Keegan's Birth Story

Since, Keegan is going to be twelve weeks on Thursday, 

I thought I would finally get around to writing down his birth story...

Being a first time parent, I was a little nervous as to how everything would play out.

Would my water break in the grocery store, while I was sleeping,

or even worse during church?

Would I know if I was having contractions?

Would living an hour from the hospital mean I would give birth in the car?

Would I know what I was doing when it came time to birth him?

I had done everything I could think of to prepare.

I am one of those overly prepared people and I had made a week by week

schedule of things I needed to do before baby came once the third trimester hit.

By the time week 37 came around, I had a dozen freezer meals prepared,

had washed all his clothes, packed our bags and his,

put together nurse gifts, bought Jack a new Daddy gift, and even

packed a lunch of hospital snacks.

I was..."prepared"

On Wednesday, April 23rd, we had a doctor appointment scheduled.

We always made our appointments for Wednesdays, since we were 

in the area for church anyways.  This Wednesday in particular was

in the middle of our church's annual hosting of Revival Fire's Conference.

That morning I awoke around 7 and noticed while using

the bathroom what seemed to be a small trickle of water.

It was almost unnoticeable and I thought it might be my imagination.

I did what I always did when I had a weird pregnancy question...

I googled it; only to discover a multitude of answer bringing me to the

same conclusion - every pregnancy is different.

Over the next two hours, I kept feeling the need to use the

bathroom every 15 minutes.

I told myself that if my water had truly broke there would have been

a gushing of water and contractions would have started by now and
I was feeling absolutely nothing.  As a matter of fact, I felt great!

When I noticed a trickle of water while using the bathroom

a second time around 10:30, I decided I should put a call 

in to my Dr and let her decide if it this was anything.

They bumped my appointment up to 1:00 and said to come in just to be

on the safe side.  Inside, my mind was whirling and I was thinking,
Could this be it?
Was I going to have the baby early? 

We threw our bags in the car and tried not to get too excited.

I mean,  after all, didn't babies come in the middle of the night? 

Everyone also had warned that my first one would come late and

my due date was May 12th...I wasn't "supposed" to have an April baby...

We got to the Dr and after checking me out, she told me I was 4cm

dilated and that it did not appear as if my water was broken but

she would run a test just to be sure...

She left the room.

Jack and I looked at each other, just a bit disappointed.

However, we knew the baby would come when it was time.

A couple of minutes later, the Dr walked back in...

Well, Nicole you can go down to labor and delivery

and get checked in...your water HAS broken,
she said in her Indian accent.

Jack and I looked at her in shock...

We were going to be having this baby tonight!
I remember wanting to skip, hop, and jump,
yet feeling slightly  nervous inside.
We were going to meet Keegan very soon!!

Well, we got checked into our room,
and I remember looking at the clock - it was 2:00 pm on April 23rd.

The hours progressed and the nurses monitored me and the baby,

as we waited for contractions, and I felt nothing.

My Dr had me get started on pitocin, but just 2ml at a time, in hopes

that it would stimulate natural contractions.

The hours went by, and I still was not dilated any more than a 4, 

and contractions had not started.

Besides being uncomfortable and starving (I hadn't eaten anything besides

a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before leaving for the hospital),

I was in no pain.

That night, I did not sleep at all, and come morning

I was exhausted and hungry and wondering when Keegan was going to come.

By this point they had slowly progressed my pitocin level up to 

the full 30ml, and the contractions were so faint and not at all painful

Hey, this isn't so bad...

 I thought.

My Dr, arrived early on April 24th, scratching her head, saying,

You have a stubborn baby, Nicole...

Since I still was not dilated past a 5, she decided to see

if perhaps there was an additional water sac that was 

being blocked by the baby's head.

Sure enough, when the Dr went in (with that large-plastic-

knitting-needle-looking-thing), Keegan's head was blocking

my water sac, hence just the small trickling the day before.

As soon as my water was broken, the contractions started.
No longer did I wonder what a contraction felt like,
no longer did I need to look at the monitor to know
when a contraction was hitting.  I was sure feeling these ones!

By 11:00am, I had been up 28 hours and hadn't eaten in 23 hours,
and the contractions were coming fast and hard.
When I went in to the hospital, I was of the mind set that if I needed
an epidural I would get one. 

At the moment, I knew that I needed one!

The pain relief was instantaneous for me, and I was even

able to nap for a couple of hours, which my body needed.

My parents arrived around 2:00 and at that time

I was dilated to an 8.  My nurse told me as soon as I was a 9, 

that they would prep for the delivery and I would start pushing.

He was almost here, and I couldn't wait to meet him.

At 2:30pm, I felt as though Keegan was going to "fall out"

and I asked the nurse to check and see if I was dilated to a 9,

she did and I was.

I want to insert here, how very thankful I am for my Dr.

I had never been "in love" with her through all my appointments, 

but during delivery she proved to be just what I needed - a strong coach.

After the second push, my Dr said,

Oh, boy he has got a head of hair!

At that moment, it was all I could do not to burst

out in tears, knowing I was so close to holding him in my arms.

However, I blinked them back and focused on pushing.

After about the 4th really good push, I heard the most beautiful sound.

The sound of my baby crying.

The tears were streaming down my face as they instantly

put him skin to skin with me.  His little cry stopped as he laid

his head on my chest and I knew in that moment that my life 

had forever been changed.

Keegan Joseph was born on April 24th, at 3:12pm, weighing 7lb, 11oz, and measuring

21inches.  He was so tiny and so perfect.

One of the first things I noticed were his tiny little lips.

They were so kissable.

And then there were his long fingers and teeny tiny toes.

Dear Keegan,

For so long we had been dreaming about this moment, and it was  finally here.

The best way to describe it, was surreal.

Daddy and I studied you, taking in your tiny details.

He's perfect, your Daddy said.

And you were; absolutely perfect in every way.

I know that I will never forget that moment.

All those months of growing you.

First a mustard seed, then a pea, a lemon

an eggplant, a watermelon...

I was so nervous.

And I still am.

Growing you from the inside was the easy part

Now your Daddy and I get to raise you.

Our life has changed in more ways then I realized.

We are all growing together and learning to be a family.

My heart just brims with happiness when I sit and watch you sleep.

I look down at your eyelashes,

I stroke your skin,

and kiss each of your tiny fingers and toes.

I want to keep you just like this forever.

I love you with all my heart, Keegan Joseph,

and I always will.

Love,

Your Mommy