It's hard to believe it's been a year since this little guy made his entrance into the world. On the one hand, it certainly doesn't seem like it happened just yesterday. But on the other hand, it went way too fast. Maybe that's the truth...a year is a long time, but it still went too fast.
December 8, 2015
That was my due date. It was a Tuesday. I remember showing up at the kids schools on Monday morning and everyone seeming to be disappointed that I hadn't had the baby over the weekend. People kept asking "when" and I joked that I was going to have it the night of my due date out of sheer willpower. The morning of my due date, I had a doctor's appointment. She did a membrane sweep and thought it worked. It worked within hours with Isla, so I told Ian I should be in labor by around 3pm. I was THAT CONVINCED I was going to have the baby that evening. Well, 3pm came and went. I decided to go out to coffee with friends. My mom called and asked if the baby was coming that night and I told her no, that I wasn't feeling anything. As the night wore on, I started feeling some cramping. Then I started thinking I was actually having contractions. A little after 10pm, I told my friends I should go home and get some rest just in case it was the real thing. Of course, I didn't leave before doing some jumping jacks in the parking lot to encourage labor!
I got home and packed my hospital bag "just in case" before heading to bed. I figured if I was going to go into labor, I should at least be well rested first...something I have NEVER had the privilege of doing. Well, the third time around it didn't happen either. As I lay in bed, the contractions started getting closer together and more painful. So, I snuck out of bed and got in the bath. Finally, around 2am, I decided I was ready to go to the hospital. I called my mom, then went and woke Ian. As soon as my mom arrived, we were on our way.
On the way to the hospital, my contractions started to space out, which I was super disappointed about. We got to labor and delivery and my triage nurse was a bit of a...hmm...butt? I actually thought to myself, "Well how awesome that she is going to ruin this experience for me." Let's just say that she didn't seem like she really liked her job and leave it at that. She told me to get up and walk to get things moving again. Walking was doing nothing, so I started doing knee kicks. And doing that would bring on the most painful contractions. So I kept doing it for a couple times around the ward. Then I requested to be checked again. The knee kicks worked and that was my ticket to a labor and delivery room.
My labor and delivery nurse was nothing short of amazing. And we had a mutual friend, which was fun to learn. She asked me if I wanted an epidural and I gave me standard, "Well I'm fine right now..." answer. Which, the anesthesiologist was available right then, so I just went for it. He was a crack up of an old man who didn't like hospital bureaucracy. Epidural in, I was 8 cm, and told that this baby was going to come fast. Well, fast he did not come. Several hours later, and a shift change of nurses and midwives later, I was still at an 8. So, pitocin was started. About two hours later, I started pushing. That's when things started getting hairy.
The baby's heart bottomed out. They turned me on my side and put oxygen on me. I was staring at the heart monitor as it bounced in the teens of beats per minute. A heart monitor was put in the baby's head and doctors were paged. Still no change in heart rate. I was prepared for "whatever it takes to get this baby out quickly and safely" and pretty much scared as all get out. I was crying and praying. I couldn't see Ian, which unnerved me even more. Then my midwife started humming worship music...bless the lord oh my soul, oh my soul. A peace swept over that room. The baby's heart rate started rising. They let me flip back onto my back and start pushing again. The doctors decided they were no longer needed and left the room.
Just a few minutes later, Callum was born. The midwife said she would tell Ian when to grab the camera to take pictures. She was really sweet and even told him in advance where to stand to get the best pictures. Right after Callum's head was born, she told him to grab the camera, then they had me reach down and grab Callum as he was born. As I was raising him up to my chest, I saw he was a boy and announced, "It's a boy!"
We held and cuddled him for a while. They did all his checks with him right there in my arms. Ian and I started discussing names. After a couple minute discussion, we went with Callum Robert. We let our families know the baby was here, but wouldn't announce the sex until after Connor and Isla came to the hospital...we were annoying like that.
One year on, I still feel so incredibly privlidged that we have Callum. Not knowing if we would ever have a third child, it feels so amazing that he is here. It feels great to watch him grow and flourish. I love watching Connor and Isla get to be his big siblings. Happy birthday Callum!
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