Gray Christopher

Our sweet boy was born on Sunday, June 10 at 7:42 pm. He was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches long. No wonder Mama was uncomfortable with that long boy in my short tummy!

My water broke about 2:30 in the morning that Sunday. Paul and I took our time getting our things together and even straightened the house a little before we left for the hospital. Within a half hour after my water broke I was having contractions about 5-7 minutes apart. We got to the hospital around 3:45 and I was in a bed within the next 20 minutes. I was still at one and a half centimeters when they first checked me. Soon after we got to the hospital we found out my favorite doctor was on call and would be the one to deliver Gray. She came in a little while later to check me and I had gotten to 3 centimeters and she told me I could go ahead and have my epidural. The contractions were a lot closer together and I did not want to talk through them but they were still somewhat tolerable so I decided I'd wait a little while longer. Soon after that I was already at 4 centimeters. We waited until about 7:30 to call our family because we knew it would be a long day and there was no point in waking them up too early. After calling them Paul and I decided to try to take a walk since I knew I wouldn't be able to get up after getting my epidural. My good friend Renna is in the hospital with pre-term labor and I wanted to walk down to her room to surprise her that I was there in labor. The antepartum unit where she is staying is a hike from labor and delivery but we hadn't even made it half way there and I had to go back the pain was so bad. I told them to get the anesthesiologist in there asap and within five minutes he was there hooking up the juice. I didn't think the epidural was bad at all-the worst part to me was the position you have to be in to get it and the fact that the whole process took about 15 minutes long. Within a few minutes I was completely pain free! Right about that time my family got to the hospital and since I was feeling so good they came in and hung out for several hours. I got stuck at 4 centimeters for a while so they gave me pitocin to intensify the contractions and get things moving. With in just a few hours I had gone from a 4 to an 8! Paul's parents got there about 3:00 and came in and hung out for a while too. I was feeling great and was just so excited that the day had finally arrived that we'd get to meet our little boy. About 5:00 I started feeling a lot of pressure and knew it wouldn't be long before it was go time. I wasn't necessarily in pain but the pressure was so uncomfortable that I was ready for people to leave the room. I started pushing about 6:30 and our little Gray was out at 7:42. The whole pushing process was so much more intense than I thought it would be, especially since I hadn't been in pain most of the day. There were times that I remember saying "I can't do this anymore" but with an awesome husband/labor coach and my wonderful doctor and nurses, I was encouraged to keep going. I'll skip the rest of labor details but let's just say it was the hardest thing I have EVER done!

When I first laid eyes on our son though, it was immediately all so worth it. Even the last 6-8 weeks of "misery" I had endured with pregnancy. The emotions and joy that I felt the first moment I saw him are indescribable, and all you moms out there know exactly what I mean. Paul and I have never felt more blessed. These are a few pictures that were taken right after he was born.

I had a rough time recovering from labor. Every muscle in my body was sore, not to mention all the other pain that comes with pushing a person out of yourself. We were about ready to go home on Tuesday and I noticed my bleeding had really picked up. We called the nurses in there and they came right in to check me. They pushed on my stomach and the next thing I knew it felt like I was delivering another baby. I had several blood clots the size of grape fruits. It was one of the scariest thing I have ever experienced. The nurses got everything cleaned up and wanted to check me one more time before they would let us go. Unfortunately when they pushed on my belly again, out came two more grape fruit size blood clots. At that point they determined I would have to stay another night. As much as we were looking forward to going home, it was so scary that we wanted to be monitored closely that night. They gave me a shot to control the bleeding and did some blood work to check for other complications. I was fine all night and the next day we were able to go home. We didn't get home until about 5:30 and within a few hours I started feeling sick. For the rest of the night and all day Thursday, I was sick as a dog. Paul had to take care of me and Gray. I slept all day and it was all I could do to wake up and nurse Gray. We called the doctor thinking I was having a reaction to the shot but as it turns out I think I had a 24 hour bug. It was so rough y'all. I woke up Friday feeling like a new person and have felt great since then. I am still a little sore and of course tired (although I am getting far more sleep now than I was the last 6 weeks of pregnancy) but we are loving being at home and are enjoying time with our sweet, sweet son.

We have a lot of pictures and things to blog about so hopefully I will get caught up soon.