A Baby Story: Happy Birth Day Hudson!

As my sweet son naps in his awesome lamb swing, I wanted to share the story of his arrival. Just 4 days after he graced the world with his presence, I'm already afraid I'm going to lose some of the details of the day if I don't get them written down! Sit down and grab a drink or snack, because you're in for the long haul....


Well, to start, my last post (below) turned out to be the REAL D-Day...I still can't believe it! Apparently, as I posted, I was in labor and didn't know. :)  I had heard so many times when asking what contractions would feel like or what labor feels like, "Believe me, you'll know when you're in labor!" They were wrong.


Around 4 p.m., I decided not to go to my 5 p.m. class at Mercer because I was a little uncomfortable. I emailed my professor feeling a little bit guilty because I felt like I was exaggerating by telling him I was in the "early stages of labor" to get out of going to class. I decided to take a warm bath because I've heard that helps relieve the cramping, but was highly disappointed because the water didn't stay warm very long and wouldn't run warm any more. Jay and I finished packing for the hospital thinking we might be headed there in the next couple of days. :)


Jay was watching the Master's so we really didn't think about what we were going to do about dinner until almost 7 p.m. Neither of us could decide what we wanted, and I wasn't super hungry. Jay offered to go to the store for us, but I wanted to go too with the hopes that getting out of the house and walking around would help my cramping. We put Ellie in her crate and drove to Publix. As we walked around, I decide all that really sounded good was a smoothie so we got what we needed to make me a smoothie and Jay decided he'd just make a frozen pizza. I remembered I needed a couple of things in the "health and beauty" aisle so we went down there and I grabbed hair spray, face wash wipes, etc. and Jay started looking at body washes. This is when I should have known I was in labor. I remember thinking, "Freaking pick a body wash already!!!" But instead of saying this, I smelled his 3 options, and helped him choose a body wash then headed for the check-out aisle, praying he was behind me because I was ready to get home.


We got home and I was definitely uncomfortable. Jay let Ellie out and I started preheating the oven for his pizza. I decided to lie down on the couch and we tried to time my contractions, but they seemed so irregular. I'd have one and it would last about 30 seconds, then 6 minutes would go by and I'd have one that'd last 90 seconds and then another one immediately after that, then 3 minutes would go by and I'd have a 45 second contraction. Around this time, as Jay was making me a chocolate banana smoothie, I looked in What to Expect When You're Expecting and found a FAQ that sounded just like me. I read it to Jay and he convinced me to go ahead and call the doctor's office and get their opinion. It was about 8 p.m. at this time and I put in a page to the midwife at my Ob/Gyn. She called me back and I explained my irregular contractions while pacing around the house and breathing through a few. At first she said, "It's totally up to you...it doesn't get any easier from here, and I'm already at the hospital if you want to come in now." But as I tried to talk through a contraction, her attitude changed a bit to, "That sounds pretty intense. Why don't you go ahead and come in." OMG! We were headed to the hospital. As I began to moan and groan and try to change for the hospital, Jay packed up the car and we headed down around 8:40.


It only took us 20 minutes to get there (thank God I wasn't in labor during rush hour or Baby Blev might've been born in the car!) and we parked with the flashers on in front of L&D and went inside to check in. I immediately sat down and groaned through a couple of contractions (probably terrifying the little girl sitting in the waiting room next to me) while Jay checked me in. At one point, the admissions lady looked at me and asked, "Is this your first?" And I thought, "Is it that obvious? I know, I know, I'm being a big baby about these contractions. I'm definitely going to need an epidural!!" She then asked me if I felt the need to push and I said, "Kinda..."

At that point, we went in to "rush mode." We were given our L&D room assignment and walked to the room where I quickly found out I was already 8 cm. dilated!!! The RN asked me if I wanted an epidural. I declined because I figured at this point I'd probably gone through the worst of the contractions and I'd really hoped to be able to give birth without it anyway. I did ask for pain meds though and as she started to give me an IV, my water broke. Next thing I know, a midwife whom I'd never seen nor met before introduced herself to me explaining that my midwife, Libby, was in the OR with a c-section and that she'd be delivering my baby. Whatever. I just wanted somebody to deliver this baby...and the sooner, the better! 

I pushed through the next 3 or 4 contractions with just Jay and the RN and midwife by my side before in walks my angel...my midwife, Libby! Right behind her was my mom, sissy and best friend, Natalie who'd been at dinner with my mom. I welcomed them all in, pushed through the next 3 or 4 contractions, and into this world came my sweet baby boy at 9:41 p.m. (A mere 30 min. after getting admitted) weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 in. long. Jay and I looked at each other and said, "Hudson?" (I think we'd both been pretty sure this would be his name, but were just waiting to see him to be sure.) We knew Will would be the middle name if we went with Hudson because it represents my maiden name, Willhite. And with Hudson on my chest I found out that I was never given those pain meds! I just had an IV drip of fluids! I went ahead at that point and asked if I could go ahead and have 'em. :) 

The rest of the night was spectacular. Friends and family abounded and filled the room with love. Around 10 p.m. or so, Natie offered to finally move the car for us as it was still sitting in the emergency bay with lights a-flashing! Everyone left by midnight and we were escorted to our room where we spent the next 2 days. We got to go home early evening on Saturday and we've been enjoying our bundle since! We're still trying to figure out our schedule at nights, but have been so blessed by our family's help during the day. (As I type this, my MIL is mopping my kitchen floor!)                                                                                             

More pics to follow in subsequent posts...including Hudson's Room!!!