He's Here.

Well folks, you've probably noticed that I've been more absent than usual around here. There's a little tiny reason for that and I'd like to introduce you to him now. Please meet my son, Noah Porter.

{Please don't steal pics of my kid, I'd have to cut you.}

Noah was born Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 10:20 pm and weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces. He's 20 inches long and perfect in every way. Ten fingers, ten toes, the grumpiest little face and the brightest, widest eyes I've ever seen on a newborn.

Getting to the finish line was very difficult but he's worth it all. It's cliche to say but honestly, when I look at that tiny person, I don't think about how hard pregnancy was or how painful labor was, I just think about our future. 

If you want to stop reading here, I completely understand, this is where things get a little TMI. The birth story. But like Brittany said, I'm writing this for my son and for me and not for anyone else. So that I can remember the whole thing and can look back and remember the day he joined our little family.

40 weeks and 3 days went by so quickly, but at the same time, went by so slowly. At the end, I was so ready to not be pregnant any more, I was practically begging my doctor to induce me.

Saturday night was just like any other night. Kevin and I enjoyed a bucket of KFC and a movie but around 11, we decided it was time for bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, I went to roll over onto my right side and felt a gush. I got up screaming "oh my God, oh my God!" and ran into the bathroom. The gushing never stopped and when Kevin asked me what was wrong, I laughed and told him my water broke. He wondered if I was for sure and I told him to follow the snail trail. (Which he kindly cleaned up for me.)

It was 1:19am, I remember looking at the clock when I ran to the bathroom and wasn't sure how fast we should head to the hospital. I wasn't about to sit down on the couch and watch a movie while my water was broken so we wasted some time getting ready and headed out. We arrived at the hospital at 3:15 am and got checked in.

As the nurse wheeled me up to the delivery room, I glanced at the board by the nurses station and noticed we were the only couple on the floor. Turns out, we'd be the only couple all night and the entire next day as well. That's how I roll, Beyonce style. I had the place cleared out.

My wonderful nurse Teresa came into my room, had me change into a gown and hooked me up to some monitors that would measure the babies heart rate and my contractions then told me to try and get some sleep. I woke up at 6:30 am and figured it was about time to call our family and let them know it was go time. My contractions were only about 5 minutes apart but still weren't painful and when the doctor checked me, I got the bad news that I was only 1 cm dilated. At that point, I knew I'd be in labor all day.

Fast forward to 10am and they got me started on Pitocin which would hopefully increase contractions and kick things into gear. Well, I'm here to tell you that it WORKS. The pain came in strong waves and I knew I had to be making some sort of progress but around 3pm, I got more bad news. I was 80% effaced but still only 2 cm dilated. They upped the Pitocin yet again, and we hoped for the best.

Between 5 and 5:30 pm, I was 3 cm dilated according to the doc but I noticed my contractions kind of disappeared. When the nurse came in, she even checked the machine to see if my monitor was knocked off. It wasn't. I guess my body just needed a break. Well, we didn't need a break, we needed a baby so up the Pitocin went, yet again, and shit got REAL.

The next few hours went by very painfully. The doctor inserted an internal contraction monitor and at this point, they were getting serious. The nurse gave me some pain medicine in my IV drip to take the edge off, which helped, but at 7:30, I just gave up. The contractions were so intense and I was just plain exhausted. Two nurses walked in, and when she asked me how I was doing, I broke down crying. The pain had gotten to me and I begged for an epidural. She told me the anesthesiologist would be on at 8 and since I was 3 cm, they gave me the go ahead. I struggled through a few more contractions when relief finally came. Or so I thought.

I bent over and gripped a pillow as they inserted the epidural, explaining what they were doing as they went along. Strangely, I wasn't even nervous or afraid of the spinal tap, I was just ready for relief. When she was done, they helped me lay on my side, hooked my monitors back up and told me to try and rest. Kevin went out to the waiting room to tell his family that hopefully things would pick up now that they could really jack up the Pitocin while I was numb and maybe things would get going.

While Kevin was in the waiting room, I noticed a lot of commotion around me. Two or three more nurses showed up, monitors were beeping and I couldn't stop shaking. My legs were freezing and I couldn't get warm. When I finally got my nurse alone, I asked her what was going on, she told me that my blood pressure had dropped and while they gave me two doses of meds to try and help, it wasn't working. Not only that, but the baby was getting fatigued with labor. At the end of every contraction, his heart rate would drop. She gave me an oxygen mask and told me to take some deep breaths, hoping that would work.

As I laid there alone with an oxygen mask on, thinking about my babies heart rate dropping, tears started rolling down my cheeks. Kevin came back into the room and I can only imagine his jaw dropped at the new scene. The nurse was right on his heels and explained to him the situation and that the doctor was on his way in to talk to us. It was around 9:30 when the doc came in, checked me and told me that since I was still only 4 cm dilated, he recommended a c-section to deliver the baby, especially since my water had been broken for almost 24 hours, putting Noah at risk for infection.

Throughout my pregnancy, I knew that a c-section was always a possibility, but I didn't care about me, I didn't care about my pain anymore, all I wanted was a healthy baby. I begged Kevin to call my mom and tell her to get to the hospital, that they were going to proceed with my surgery within the next half hour, and she hadn't made it there yet. He gave her and my dad the news, called his parents in the waiting room and the nurses prepped me (and Kevin) for the OR.

They explained what was going to happen and thank God my anesthesiologist had a sense of humor because I was freaking out. Kevin repeatedly told me how proud he was of me and I just couldn't stop thinking of how my body failed me. I got through labor like a pro but as soon as that epidural hit me, things went south. My baby was at risk and the clock was ticking.

10:09 is what the OR clock said when they wheeled me in and quickly set things up. Kevin was brought in and sat right beside my head, wiping my tears. I felt lots of tugging and pulling and finally, I heard a baby cry. Everyone in the room was saying "congratulations!" and I looked at Kevin and we were both just falling apart. It was 10:20. They told Kevin to come and hold his newborn baby and the first thing I told him to do was take the camera. The nurses weighed him and told us he was a healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. As they were stitching me up, I spotted my husband coming around the corner with my son. There's no way to explain the array of emotions I felt at that exact moment. He was perfect.

Our son was finally in the world and every minute of pregnancy and labor was worth it. Noah, you are a blessing and more loved than you will ever know.