I convinced my mom to come up to Birmingham on Monday, even though I wasn't scheduled to be induced until Thursday morning. I will forever be grateful for the very special time I got to spend with my mom leading up to the birth of William. We enjoyed walking, talking, eating, and shopping with each other all day on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, my mom and I had a very eventful day of intense shopping and running last minute errands and I was literally outside, on my feet, for the entire day! We started the day by taking a long walk around the Summit before meeting Julie at Olexa's (my favorite lunch spot) for lunch. For the rest of the afternoon we perused all of the fabulous baby stores around Birmingham.
So Tuesday night, Julie, Grant, my mom and I had dinner at Avo in Mountain Brook and I had the best salmon salad I have ever eaten. I also indulged in some of Grant's french fries he had with his burger because I just couldn't resist! After dinner, we all went back to our apartment where my dad was waiting on us. As we were all sitting there, I vividly remember my mom saying over and over again, "You are going to have that baby tonight.....get ready." I remember thinking, "Yeah right....I'm just ready for Thursday to get here so I can be induced and have this baby already!" Well, Tuesday night I was having trouble sleeping and at about 3am, I got up and took a Tylenol PM to try and help me sleep a little better. Shortly after 4am, I woke up to my water breaking!! My exact words to Grant were, "Grant, I think my water just broke and I am being completely serious." I called the after hours number for my OB and after the on-call doctor asked me a few questions, he finally said the words I have been dying to hear "Come on in because you are going to have a baby by the end of the day!" I don't think Grant nor I have ever smiled that big! He told us not to rush and that I could take a shower and get all of our things together. This was such a relief because I definitely did not want to be rushed and end up forgetting something. We had our bags packed for weeks so Grant and I really weren't panicky about getting to the hospital.
The ride to the hospital at 5am was one of the most fun 15 minutes of my entire life. Grant and I were seriously giddy. When I arrived at UAB, we went straight to the Maternal Evaluation Unit so they could confirm my water had broken before moving me to the Labor and Delivery Room.
It was confirmed my water had broken, so an IV was started. We are going to have a baby today!
Then we were transported to the Labor and Delivery Room where the real action started! We arrived in the L&D room around 7am.
Labor and Delivery Room - so nice!
Even though my water had broken, I was still only 1 cm. dilated when I arrived at the hospital. Shortly after arriving to the L&D room, an epidural was started and then the Pitocin drip was hung. Contractions had started in the picture above.
Contractions monitor
Telling my parents to come on up to the hospital
My parents arrived around 11:30.
The hardest part of labor was not being able to eat. The entire 12 hours I fantasized about what my first meal would be :) I ended up eating a chicken pesto sandwich from Newk's.
William's birthday cake from Aunt Ray Ray.
Most wonderful nurse ever! I will call her "E", but she was a God send. I don't have enough nice things to say about this girl. She was amazing.
We were a little worried Douglas may not be able to come up for the delivery but he made it happen. I was at 10 cm. at this point so this was right before the family left the room. At 3pm I started pushing. Dr. Gleason arrived at 3:50 and William was born at 3:57. This is going to sound really cheesy but Grant was THE most amazing supportive "coach" to me the entire day. I am blessed beyond measure to have a husband like him, and William will soon learn just how lucky he is to have Grant as his Daddy.
Pure joy.
First family picture
8 lbs. 3 oz.
He looks SO big in these pictures! I think he was still pretty swollen.
First bath
First time in Daddy's arms. I tear up every time I look at this picture!
First time in Juju's arms.
Loves his Aunt Birdie
Happiness.
All of my amazing cheerleaders that patiently waited outside the door. William is one loved little boy!
With some of his very special "aunts"
Family picture.
Yaya's minus Meg.
This is one of my very favorite pictures. Dad and Douglas are checking out William's toes.
Snuggle time with Elaine
Early Thursday morning after our first night at the hospital.
This is a rough picture of me but I want to remember these special moments.
Snoozing with Daddy
Mommy doing what she does close to 24 hours a day...just staring at my baby.
Delivering at UAB was such a fabulous experience! I seriously felt like I was at a resort. I had mixed emotions about going home on Friday afternoon. Next post is bringing baby home.
I have been patiently waiting for this post. Good job! I think my favorite picture is the one right after William is born and Grant has his gloved hands clasped together. It's so sweet but makes me laugh at the same time. It's like he's saying, "come to papa!"
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