Caleb's Birth Story

Sorry this is long, I just wanted a place to write this so that I can remember all the details.

Tuesday January 22^nd, two days after my due date, Daniel and I headed to see Dr. Nelson for what I was hoping was my last weekly check. While we were there he checked to see how far I was dilated. To my disappointment, I was only at 2 cm. Dr. Nelson mentioned the idea of “stripping my membranes” to help speed up the dilation process. Daniel and I decided to go ahead with the process, so Dr. Nelson very painfully stripped by membranes. He told me that I would probably feel severe cramps and my contractions should start to intensify. Following my doctor’s appointment we went to eat at Old Post BBQ and then headed home to what we thought would be another labor free night. Boy were we wrong. Around 10:00 PM I started feeling very crampy and my contractions changed in intensity. I had much more back pain with each contraction. I decided to time the contractions before I went to sleep and they were not consistent, so off to bed Daniel and I went. My contractions woke me up around midnight and I decided to go into the living room (and let Daniel rest) so that I could time my contractions. I timed them for 2 hours straight and they were about 5 minutes apart. I decided to wake Daniel up at 2 AM and we decided that we should go to the hospital. We loaded up our things and off we went. Daniel was making fun of me because I decided to put makeup on and straighten my hair, later he said that was a sign that it was not the real deal. As we anxiously drove to the hospital my contractions started to come less frequently. 

            When we got to the hospital we had to enter through the Emergency Room. The receptionist was pitiful and was dragging her feet, we finally got admitted and they wheeled me to the labor and delivery. The nurse came and checked me and I was still only dilated 2 CM. I cried and felt horrible for the “false alarm”. They monitored me for 2 hours then sent us back home. I was very discouraged at this point and felt horrible for wasting everyone’s time. When we got home we went back to bed. My contractions picked back up and resting was not possible. Daniel woke up at 6:30 and got ready for work. I was so nervous about him leaving to go to work because my back pain and crampy feelings were getting worse with each contraction. He decided to go ahead and go to work and told me to call him if I needed him. So after he left my contractions got so painful that I would have to kneel over in a ball. I would cry through each one of them. I was timing the contractions again, but they were not consistent at all this time. Sometimes it would 2 minutes between them then 8 and so on. 

            Around 10:00 I decided I could not take the pain by myself anymore so I called Daniel and told him either he needed to come be with me or I was going to call my mom. He told his boss what was going on and he sent him home to be with me. Little did Daniel know what was ahead of him. When he got home he would rub my back and time each contraction. Yet again, the contractions were very inconsistent. Around 11:00 Kayla, Daniel’s sister, called him crying. She said that Buster, Daveline’s dog, had jumped on Tate and bit his face several times. So my precious, fatigued, stressed husband leaves me in tears to go take care of the dog. Daveline, Kayla, and Tate head off to the emergency room. When Daniel got back to the house I told him I couldn’t take the pain anymore,  I was worried that if I was hurting this bad so early that there was no way I would have enough energy to push in the end. So we called the nurse and she said that if I was that uncomfortable to go to the hospital it was probably the real deal.

            This time going to the hospital was much different, I threw the last few things in the car and brushed my teeth, that’s all! No makeup or hair fixing this time, I looked like a hot mess. When we arrived to the hospital around 2 PM, I was having a really hard contraction and once again we were greeted by a pitiful emergency room receptionist. I was kneeled over on the floor in pain and she did not even acknowledge that we were there. At one point a lady from the waiting room went to see if she could find me a wheel chair and returned with no luck. After waiting about 5 minutes, Daniel said this is ridiculous and he asked if I could make it to the labor and delivery by walking. I said yes and off we went, with a few pauses now and then for the painful contractions. When we arrived to the labor and delivery, Dr. Nelson came to check me and to my surprise I was dilated 5 CM. I cried tears of joy. He asked me if I had reconsidered my choice of not getting an epidural and I quickly said I need one NOW!!! He smiled and said I am glad that you are making this decision. After filling out paperwork and getting everything set up the most precious man every came into the room, the anesthesiologist. He gave me my epidural and I quickly turned into a NEW woman. I sat and visited with our company and about every hour the nurse came to check to see how far I was dilated. Things progressed pretty quickly. By 8:00 I was dilated to 9 CM and by 8:30 I was a 10. When the nurses started getting everything ready for me to start pushing we called all of our visiting friends and family into the room to pray. It was the sweetest sight; I had tears streaming down my face. It was so humbling to know that we had so much love and support awaiting Baby Caleb’s arrival. (I am tearing up writing this.)

            When everyone left the hospital room, it was time to push. My contractions were still very random so it was difficult to make much progress. I would push through a contraction and then I might not have another one for 7 or 8 minutes. Then at other times I might have two back to back. I pushed for about an hour and the nurses asked if I wanted to see myself in the mirror to help see which pushes were most effective. I hesitated, but then said yes. Boy was I glad that I did. I realized that I was pushing the wrong way half of the time. I could not feel much due to the epidural, so the mirror really helped. After that they called in Dr. Henderson, the doctor on call, and we really got after it. I pushed with all my strength and then we would have to wait 5-8 minutes for the next contraction. It was very frustrating. Daniel was the best husband EVER. He cheered me on and held my hand through every push. He even pushed along with me. I caught him holding his breath when I was too. He was fabulous. My mom was in the room too and she was a great help. She would rub my back and step in when Daniel needed a breather. She took lots of pictures that I will cherish forever. 

            Around 10:30 (2 hours into pushing), Dr. Henderson suggested that we use the vacuum to suction Caleb’s head to help speed things up. We hesitated, but finally agreed. She said that we could only use it through 5 contractions tops. She ended up having to use it 4 times and on the 4^th time he was out! PRAISE GOD! At 11:31 on Wednesday January 23^rd our lives changed forever!  I still remember the doctor and nurses expression when they saw his head for the first time. Dr. Henderson said my goodness this is a 9 pound baby. **side note—all along everyone had been guessing that Caleb would weigh between 6.5 and 7 pounds***  

            After seeing everyone’s surprised faces, I could not wait to see my precious son. When the nurses handed him to me, I just had tears of joy running down my face.10 fingers, 10 toes, and everything in its perfect place.  I was finally holding the precious bundle that Daniel and I had been praying for. The room was full of emotions. They took Caleb back to be weighed and yelled out that he was 9 lbs 1 oz. Later we found out that he measured 20 ¾ inches long. Soon after he was born all of our friends and family filled the room and Daniel was beaming from ear to ear showing them his son! I just sat back and soaked it all in. God had truly blessed us to be this sweet boy’s parents; we do not take the responsibilities lightly. We know that it is our job to raise him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!