Meeting Our Graham

Hello! A lot has happened over the last few weeks: A few snow storms. A Merry Christmas. I watched and cried over the finale of my favorite show. Noah transitioned to a toddler bed in his new room (more on that fun milestone later!). Our families "sprinkled" us with love and gifts for baby #2. Etc. Etc.

So, guess what? I am a MOM OF TWO BOYS NOW. Yeah, THAT happened, too.

Mr. Graham Robert decided to start making his arrival after 4 episodes of Parks and Recreation on a Wednesday evening (January 21st). I thought I was having weird gas pains/cramps and sort of shrugged it off and went to bed. Throughout the night I woke up to more severe and consistent pain and tightening in my lower abdomen. It's probably important to share that with Noah, my water broke and all I really knew was fast and hard contractions...not these little baby ones that start things off. So with that said, I wasn't sure what was happening but decided I'd begin timing them, still thinking this really wasn't happening yet. My doctor was convinced I still had two weeks to go and as much as I wanted to be done being pregnant and meet our little boy, I was starting to believe her. Well. Anyway, I casually finished packing our hospital bag around 5:30 am...just in case...along with Noah's overnight bag for my parents. I woke up Dan, chuckling as I said, "this may be it. contractions have consistently been 3-4 minutes apart." I called my doctor and she said I should come to the hospital, but still probably had time to labor more at home if I wanted. After calling family, my dad picked up Noah and we headed to the hospital around 8:30 am. It was so strange saying goodbye to Noah. It was this odd, bittersweet feeling...like, next time you see me, you're life will change, and I'm sorry and you're welcome :) We gave him big hugs and kisses and told him we would see him soon. We were going to the hospital to meet his baby brother.

Although the contractions were consistent and it was getting harder to walk or talk through them, I still was fearful we'd get to the hospital only for them to say "go home". Well when we arrived and they got me into a bed to check things out, I suppose laying down and stopping movement slowed things down. In fact, my contractions become like 6-7 minutes apart and I felt so silly telling the nurse that "this was it!" Thankfully, and by some miracle, I was already 5 cm dilated, so they decided to admit me.

Fast forward a few hours... I was thankful to enjoy the jacuzzi tub and exercise balls in the hospital room. These really helped to ease the increasing pain. As did watching a hilarious episode of Dr. Phil and talking about random stuff with my nurse in between contractions. Looking back, I am so incredibly thankful for the decent breaks I had between contractions. It allowed me to regroup, drink lots of water, think about other things other then the pain, and rest. Well, my water decided it didn't want to break on it's own, and would delay progression of labor. I was stuck laboring at 8 cm dilated from 1pm to 5pm, when my doctor finally decided to break my water. I was so thankful! I was getting really tired and just wanted Graham to be here already. That and I was worried that since I had opted out of an epidural again, I wasn't sure I had the strength or energy to push out a baby. Thankfully, once my water broke, things happened so fast. The contractions HUUURRRRT but they became much closer together and I was quickly given the okay to push. I must give a shout out to my amazing labor coach and husband, who was severely sick and feverish this entire time. He was THE MAN. He yelled and supported me so well, especially during the pushing. I love having him encourage me, squeezing my hand, yelling in my ear, and excitedly telling me that we were so close to meeting our baby. Thinking about those moments makes me cry because it are those moments, just minutes before (and after) Graham came into the world that will forever be stuck in my memory. I remember the pain, the feeling of excitement, and the fact that time just seemed to stand still....

Standing still until... the nurse told me, "STOP. Stop pushing!" Wait, what? Graham was coming and the doctor wasn't in the room. Well I tried as much as I could to wait...haha, as impossible as it really was. The next push, I think my 4th round, Graham was born. It was 6:17 pm and it was perfect. We had a few minor complications when Noah was born that really made me nervous for the actual delivery. It was biggest blessing to get to see and hold Graham right away, something I really wished had happened during my first delivery. He made a grand entrance, christening me with pee just a few moments after being put on my chest. One of the most special moments occurred when I was talking and crying with Dan and Graham's head was cranked back, eyes working so hard to find my face. He knew my voice. He knew my scent. Talk about an amazing, breathtaking feeling.

The birth of child is a true miracle. Life is SUCH a gift. As I think about how God chose to give Dan and I our Noah and Graham I am filled with so much humility. God has called us on this journey to love and raise two beautiful boys and we don't take that lightly. Will we do a good job? Will we fail them? Will they grow up to be Jesus loving, respectable, honorable, and wise young men? That is our prayer every day. For guidance. For grace. For patience. For faith and trust in God's ability, not our own. And for the ability to remember, every SINGLE day, that this thing called parenting, and being a mom, is one of the most life changing, beautiful, amazing, challenging, faith giving, important, and growing roles.