Introducing the latest member of our little family, yay! Arriving on Thursday, January 5th at 7:19pm. Weighing 7lbs., 13 oz. and 20 in. long. Born at Paradise Valley hospital in Arizona. To those interested in the full birth story, read further below. If not, then just enjoy the pics of our sweet, precious gift from God.
Brotherhood begins...
We're growing!
Caleb's Birth Story
His estimated due date was January 12th but when I went in for my doctor appt. on the 2nd, I was already 2cm dialated. Although my water had not broken yet, the doctor shared that I was "ready" and suggested that we could come in sometime that week to induce the labor if we wanted. Went home, talked it over with Glen and after praying, we decided to set an appt. on the 5th to be induced. As silly as it sounds, it worked well with my parent's schedule too since they were going to be the ones watching Micah and Annabel while we were gone. We also knew from experience with Micah that if I waited too long, he would gain more weight, which could have made the labor longer and more 'laborious'. Regardless, it was one of those decisions we had to make, and so we trusted God with the results.
So here we were driving at 7:30 in the morning on the 5th to the hospital...excited, yet nervous about the unknown. You would think after giving birth to two kids, I would be couragous and super chill. Glen asked, "are you ready"? I said, "for the pain that is ahead? No, I'm scared!" With that, he decided to take me to Dunkin Donuts for one last yummy breakfast before labor :).
After checking in at 8:30, the doc broke my water...relatively painless. Then NOTHING. For 4 hours. So the nurses, Margo and Lauren, decided to insert a gel on my cervix to see if that could help move things along. NOTHING for 3 hours. We hoped to not have to use any drugs, but by then I was ready for the petocin, so they gave me small doses at a time. By this time, it was 3:30pm. That's when the contractions started really kicking in. I had such a peace and was calm through all the contractions, even though the pain grew incredibly worse. The nurses kept sharing too how amazed they were that Caleb's heart rate was calm and consistent as well. With each contraction, I repeated verses to myself, tried to focus on the cross, and Glen would pray silently through each one. It's crazy how I would go into a zone and block everyone out (that's how bad the pain is). But I also had amazing friends and family praying for me, which seriously helped me get through. By 7:19pm I had this little guy in my arms--and he was oh so precious!!! The pain was gone-YES-scripture is true (John 16:21).
Overall, I was blown away by the whole experience. We serve an awesome God who has created women's bodies to do awesome things--can't forget this. Thankful for the wonderful doctor and nurses who cared for us and our little guy. Oh and by the way, we didn't mind being waited on the next few days with lots of good food too :).
