May 14, 2011

The Birth Story

On April 29, 2011 we proudly welcomed Liam Brodie Celestin into the world.

 8 lbs 4 oz
20 inches

I’ve been very eager to update the blog, but as you can imagine, life has been pretty busy for me these days. Life with a newborn and a toddler doesn’t leave much room for leisure! But I really want to document Liam’s birth story, as well as give you a little insight into how we’re all adjusting to life with our newest family member. I want to be able to look back and remember these days with two little ones because I know they will be gone before I know it. So I’m making time to journal here, and I’m inviting you to read along.

The Birth Story
When the first contraction hit on Thursday afternoon I was a bit in denial. I had expected Liam to be here much earlier, but by this point I figured he’d wait until his due date or maybe even later. And on top of that my parents were in town visiting (it’s very rare that we see them during the week since they live over an hour away). What would be the chances that I would go into labor while they were here? It all seemed too good to be true. So I continued to push my buggy through the grocery store, gathering supplies for dinner. When I got home I informed my parents about the contractions and decided to start timing them. After an hour of tracking them at five minutes apart I made the call to Kevin who was out visiting with a church family at the time. I jumped in the shower, finished packing our bags, and within two and a half hours from the onset of the contractions we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at 9:00 pm, and I was only dilated one centimeter. The nurses suspected false labor at first, but I knew it was the real deal. An hour and a half later I was dilated 3.5 centimeters- enough to prove that this was the real deal and earn myself an epidural! I was able to rest some early on, but as the contractions got harder the pressure was almost unbearable (even with the epidural). So I got another dose of pain medication, which took the edge off a little. But even with all the pain meds, I still felt some pretty hard labor pains and did some heavy breathing in the early morning hours of Liam’s birthday. My water hadn’t broken, and I was dilating very slowly. Finally by sun-up on Friday when the doctor made her rounds I had made it to 9 centimeters. Everything progressed pretty quickly from there. She broke my water, and within a few minutes I was pushing. After a few pushes the doctor informed me that she thought we’d have to do a c-section because the cord was wrapped around Liam, causing his heart rate to go down. She told me she’d give me a couple more good pushes before heading into surgery. Well that’s all it took to give me the burst of energy I needed to usher Liam into the world! Four pushes later Liam’s first cries echoed in the delivery room. And I was in love all over again.

I am so thankful for a supportive husband and mom who stayed by my side throughout the entire delivery, and I’m also thankful for my wonderful dad and sister who cared for Silas while we were “getting” his little brother.

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