Pregnancy with you was so enjoyable. I loved being able to feel your every move. I was responsible for you and your health. I was so ready to be a mommy! Halfway through the pregnancy I found out that I had gestational diabetes. I had to change my diet and watch what I ate. It was SO hard because I craved everything sweet. Needless to say I didn't obey my diet and Dr. Moore decided it was best for me to be put on some medication for it. She wanted to make sure you didn't get too big and that nothing bad happened to you while you were inside me. I had to check my blood sugar 4 times a day and write them down. I had to see Dr. Moore twice a week. On Tuesdays we got to see you on the ultrasound. You were so stubborn and kept your hand in front of your face every time we tried to look at you. It's funny because now you love to keep your hands by your face. They monitored your weight and measurements to make sure you were on the right track. Every Friday I had a non-stress test. They would put a monitor on my belly to measure your heart rate. As embarrassing as this is, it is part of your birth story so hear goes :) On my 35 week check-up I had decided to take a laxative because I felt like I needed one. Well that was a bad idea! It caused me to become dehydrated and had given me a UTI. I was in and out of the bathroom every 10 minutes. Because of the dehydration and UTI, they admitted me to the hospital for a few hours to replace my fluids and give me some antibiotics. When we got to the hospital there were no rooms available so they put us in the hall until a room was clean. Once we finally got to a room, my nurse came in to talk to me. My back was hurting but I thought it was because of the dehydration but really I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes. We thought we were going to have a baby! Once I got all the fluids and antibiotics the contractions had stopped and they sent me home. On my 37 week appointment I had an ultrasound that showed there was not enough amniotic fluid around you. Dr. McGowan reassured me that it was normal and to make sure that I drink plenty of fluids and get some rest. She checked me and I was 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. We were getting close! When I got home I called work to let them know that I wouldn't be back to work because I was on bed rest. About 6 o'clock that night I started having contractions. I thought they were just Braxton Hicks contractions because there were irregular. So I decided to take a bath and relax. After my bath, I was still having some tightness and contractions but I blew it off as false labor and decided to go to bed. I woke up about 10:30 when your dad came to bed and we decided to time my contractions. They were 5 minutes apart and regular! They hurt but they weren't bad so I laid there until about 1:30am. That was when I decided I needed to get up and get ready to go to the hospital. I took a shower, blow dried and straightened my hair before I decided to wake up your dad and tell him it was time to go to the hospital. He was so excited. He was so ready for you to be here! We got all of our bags together and packed them in the car and we were on our way to Murfreesboro. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger on our way there. When we got to the hospital they sent me to the ER to be registered. Once I was registered, they sent me to the OB triage room to assess me and make sure that I was truly in labor. They hooked me up to the monitor to watch you and my contractions and then checked me again and I was still 2 cm but I was now 90% effaced. So they kept me, but there weren't any open labor rooms so if you were going to come then you were going to be delivered in the triage room. It was smaller than the other rooms and you had a lot of friends and family come see me, so our room was pretty packed. Everyone was waiting on your arrival!
I was in labor for 21 hours total. Those last 3 hours consisted of me pushing 3 times every 3 minutes because that's how close my contractions were. You didn't want to budge! Your daddy was the best coach. He stayed by my side and kept me calm because I was starting to think you weren't going to come out. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. My nurse's name was Kelly and she was AMAZING! She kept me focused too. Finally, Dr. Moss came to the rescue. I was so happy to see her! She saw how I hadn't made a lot of progress and took action. She got out this tool that your daddy called "salad tongs" but they are really called forceps, to help me push you out. Once she used those, you were out in no time. The moment they laid you on my belly was the best day of my life and all I could say to you was, "YOUR GROUNDED!!" Your daddy and I laughed and then we cried when we heard you cry. He got to cut your umbilical cord. They took you from me and cleaned you up. Once I saw you I had forgotten how painful labor was. None of that mattered anymore. You were finally here and you were the most handsome baby I had ever seen. We were so proud of you! While Dr. Moss was finishing up with me, your daddy took you to the nursery. There they weighed you, 6 pounds and 14 ounces, and measured you, 19 inches long. Your nursery nurse Alison, assessed you, gave you your first shots and your first bath before she brought you back to me. While you were in the nursery they had to give you some formula because your sugar was low. They expected that because of my diabetes. But after you got that small amount of formula you were fine! There were so many friends and family that came to see you. They all thought you were perfect too. After your birth they moved me to a different part of the hospital call the Postpartum unit. The room was big and your daddy got his own TV so we didn't have to fight over the channels. They brought you in every time you were hungry, which was about every 2 hours. We decided to keep you in the nursery the 2 nights we were in the hospital so that we could catch up on our sleep. We took advantage of the help why we had it! Dr. Eastham was your Pediatrician and he came to see you while you were there. He did your circumcision and explained to us that you had jaundice. He also told us that you had failed your hearing test. He said that it was because you had been swimming in amniotic fluid for 9 months and that sometimes it takes some time for that fluid to be absorbed back into your body. We went back a week later and you passed your hearing test!!! As for the jaundice, we had to drive to Dr. Eastham's office every day to have your heal pricked to check your bilirubin level until it was resolved. To speed up that process, you had to have a bilirubin light or "bili blanket" to help you out. You ended up having to use it for about 3 days. Once all that resolved, you were a perfect little boy. Not that you weren't perfect before but now all the stress of the jaundice and your hearing was over and we could finally focus all of our attention on just you! Liam, you have changed our lives forever. We never knew that we could love someone so much. We hope that we will be the best parents to you and guide you in the right direction in life. We love you sweet boy!
Love,
Mom and Dad
Mommy having contractions ...
You were my distraction while Dr. Moss was sewing me up!....
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