Thursday, August 6, 2009 - 12:20 am - 6 lb. 13 oz. - 19 1/4 in.
The scoop:
It's a little sketchy when the labor began because I've felt like I've been in labor for 2 weeks. But if we're speaking about consistent HARD labor then it began about 3:00 pm on Wednesday, August 5th at the post office in Harrisburg. No, my water didn't break...thank heavens!! But I started having super hard contractions and basically shuffled my way out of the post office back to the van. I drove home and continued to have contractions any where from 1 to 5 minutes for the next hour and a half. During that time I packed my things, packed the kids things, cleaned up what I thought needed to be cleaned at the house, and waited for Phil to get home. Phil came home, seemingly panicked (he might tell you different, but I call it as I see it :) ), rushing around telling the kids and I to get in the car. I was calm and taking my time and ended up being the last one in the car. I was in horrible pain the entire way and dying at each bump we hit in the road. We dropped the kids off at our wonderful friends, the Miekle's and headed to the hospital. As luck would have it, we seemed to follow every slow driver on the road and hit every red light. Phil kept saying, "Is he coming, do you feel like you are going to push?!" Well, by the time we made it up to triage in OB, I thought I was going to die from the pain and I was throwing up. Everyone seemed to be as slow as a snail and in no hurry to get me any pain medication! I'm pretty sure I heard a couple of Phil's bones break in his fingers when I'd squeeze them! :) What seemed like an eternity later, I had finally answered the 1,000 questions they ask you and then they finally took me back to the birthing room and ran through the drill of IV, cords going everywhere, the exam, etc. Here's where you think I'm going to say I was dilated to a 9 and I had no time for an epidural. NOT! I was dilated to a 2 and only 50% thinned. WHAT THE HECK, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!...is pretty much what went through my head. At that point they gave me some pain medication which only helped for 15 minutes, then I had to wait another hour to get an epidural after that. Epidurals are a miracle is all I have to say. Most of the night the baby's heart beat was higher than the doctor or nurses wanted it to be and I had a fever. I could tell they were getting a little worried and we thought they might have to do a C section. Phil gave me a blessing and I know we were watched over. They kept monitoring the baby really closely and we fought through it. Well, 11:50 pm roles around and I was dilated to a 6. 20 minutes later I had already dilated to a 10! The doctor comes in, we waited for a contraction, one hard push and he was out!
I think the best moment of my life so far was when Gracie and Parker came in and saw our new baby for the first time, and seeing the expressions on their faces. They were glowing with excitement and love for their new little brother. They both fell in love with him instantly. Parker kept asking if he could keep him. I kept telling him, yes, we get to take him home and we can all keep him. He kept telling me no, that he just wanted to keep him for himself. When Gracie held him she had this glow in her eye and I knew and she knew at that moment that she was going to be the best big sister ever. Seeing our 3 children sitting there all together, meeting for the first time, is a moment that I will only experience once and that I will hold onto and cherrish forever. I love my family more than anything in this world!
Phil is such a good dad and took such good care of Gracie and Parker while I was in the hospital. They are so lucky to have him...and so am I!
We actually couldn't come up with a name for "The Baby" until yesterday morning before we came home from the hospital (about 55 hours after he was born). The names we had narrowed it down to at the time of his birth were Krew, Walker, and Landon. Chase wasn't even on our minds at that point. So for nearly 3 days we tried each of those names and none seemed to fit. So out of no where we brought back Chase and it just seemed to fit him.
My mom and dad and Gracie and Parker's cousins, Izzy, Emma and Kory got in the car the night I was in labor and drove 16 hours straight to come see the baby. We are so happy to have them here and be a part of the experience with us. They have been such a big help playing with the kids, cooking and doing whatever they can to help. I am certain that after they all leave, Chase will be able to sleep through anything!
Chase is such a huge blessing to our family. We love him more than words can express.
