Jake's Birth

I'm writing this post on the 25th, the day I expected our little boy to be born. Instead of having a c-section today, I'm at home...with 2 kids...almost completely healed (except for my saggy belly). Jacob Michael has been a part of our family for 11 days now. He decided to come early...January 14th at 8:48am to be exact.

It all started the night before during my small group Bible study. We've been studying the Fruits of the Spirit and were talking about faithfulness. I began having contraction during our study. I didn't say anything at the time. We were wrapping up the night when I felt something odd (I won't go into detail)...I went to the bathroom and discovered I was...leaking (again...I'll skip the details). Lydia, one of my friends, is a PA (and has seen things far more disgusting) and agreed to come in and look in the toilet. She suspected my water had broken. All of this was very foreign to me as Addison, my first-born, was delivered as a planned c-section. I was hoping, this time around, to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). So, I called Kyle on my way home...when he answered the phone he jokingly said, "Are you in labor?" I told him what had happened. His initial reaction (I found out later)...he swept the kitchen floor.

When I got home, we called our friend to stay with Addison, packed a bag, and headed to the hospital. While checking in, we stood next to another couple. The poor girl's water had also broken and was leaking all over the floor. Her husband kept asking if their room was ready...he was clearly uncomfortable...forget about his poor wife!

We checked in around 10:00pm...I was dilated to 3 cm and wasn't having very regular contractions. My nurse told me I would have been sent home if my water hadn't broken. After a couple of hours I was having more regular contractions and was dilated to 4 cm. As I was progressing, doctors and nurses alike talked about the risks associated with VBACs and all recommended an epidural in case an emergency c-section was necessary. At around 2:00am I took them up on their offer and got an epidural. After that I was able to sleep for a couple of hours (between being "checked" and poked and prodded). At 3:45 I was dilated to 5 cm...at 4:45 I was 5 cm...at 5:45 I was 5 cm...can you guess where I was at 6:45??? 5 cm. The doctors were talking about starting some petosin to make my contractions more intense in turn making my cervix dilate more. About that time, Jake's heart rate started doing crazy things. It would dip down into the 80s (normal is 110-150) then shoot up to 170. After a few episodes of that, I was scared for my little guy and the conversation started heading towards a c-section. At 8:15, my doctor came in and looked at Jake's heart rate and my history of contractions and recommended doing a c-section. Though we were disappointed, we were more concerned about Jake, so we agreed to the c-section. I was in the operating room by 8:30 and he was born at 8:48am. The c-section went smoothly and he was perfect...see:

He was 9 lb. 13 oz. and 22 inches long. Everyone in the OR joked about how we needed to pull out the toddler clothes.

This is my doctor...she delivered Addison too. She's great.

Here he is: Jacob Michael.

We love you, Jake, and are so happy you are part of our family!