The Story of Noah

As most of you know, Pregnancy and me don't really mix well. I always seem to have some sort of issue. With Brooklynn I got heart palpatations, Tater brought some pre-eclampsia and pre-term labor and Noah allowed me to experience gestational diabetes, bed rest and of course a good dose of worry to go along with it.

For a few weeks before Noah was born I had it set in my mind that if I could just get to 37 weeks then he could come. Thanks to a great hubby and a mom and dad who were willing to let mom be here and help for forever I made it. I made it to 37 wks and 1 day.

Sunday night (as in last Sunday night), I started to have some small contractions. Nothing major but some good Braxton Hicks. They were coming about every 20 min for a few hours. The last one I remember before falling asleep was at 12:30 am. I slept well, but woke up at five and realized after Steve had left to go golfing that contractions were still coming every 20 minutes. After about an hour they were 10 minutes apart, then about an hour later they were 5 minutes. I called Steve and after a few phone calls he packed it in and headed home. By the time he arrived home, I had been having contractions all morning and they were consistently 5 minutes apart. They weren't painful, but with the baby being breech and my history, pain didn't indicate much. So after getting the kids taken care of, we headed to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, I got settled into a gown, you know those lovely ones, and the nurse came in, hooked me up to the monitors and checked to see if anything was going on. Let's just say NOTHING. No dialation, no nothing. I was surprised and a little disappointed, but they were going to watch me and see what happened. After being checked my contractions kicked up a notch and got a little more painful. After a while the nurse came in to take blood to check for pre-eclampsia and hooked up an IV to make sure the contractions weren't due to dehydration. The fluids didn't help and contractions persisted. The Doctor came in after an hour and a half to check me and lets just say things had definitely changed. Well some things. I had dialated to almost a 4 and was 80% effaced. What? Are you kidding me? How is it possible to have things move so fast. Unfortunately the one thing that hadn't changed was that the baby was still Breech. How fast would my labor had been if the baby wasn't breech? So within minutes the Dr double checked his position on the ultra sound and the nurses were all on the move to get things ready for a C-Section.

Yep that is right, after 4 'normal' deliveries I was going to be lucky enough to have a c-section. All went well in the c-section. Steve looked fantastic in his get-up. I surprisingly enough wasn't super nervous, but a little uncertain about how things would go. It all seems very sureal now. And although different than my other deliveries, it was still just as amazing to hear that baby cry and see his cute little face.

Noah was born at 2:17 pm and weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. Steve was there and while we didn't get any still pictures, we did get lots of video of his first few minutes of life. We are so blessed to have him here and healthy. The nurses called him a 'Miracle Baby' because he was born with what they call a 'True Knot' in his cord and the cord was also wrapped around his neck. Both of those things could have been made worse if he had turned. I have no doubt that it was a blessing that he came when he did and that I had to have a c-section.

My recovery has been very slow and very painful. I am finally feeling mostly good and not quite so sore. My kids adore their brother as do Steve and I. He looks like he belongs and more importantly it feels like he belongs. I am always amazed at how instantly I can love someone so much. He is a little angel and I am glad he is here safe and sound.

Now, onto the adventure of everyone adjusting to our NEW NORMAL.