Nolan was due on January 16th and decided that he wasn't quite ready so because of my blood pressure beginning to elevate we decided to schedule his induction for the 21st if he still hadn't decided to arrive. My body really just seemed to progress to 50% and then STOP so Dr. Heidemann decided to have me come in the night before we induced to start the process and hopefully make the next day (when we would induce) go a little more smooth.
After all of our scheduling I woke up the morning of the 20th with contractions (the same day I'm suppose to head to the hospital, but not til 7pm). I didn't think much of it and decided to wait it out and didn't mention it to Will because I really though nothing of it. He headed into work to get some stuff taken care of before little man's "scheduled" arrival and I went back to sleep. I woke up about 30 minutes later with continuing contractions and decided to grab my pen and paper to keep track of them... by 9 am they were 6-7 minutes apart and continuous, I decided to call my doctor and just give them a heads up not thinking much of it because I was suppose to go in later anyways and the first pregnancy usually progresses super slow anyways, but to my surprise they said go ahead and come in because the weather was suppose to get pretty bad and there was no reason to risk it. So I texted Will, and called my parents (who showed up at the door before I could get off the phone with them, how do parents do that !?) and ate a bagel. Yes, I ATE, I got in some trouble for this later but really felt the need to load up on some carbs seeing as how I was about to be starved and put through the ringer. Luckily we were packed and ready so we waited on Will and then off we went!!
When we got to the hospital I was admitted into labor and delivery and hooked up to monitors upon which the nurse seemed really unimpressed with my contractions (easy for her to say, she wasn't having them!) so they decided to go ahead and get me in a room and start me on a little pitocin to move things along (it is 5 pm at this point). Once I got into the room and got going on all the iv's my water broke within an hour (gross) and things really started moving! I received my epidural at the beginning of American Idol (when I was dilated to a 4) and then we waited. Once again my labor seemed to sink back into limbo. My nurse (the amazing Janelle Penfield) came in and told me that little man was stuck sitting back to back with me and was not dropping down so she was going to try something called "the pretzel" and if that didn't work then we were going to have to do a c-section, so over on my side I went...into "The Pretzel-Part 1". Dr. Heidemann came in, checked me out and said "well, I'm going to go home, eat diner, take a little nap and I will see you around 3am." I'm thinking " No way is this going to last this long (for those of you that know me, patience isn't one of my strong suits) I cannot wait til 3!" Well...little did we know , I wouldn't have to :). After phase one of The Pretzel (which we timed perfectly to end in sync with American Idol) I really felt the urge to push... like REALLY! I told Janelle that I HAD to push something out (to keep it G rated for you bloggers) and she was doubtful that things had progressed to the point of pushing seeing as how it was only 8pm and they had just measured me at 4cm but she checked for me anyways. To my pleasant surprise she responded with a "Well, you're complete, Let me go call Dr. Heidemann...DON'T PUSH!" While we waited on Dr. Heidemann we let our families come back in and hang for a bit and my dad (yes, my dad, I know this is typically the husbands 'spot' but I think it would have probably taken an army to pry dad away from me at that point) stood by my bed while I white knuckle the post to avoid pushing while we waited on the Dr. At 8:42 Dr. Heidemann came in (all the family went out) and we started pushing and at 9pm Nolan came flying out, literally! After Will cut the cord (so proud of him) he looked at me and said "Wow, that wasn't bad at all" and while I must admit I wouldn't want to go through that on a daily basis it wasn't as terrifying as it had been built up to be.
Having a child truly is an experience that cannot be described. It all feels like such a blur already. After he was born I remember him being thrown up on my chest and then taken away fairly quick. I don't remember crying I just remember feeling like I was standing at a distance watching all of 3 of us go through it and I don't think I blinked for an hour. It is so surreal! Not to get too gory or gross but I do remember looking at all the blood thinking (with a very light head), "Is there any left!?" I've never felt so vulnerable and so amazed in my life! I'm a modest person so I must say I felt a little invaded/helpless for a while and didn't enjoy that but in the end after all is said and done AMAZED is the best way to describe what you feel after having a child.
I was/am amazed at how a human being is brought into this world, I was amazed at how the human body can do that, I was amazed at how a husband has the strength to stand and watch it all happen around him (this may sound stupid, but it truly is something else to watch them watch it all take place and not be able to do anything but be there-I couldn't do that.)
I remember looking at Nolan for the weeks following his delivery still in awe of how it all happened and how that little person was inside of me just a few days earlier...it's CRAZY. I don't know how there are unbelievers out there with children, because it can truly only be explained as God's design ... there's nothing else that could come up with such a perfect combination of unknowing, pain, hope, triumph, love, faith & awe.
Here are a few photos from his newborn session. I will post recent photos once we get back into our home (pending fire damage/repair). Yes I caught our house on fire, but that's a whole different blog post!
