I am excited to finally get around to announcing the arrival of our baby boy today! He was born July 13th at 11:01 am entering the world at 8 pounds and 21 inches.
It ended up being a whirlwind experience with an unplanned induction. The night of his due date I became concerned that I was not noticing as much movement from him that day. Though I got in my regular kick counts, something just didn't seem right. I am glad I ended up following my intuition as we headed into the hospital at 11 o'clock at night to make sure everything was okay. There ended up not being enough fluid surrounding him making it no longer safe for my pregnancy to go on without inducing. We were admitted a little after midnight that night and went through a very long 35 hour labor.
There were a lot of uncertainties along the way. While his heartbeat was still beating normally hearing things like being put into the high risk wing and being prepped for an emergency c-section "just in case" was enough to make the whole experience especially scary and emotional. Pretty much anything I expected or planned for when it came to labor, we had the exact opposite.
But right around 20 hours I began to accept that it was beyond my control how our little boy would come into the world. And that God had a plan for how would be born. It was a good lesson in letting go and trusting to do my best, make the best choices along the way, and then trust that whatever is meant to be will happen. Even before our little guy was brought into the world I was already learning one of the biggest lessons in parenting - to know I won't always make the perfect decision but instead to just trust my intuition along the way and accept the results of not being able to control my son's life. Such a hard but good lesson that I have already revisited in those late nights with a newborn. I can do hard things. And I can get through this even if it is different than I expected.
While the entire labor experience was a hard one, it was an incredibly bonding time with Brent - him holding my hand as we found out our baby boy was coming sooner than we thought and then fighting through the contractions with him by my side. And finally seeing the expression on his face after our son was born and in my arms was a pretty magical moment.
It was an amazing experience now that I can look back at it all. I am so grateful that even though nothing went as planned, that our baby ended up being healthy and all went smoothly despite the unplanned induction.
Once he was finally with us, all was right with the world. Nothing can quite prepare you for this experience. Though it was hard, it is now a part of our family story and I am so thankful for how it will continue to shape us.
Welcome to the world sweet baby!
We are currently adjusting to our new lives as parents. Each day comes with it's own joys and challenges. We love our baby boy so much and still can't believe we are a family of three now. The nights can be long and the days pass quickly. I am sure that just as everyone says, these early days will just fly by. We are doing well, considering our lack of sleep, and are trying to soak up this time the best we can. Brent has another few weeks off of work and so I am taking advantage of this sweet time at home learning how to do this parenting thing together.
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