#9 Grateful for my son’s ultimately healthy birth

A close friend had a baby yesterday. Another close friend is due any minute now. With all these babies being born it got me thinking about my son’s birth story. 

On Monday, January 9, 2012 Ryan and I sat down around 5 pm and had dinner. 

An hour later, nine months pregnant, I lay on the couch and took a nap. 

Ryan and I went to bed around 10:30 pm. Fifteen minutes later I had my first contraction. 

Two hours later my contractions were coming every four minutes and at 1 am we called the doctor and were told to go into the hospital. 

At 4:30 am my mom arrived at the hospital. 

Ryan and my mother stayed by my side through ever transition of labor. 

Later around 8:30 am my father and sister arrived and sat on a bench nearby my sister updating our friends and family on facebook. We joke that all of New Castle County Delaware was tuned awaiting a first glimpse of a picture of our son. 

I had two epidurals which my mother swears neither worked and that I just gave into the pain and worked through the contractions. 

They broke my water and around 11:15 am I was fully dilated and felt the urge to push. Of course Ryan stayed and after two hours of pushing with no baby to show for, our doctor unfortunately recommended a c-section. 

While having surgery Ryan joked with the nurses that I was asleep and snoring. 

Not long after, Tino was born at 2:13 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, his due date. He was 7 lbs 13 oz and 21.5 inches long. He was born blue and not breathing with an Apgar score of 2. Moments later they suctioned him and he had an Apgar of 9. Ryan seeing all this kept a smile plastered on his face the entire time because me he didn’t want to scare me while I was open on the table. I knew none of this until a week later when I was home reading through the hospital paperwork.

It was fifteen and half hours of pain, some fear and ended in surgery but after all that my beautiful, healthy son was finally born. 

Some difficult months followed as we worked through breastfeeding issues, colic and even some postpartum depression but I wouldn’t trade a second of it for my son. I never knew a love like this before this little creature came into my life. He is the ultimate blessing from God for both Ryan and I. I can’t wait to do it all over again. Only, hoping next time I won’t need another c-section.