The Story of Clay

So, I promised that when time allowed, I'd post a more detailed version of Clay's arrival. We'll say it started (unbeknownst to us) on Wednesday, March 24. After three weeks of bed rest, Jim and I went to Dr. Wagman for my weekly appointment. We were surprised to learn at this visit I would be induced on Tuesday, March 30. That was still earlier than I thought we'd meet Clay but it was fun to have that date in mind. Jim and I quickly sent out a text message letting everyone know that we had less than a week before we'd meet our little man.

Well, lucky for us, we didn't even have to wait until the following Tuesday. That same Wednesday night, Jim and I just hung out. He took a random nap on our couch and I tried to sleep. The only problem was that I had to get up to use the restroom every 30 - 45 minutes so I NEVER fell asleep. Around 12:15 am I got up to use the restroom for what felt like the millionth time. I stood back up and felt some fluid come out. I wasn't positive that my water had broken and said a quick prayer that God would realize that I needed a bigger "sign" if my water had indeed broke. The Big Guy complied with that prayer and it quickly became apparent that my water had broken. I told Jim and I just couldn't stop laughing; guess we didn't need that induction date after all and it certainly seemed like a devine intervention that Jim got that nap in earlier in the evening! Jim called our doctor and she told us to get to the hospital.

We quickly packed up our last odds and ends, called our parents, texted our friends, and headed to the hospital. Once my water broke, I started feeling contractions (I'd had a couple during the day but nothing very regular) and boy did they come on fast. Almost immediately, I started having contractions every 4-5 minutes. By 12:45, we were checking into Labor and Delivery. After paper work was complete, we got checked into our room - by then it was about 1:15 or so. I got changed into my lovely hospital gown while Jim set up the room. Next I was checked to see how dilated I was (I was at a 3), then I got confirmation that my water had broken, then I got hooked up to the monitors (blood pressure, contraction, fetal heart beat), had blood drawn, and got my IV. Next the lovely epidural team got started on paper work. I think at this point the adrenaline really kicked in and I couldn't stop shivering! I got checked again to see how dilated I was (around 2:45 at this point) and I'd already gone to a 4. That meant that it was time for the actual epidural. I told the anesthesiologist that I was having BFF necklaces made for us to wear. He told me I couldn't be in labor because I was too good of a mood. (I was told later that he changed my name on the board from Erin Morgan to "BFF"). At this point, I got catheterized and did a few other things (I will say, the worst part of all of this was getting the IV put it, which wasn't horribly bad). After this, I was given pitocin to make the contractions come on faster (with the blood pressure issues, they wanted to jump start labor).

By 3:45 my fantastic nurse, Shelly, told Jim and me that she'd be back around 5 to check me again and that we should rest for the next hour. Well, rest wasn't in the cards. I kept feeling like I needed to use the restroom but wasn't allowed to - by 4:50, I asked Shelly if that was normal to feel that urge because it was getting bad - especially during the contractions. She checked me and low and behold, in just under 2 hours, I'd gone from a 4 to a 10 and was at a +2 (+2 refers to "station" or the location of the baby and is a scale of +4 to -4; +4 means baby is still high up and -4 means the baby is about to come out). This explained the urge to use the restroom even while catheterized. She was floored, she called Dr. Wagman and told her that she needed to get up there right away (she'd planned to head that way when I was at an 8 but that plan was obviously shot).

The next 45 minutes were not much fun (waiting for the doctor when your body is ready to push is more than lame). Jim's job was to tell me to "breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth" during contractions. He had to say it repeatedly but it was a great thing to get me through the contractions (our nurse fed us that focus phrase, that God for that woman!). At one point, my nurse called Dr. Wagman and basically said if she didn't get there soon, she was going to start having me push. We didn't have to wait too much longer. Dr. Wagman got there by 5:37 am, by 5:40 it seemed like the population of our room had increased 10 fold and I was pushing (Jim did the counting 1 - 10 for me and was a HUGE help). 13 short minutes later, Clay was here! BLISS!!!!

I couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. As soon as he was "out", they placed him on my stomach while Jim cut the umbilical cord. Then they took Clay over to the infant station and cleaned him up while I got stitched up (Dr. Wagman made one incision for an episiotomy because the cord was wrapped very loosely around Clay's neck and she wanted him to have just a bit more room when he was coming out). Once he was cleaned up, they brought him back over to me and he nursed for the first time. Once he was done, we just cuddle for a little bit. That was absolutely heavenly. He was such a precious boy, he didn't want to miss a thing as he rested in my arms, not willing to close his eyes as he took in the world around him. Then I gave the baby to Daddy for him to have a little bit of cuddle time.

At this point, it must have been about 6:30ish and Jim had called our parents to let them know that Clay was indeed here! By 7:15, our new family of three was on our way to drop off baby boy in the nursery. Grand Bop (my dad), Granny and Poppa (Jim's parents) were all at the hospital by 7:30 and met Jim who walked them down to see Clay for the first time (I was admitted to my recovery room and sent the email announcing his birth. What a whirlwind!) While the grandparents were seeing baby boy, the pediatrician on call came in and pronounced Clay "perfect"! Of course, we didn't need medical tests to tell us that, he was perfect from the moment he was born in our hearts because he was our baby boy! Still, we were so grateful that he received a clean bill of health, a true blessing indeed!

Clay got to come back to our room just after 8:30 and met his Grandparents (he had to wait just a little longer to meet Yaya since she had to fly from New Mexico - she got to the hospital by 10:30). Not too long after meeting Grand Bop, Granny, and Poppa, we had a very special moment. They put Clay on my chest for just over an hour so that my body could regulate his temperature and heart rate. That was such a precious time for the two of us! The next two days were filled with cuddling Clay, visits from kind and precious friends, and lots of memorable moments! Clay even got to meet his Aunt Rachel and Uncle David who made a very special trip from Lubbock just to meet little man!

We were lucky enough to get to go back home on Saturday. I'll blog later about the first couple of weeks but I think this is a pretty good account of the day that wonderfully changed our family forever. Gosh, that boy is precious perfection and just makes me melt each and every day!