a love story, {part eleven}

February 24, 2014

"On June 10, 2012, Jeremiah entered the world and perfectly completed our family. He stole our hearts. Completely."

Continued from {part ten}

It was my third induction, at 37 weeks. It was the first time my parents would have the opportunity to be present for the big event. The excitement could barely be contained, with two big brothers anxiously anticipating their baby brother's arrival, and one itchy and nervous momma eager to get that baby O-U-T.

Delivery Day.

We checked into the hospital Saturday around 1:00 p.m. for my induction. After the whole process of being set up in a room, an iv placed in my arm, and answering a bazillion questions - we were ready to go. My contractions were already about 5 minutes apart and I was 2 cm dilated before being given anything. It looked like Jeremiah was planning his arrival that day anyway, induction or not.

As soon as the pitocin began {around 3:00 p.m.}, my contractions instantly became 2-3 minutes apart. After only about an hour and a half, the midwife decided it was okay to break my water. I was thrilled about this because the other two boys were delivered within 2 hours of my water being broken. We anticipated a fast delivery because his head was already down, the contractions were regular, and I was already dilating.

Not so much. Then came the longest 8 hours of my life - an epidural free, piton induced labor {pitocin makes your contractions crazy strong and much more painful}. The last several hours of labor, I thought I was going to die. In fact, I was pretty convinced I was. I couldn't think straight. I was delirious. I was exhausted - and barely felt like I had the strength to breathe anymore. When I was ready to cave, and give in to the epidural, Dusty lovingly showed me the test I sent him prior to checking in the hospital,

"Under no circumstances do I want an epidural. Do NOT let me do it. I do NOT need or want it. When I ask for it, I am almost done."

He was going to hold me to it and I wanted to kill him. This was by far my hardest labor {and not because it was natural -- I got an epidural at the very end with both Silas and Eli, but neither worked}. I knew well enough to know that when I got to my cracking point, the end was near.

BUT, come 12:49 a.m.... this was in my arms. And nothing else mattered.

It was the first time I was able to have the skin to skin contact. They told me that I could hold him for at least an hour before doing anything - weighing or measuring him, bringing anyone else in the room, cleaning him up, etc. It was euphoric. It was the first time I wasn't drugged up on benadryl for the cholestasis, the first time my baby wasn't kept from me or taken to the nursery, and the first time I could soak it all in. This delivery wasn't any more special, but I knew to enjoy it. I knew how precious those first moments were and I took advantage of it. I was in awe. I was in love. And, I couldn't wait to share it. After taking a very long moment for myself, I asked Dusty to go get the boys. I couldn't make them wait any longer. Here was the baby Silas had prayed for for well over a year and then the nine months he was in my belly. Here was the baby brother Eli had so desperately wanted. He was seven pounds, eight ounces of perfection. Nineteen and a half inches of pure blessing. My cup runneth over.

Though we were already over the moon, we couldn't have known what Jeremiah would be to our family. He was the perfect completion. He brought a new dynamic to our family that we didn't even know we needed. He's a little fire cracker, that's for sure - but a very, very lovable one!

{to be continued}