The Story – April 15, 2009

Date: 2009.04.22 | Category: Uncategorized | Tags:

The morning started for us at 4:30 a.m. when we got up and got ready to go to the hospital. Erin made sure to do her hair and makeup and was looking picture perfect for the big day. We checked into the labor and delivery triage center around 5:45 to do the check in paperwork, get Erin hooked up on her IV and all of the other preparatory activities that needed to be done.

They wheeled Erin to the labor and delivery room around 8 a.m. and started the petocin drip – this is the medicine that starts the contractions. Everything was going along smoothly and as the contractions increased, Erin decided to get the epidural around 10:00 when things started to get pretty intense. I swear that if I have any kind of sickness going forward, no matter what it is, I am going to ask for an epidural – that stuff is a wonder drug!

After the medicine kicked in, Erin’s mom (a.k.a. the Mothership/Grandmother) arrived at the hospital. We all sat and just talked – the whole thing was amazingly calm, cool and collected. The doctors and nurses would come in and check on Erin periodically and around 2:00, the exam revealed that Erin was 10cm dilated.

Shortly thereafter, the doctor wanted to do a “test push” to see how things were going to go….with her mother holding her right leg and me holding her left, Erin bore down for a solid 10 seconds. I must laugh because as she pushed, so did I – the doctor said to me, “Dad, on the second push, you need to breahe so you don’t faint and hit the floor – we need you here for this.” Push number 2 revealed that it was in fact GO TIME! The doctor said, “Yes folks, we are going to have a baby – let me get my gown on.” Push 2 went well and then push 3 and Nellie took her first breath in the world! Amazing.  I had the pleasure of cutting the cord and witnessing my daughter being placed on her mother’s breast – the most overwhelming experience I have ever had in my life. If we don’t do anything else in this life, I could leave knowing that we did this and would go away a happy man….

We moved to the regular room a few hours later and stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon – the first couple of nights were restless as you can imagine. We stirred at the slighest sound and were up every two hours feeding – it was the best sleepless nights we have had ever. Again, amazing.

We are home now, slightly bleary eyed from keeping the feeding schedule and working on little sleep – looking forward to getting the routine down – but every passing day brings new surprises, moments of joy beyond words, and we celebrate every single minute.