A Birth Story

Thank you all for sticking around; I promise it was worth it! Ready for an uber-long post?

Our son, Nolan Harper, was born November 16, 2010, at 9am. He weighed in at 6lb 3oz, 19.5 inches long. From head to toe, he is perfect and amazing! Aaron and I were blessed with the most beautiful baby, and he steals our love more and more every second. At the current moment, he's laying on his mommy's chest, tucked safely in his Moby, with his head on his hands dreaming and "talking" in his sleep. How did we arrive at this moment? Let me take you back almost two weeks ago when our lives were changed forever.


The morning of November 16th found me in a range of emotions: a bit frantic, a little nervous, a wee bit scared, a lot of excitement and total awe. I can't believe this day had finally arrived after what seemed like 100 years. We actually arrived at the hospital 30 minutes early (me--EARLY??! I know, I can hardly believe it myself ;). I was so glad to have not only my husband, but my mother and father in the room while they began prepping and asking basic questions. My husband and parents are my rock, sense of calm and total amusement. After a short time, they were wheeling me back to the surgery room way earlier than expected. It was all happening so fast! Was I ready for this? Too late for that...Aaron wasn't allowed in the room while they gave me my epidural. That's when my nerves kicked in. I didn't like that he couldn't be in there to hold my hand. I wasn't in labor so had no pain to compare to or take the edge off when they gave me the epidural--OUCH! That hurt big time. I actually got sick everywhere after the anaesthesiologist removed the needle. Thank god for super sweet, patient nurses! Following that quick episode, though, it was all downhill from there. I couldn't even move myself from a sitting position to lying back on the operating table. I felt nothing. Aaron was quickly ushered in and promptly started giving me encouragement, rubbing my head and holding my hand. Literally about a minute later, if that, I hear the nurse saying things like "what a scrotum" "beautiful," and all I can remember thinking is, "how rude to be discussing another birth while trying to deliver my baby!" I asked Aaron what was going on, and just like Aaron, all non-chalantly he replies, "Nolan's already born." I could not believe it. I did not even realize they had begun the surgery! Thank god for good drugs!! Another few seconds go by and I hear the sweet screams of a newborn, MY newborn! That's when my water works started. Aaron was not allowed to cut the umbilical cord, but was allowed to go over and see him being weighed, cleaned and checked over. He wrapped our baby up and brought him over to meet me while they sewed me back up...seriously felt nothing! After I was good to go, I was able to hold Nolan as they wheeled me back to our recovery room...only 45 minutes after they had wheeled me out of it! I could not believe how fast it all happened. The recovery room was filled with a lot more people than when I left it, all so happy to see Mommy and Nolan.


Because he was a c-section baby, Nolan made a little grunting noise with every breath; not all of his fluid was able to squeeze out since he didn't travel through the birth canal. The nurse mentioned NICU, which sent my heart rate soaring for a moment, but then she suggested laying him skin to skin on my chest. Within seconds his grunting disappeared and NICU was never mentioned again. After 30 minutes of that, we tried breastfeeding. Nolan latched on immediately and had his first feeding outside the womb. After that we were able to move to our post partum room, where Daddy, Mommy and Nolan would remain for 2 1/2 days. That day, while Mommy was in a serious fog, Nolan would meet about 25-30 of his biggest fans. Even though I don't remember most of the conversations I had that day, I know how blessed I was to have my amazing family and friends by my side. With such an event, I have really come to know who my true family and friends are. Thank you so much for all the love!



The next couple of days were a whirlwind, followed by almost two weeks of the most incredible learning curve ever experienced. How can I describe parenthood? Beautiful, exciting, hard, frustrating at times, ever changing, emotional. In the twelve days since Nolan graced us with his presence, I have come to know love in a whole different way and couldn't be happier.


I give credit to those new Mommy's who can give birth and jump right back to blogging. I just couldn't. After getting home from the hospital, I was in some pain from the c-section and when my milk came in a day later, became seriously engorged (I'll tell that saga in another post). Aaron and I were both exhausted from long nights and figuring out a new routine that seemed ever changing. I can't say enough how lucky I was to have my mom here the whole time. I cried like a baby when I finally had to say goodbye to her yesterday evening. I miss her so much! But, Aaron and I are beginning to find our groove and have gotten some pretty good rest the last few nights. We even had Nolan's first photo shoot yesterday and things actually went pretty smoothly! Can't wait to see how those photos turned out. He truly is one beautiful baby boy.



That's the story of Nolan in a nutshell, although there's a million more things I'd love to share. More posts to come! And my next post will be all photos of the day he was born, but for now here's a little something to leave you with...