I'm in LOVE

Well folks, there is a new man in my life and he has captured my heart! He's sweet, loves to cuddle, and just as handsome as can be. We just met, but it was love at first sight!

Baby Micaiah Gregory made his grand entrance into the world on May 9, 2009! He was born at 6:55pm, weighing in at 8 pounds 1 oz., and 20 inches long. He's healthy and perfect in every way. The kids are thrilled to have him home, and Isaac especially loves him. He has already claimed Micaiah as HIS baby and no one elses! Nahshon isn't too sure about the whole thing. At first he sort of just made a face and said NO when we introduced him. Slowly he's been working up the courage to touch him, but doesn't seem to like that he's lost his position as the baby. Thankfully the older 4 kids want to hold him constantly, which frees up my arms for some extra Nahshon love. I have to get Jeremy to free up some space on the computer for pictures, but hopefully I'll be able to post them by tomorrow. Be sure to check back soon!

Now, for those of you that like birth stories, we've come to that part of this entry. On Friday morning (May 8th) I saw my doctor, and he said he expected I would go over my due date by 3-4 days. I have a great doctor that I trust fully, so I had no reason not to believe him. The nurse said my blood pressure was on the higher side or normal, which I know can be an indicator labor is coming soon, but I also know "soon" can mean 3 hours or a week so I didn't think much of it. I was a little bummed to hear that the baby wouldn't be here until probably the 15th or 16th, but figured I would use this week to get the last bit of stuff done that hasn't been completed.

Most of Friday I was very tired, and noticed Micaiah was pretty calm and quiet as well. Friday night I was feeling unwell so I had a bath and went to sleep early thinking perhaps I was coming down with something. Saturday morning I actually woke up feeling pretty great, but was having a lot of little back cramps. I figured feeling run down the day before was just my body needing some extra sleep, and the back cramps were just normal end of pregnancy discomfort. I really had not been anywhere alone since I first went on bedrest (Jeremy was good about making sure I followed Dr's orders, and then didn't really want me driving myself anywhere in case I went into labor and got stranded), but I decided I really needed a little break and would go just down the street and get the things I needed to pack for the hospital and gather some things for goodie bags for the kids for when we brought the baby home. I figured getting out and walking around would probably help my back ache too, which it did. Within minutes of getting home though the back cramps started up again. I just shrugged it off and went on with my day. I could tell Jeremy was hesitant to leave for work because I was still very uncomfortable with all these back aches, but I told him it was probably nothing and to go ahead and leave. About 30 minutes later I called just to chat with him for a minute and said I really didn't know if this was anything to make note of or not. He told me to call him at any time if I felt like I needed him to come home. I decided to lay down since the kids were napping, and ended up falling asleep.

A little after 4:00 I was woken up by a strong contraction and back cramp. I sent Jeremy a text to let him know how I was feeling and decided to take a shower to relax. I was having some contractions, but couldn't even feel them because the back pain was all I could feel. There really was no regularity, and since my Dr. predicted the day before it would still be another week, I still though it was nothing. Around 4:30 I just started feeling emotional and nervous for no particular reason and at 5 I called Jeremy and asked him to come home and be with me. My mom was up at her property in Stanwood, and his mom was in Eastern Washington. He called my mom and asked her to come over, and then talked with me while he drove home. He decided by the sound of my voice that we would be heading to the hospital soon, so he decided to call my dad and ask him to come over. (my dad was working near by so he would be able to get to our house much quicker than my mom) The kids and I tidied up a bit while we waited for everyone to show up. Jeremy and my dad arrived about the same time, but I still had to finish packing my hospital bag.

We headed for the hospital shortly after 6pm. As we were walking into the hospital I told Jeremy I was kind of mad that I called him because I was certain it would be false labor. We checked in and I finally got on to a triage bed around 6:25 pm. The nurse strapped on the monitors and said I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. All I could feel was back pain, and was still wondering if I was even dilated or not. She also said my blood pressure was really high, and seemed rather worried. A bit later she asked Jeremy to pull off my jeans so she could see if I was progressing at all, and we both told her that once I got to 6-7cm, it would only be a matter of minutes before the baby came. I remember at some point she said I was 6 1/2 cm and I'd be staying, so I sent a text to family and friends and called my mom to let her know. Before my mom could even pick up the phone, I started having a big contraction and handed it off to Jeremy. While he was talking to her, all of a sudden POP and I screamed "my water broke!". I have never had my water break on it's own before, so this completely took me by surprise and startled me. The nurse came back in to see, and quickly started calling orders to other nurses to get my IV, get me a room, call a doctor, etc.... At that point the nurse looked at the sheet on the bed and said there was meconium in the water. The look on her face told me that this baby needed to come out quickly, and I guess my body knew it too. This is where things get fuzzy. The pain got so intense I just closed my eyes and held on to the side of the bed. I vaguely remember nurses barking orders at each other while they took the breaks off the triage bed and started running down the hall. I remember hearing them yell for someone to get the elevators open. At that time all I thought about was:
PAIN
this baby needs to get out of there
PAIN
there is no time (no time for meds, no time for a doctor, no time to slow down and get a grip on the situation)
PAIN
why does no one know my Group B Strep status?
PAIN

I know we wheeled into a room, and there was a frenzy of nurses everywhere. Jeremy was somewhere near and I could occasionally hear him say something to comfort me. Within seconds of them parking the bed, I remember my body fulling taking over and I didn't even have a chance to process what was happening. I remember pain that was so paralyzing all I could do was just scream. I kind of remember someone saying look and not long after that I heard a baby cry. That's when I realized he had been born! All that paralyzing pain was my body pushing the baby out; I never once consciously pushed. Because of the meconium in the water they immediately whisked him away to suction him, I guess Jeremy didn't even get to cut the cord this time. I remember after the pain began to stop I looked across the room through the haze of nurses and caught a little glimpse of a pink little baby under the warming lights. I remember seeing nurses smiling and chattering, which told me that he was OK. About that time a doctor finally wandered into the room. She asked me to move over to the delivery bed (I was still on the triage bed) so she could deliver the placenta. Ok, whatever. There was still a frenzy of nurses everywhere; trying to start an IV, trying to ask me all sorts of questions, trying to help the doctor...... It was all very overwhelming. My body was in shock mode and I was trembling, and the poor nurse trying to start my IV was having no luck.

Once the nurses finished their assessment and determined he was having no problems from the meconium, Jeremy was able to bring him over to see me. The nurses forgot to call the delivery time, but their best guess was 6:55pm. (Jeremy said it was 6:53pm, but I told him I was just glad it was done with and wouldn't even care if his records showed his birth as 6:50-ish) I didn't even get to hold him until around 7:30, but even then I was still feeling weak and trembling from everything my body had been through. In case you couldn't already guess, going from walking and talking and thinking it was false labor to delivering a baby 25 minutes later is VERY INTENSE. Thankfully, despite everything that happened, Micaiah and I are both doing great and were released from the hospital by 1:30pm on Mother's Day.

It all happened so quickly that by the time Jeremy and I were alone in our room having dinner I still couldn't even believe our little guy was here. It was all very surreal. I feel like the fogginess of it all just started lifting when I woke up this morning and saw the sun shining through the window and my beautiful baby boy's face. Micaiah did great his first night home, and we were able to get a nice long nap today. So far we are adjusting well, and I feel pretty confident that things will continue to fall into place nicely. I am thrilled beyond words he is finally here, and so happy to be at home loving on ALL my babies. God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. Life is great.