Narrative From The Proud Poppa

Well, we have finally reached the end of a long and memory-filled nine months, only to begin a lifetime of more memories. We could not possibly have been blessed in any different manner. I'd like to let y'all know just how awesome everything was with our labor from beginning to end, with details for all of those women (and maybe men) who can't live without them.



If everyone didn't know, Kellie was due to have this little turd on Nov. 17, but that date passed us with the quickness. After the hospital changing our inducement date two times, they finally set it for Nov. 24. We were convinced that we wouldn't have him until that day, so we weren't 100% mentally prepared for what was about to come.



Kellie actually went to the hospital on Nov. 21 when her sister went into labor. She came home that night, and we did everything we normally do before going to bed. Kellie woke about 12:30 on the 22nd feeling somewhat uncomfortable and went downstairs to sleep. I didn't think anything of it, as she had just started to battle her comfort when sleeping. Well, she came back up to the bedroom around 1:30, saying that she wasn't sure, but she thought her water may have broke, and pointed to her wet pants! It wasn't much, so we decided to wait until her contractions really started and got close. A few hours later, it was time! We called the doctor and he told us to come on in!



I thought I would be totally calm and collected, but I have to admit that I was a little scatter-brained. We gathered up all of the stuff we wanted to bring (which we didn't use but half of!), and finally left for the hospital around 6:00 am on the 22nd. Kellie was having contractions a good 3-4 mins apart on average, but they were very sporadic.

We got tot Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis around 6:30 and got her checked in. They immediately examined her and she was 4 cm dilated, and well on her way. They got us into our room shortly thereafter, and the waiting began. The nurses and doctors checked her every couple of hours for progress. The first time they checked her, she was about 5 cm, and we were encouraged that this was going to progress without much intervention. A couple more hours, another check, and she was already at 6 cm! And that's where we stalled...

They checked Kellie for the next 4-5 hours, and she hadn't budged from 6 cm, so they decided to start her on Petocin (sp). Well, that seemed to do the trick. They checked her 2-3 hours later and she was at 8 freakin' cm! That's when I knew it was almost "go time." Another 2 or so hours passed, another check, and she was now at 10 cm! As soon as I heard that, I knew it was only going to be a short time until this little man arrived. BUT...the nurses informed us that the doctor just got called for an emergency C-section, so it would be a while until she could get in there. So, the nurses said we would wait until the doctor was close to being done until we started pushing. Great...more waiting...

It's at this point that I want to stop and let everyone know how easy it had been up to now. After Kellie got her epidural, she was sitting in bed, eating popsicles, and playing Nintendo DS, while she was having contractions. So she had been feeling no pain or real discomfort. I got some on video and also took some pictures, so she couldn't then come back and blackmail me with a "hard and painful labor", or tell her friends and family what I put her through!

Back to the labor. The nurses finally came in and told us that the doctor was almost done, so we could start pushing. Talk about adrenaline pumping! I'm going to save the details of this part of the labor for another post, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, here's the rest of this part: an hour and a half later, my beautiful, strong, sweet wife gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, perfect baby boy!

Words can't express the emotions you feel at that time, but I will certainly try and explain all of that.......in another post for your reading enjoyment.

That first night was something else! We were EXHAUSTED! Nonetheless, we were in awe at the little bundle sitting next to us. Our nurses made it so good for us! And I just want to let everyone know how absolutely phenomenal our nurses were. They offered to take that boy with them for a few hours to let us try and get some sleep, and we obliged. And for all of those who wonder why on Earth we would do that, just you wait (if you haven't already had a child). After being up nearly 12 hours, and have just gone through the most physically (for Kellie) and mentally challenging and awarding experience in your life, sleep is the best thing for you.

Everything checked out great for both Seth Jr., and Kellie, so we were able to get out of the hospital two days later. Getting that boy all wrapped up and into that car seat was surreal.

We finally got home after driving the speed limit the entire way, dropped all of our stuff in the living room, sit Seth down in his car seat, and we all took at HUGE nap!

So needless to say, everyone is home and doing wonderful. Check back in periodically for new posts, because I think I'm really going to enjoy letting you all know all about it through my eyes.

But that stuff can wait. For now, I'm looking forward to spending every waking moment with my wonderful wife and beautiful new child. And don't think for one second that we aren't counting our blessings for what God has given us not only now, but throughout our lives to bring us to where we are now.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support along the way, and we look forward to writing more and describing our experiences with parenthood, and how we are dealing with it all.

Love you all,

Seth Sr.