carting me through the eternally long hallway. After answering a series of strange questions and being assessed, I was told I was about halfway to the pushing phase and placed in the delivery room. I was blown away at how quickly everything progressed. Before I knew it, several hours had gone by and everything was set for the baby to come out! I was so thrilled at the thought that it would not be much longer before we would see our beautiful boy! I started pushing around 4:30 am, and to my dismay by 6:00, nothing had really changed. The nurse got the Dr. to ask him his opinion and he told me exactly what I did not want to hear. My bones were too close together and not allowing our baby to come down like he needed to. I could try to continue pushing or have a c-section. Exactly what I did not want to hear. For the last 9 months I had this vision in my head of how the birth would go, but this was not at all what I had hoped for. They gave Jared and I a minute to decide what we want to do. I still can't believe the words came out of my mouth when I turned to Jared and said "let's just do it." I don't remember too much other then us looking at each other with tears streaming down our faces-happy because we knew it wouldn't be much longer before he was here--and I was sad because I knew the process would not be what I had hoped for, although the outcome would be perfect.
Each contraction from that moment on was torture as I knew they were "pointless" in a sense. It was about 20 minutes later and there I lay on the operation table, the anestesiologist became our new friend, including taking pictures of the event for us. The procedure actually took longer than I thought. I had expected them to start the surgery and to hear our little guys voice 2 minutes later, but time seemed to slow down as we waited in those moments. Though they stretched out, those moments between Jared and I were very intimate and sweet--I will always remember when we first heard his cry as Jared and I looked at him and back at each other. Such a time filled with love.
Caden Levi Amerine entered the world at 6:58 am at 7 lbs and 1 oz, and 21 inches long.
Jared brought him over right by my head and the three of us just sat there soaking in each memory. Caden just starred at us--we were blown away at how precious and perfect he looked. Anything I had ever imagined or dreamed was taken to a completly new level when we saw him. Little Baby Caden is such a gift from God-such a victory in our lives.
And so that is the story of how Caden entered the world--but the story of the victories God will continue to have in His life are still to come:)
~Angela M.
