It’s a boy!!! The waiting and speculation is finally over. Jake was born at 12:28pm, weighing 8lbs, 14oz and coming in at 21.5″.

Scheduled c-section babies do not typically have much of a birth story, as was our experience with Alison. This time we changed it up and opted to NOT find out the sex of the baby. We were set up for either scenario, so why not spice it up a little? (For the record, I always said boy).

Friday, June 14th finally arrived!!  We were finally going to meet the newest member of our family.

Praise the Lord, this was another uneventful birth story.  Randy and I dropped the big kids off at school and headed for the hospital.  As soon as I walked in those familiar doors I could feel myself relax.  This was it.

We got checked in and all of my fears started to ease.  IV went great (last time it was a nightmare and almost the most painful thing).  I spoke to the anesthesiologist and when I told him about my reaction to the medication given to me with Ali’s birth he knew exactly what happened and what medicine caused the reaction.  (For the record, “Reglan”.  Reglan is the medication given to me last time that made me so miserable).  All of the doctors, nurses and staff were amazing.  And let me just brag on my doctor.  She was amazing.  She was in the O/R early and when they put in the spinal anesthesia she talked to me and held my hands since Randy isn’t allowed in until after that point.  We talked about her upcoming wedding and her fiance.  It was just so personal and nice.

Then it was finally time.  Praise the Lord for the right mix of medication.  No anxiety, no heart burning, no stress…just waiting.  I remember how bright the lights felt.  How exposed I felt laid out on the table.  How I had never really noticed these things before because with Reed I was a little drugged up and with Alison I felt so anxious and had the burning all up and down my arms. How thankful I was to have Randy by my side.  I have never relied on him as much as I did the last 8 weeks of this pregnancy.  I was just so thankful that he is my husband and dad to these kids. 

The plan was for Dr. Brozena to pull the baby out, hand him/her to the nurse, and they would come show me if it was a boy or a girl.  No one would say anything first.  I would get to see first hand.  And friends, that’s exactly what happened.  They brought my sweet baby to me and it was a huge sweet boy.  I obviously cried intense tears of joy.  I could barely breathe because it just felt so good.  He was here, he was safe, and he was perfect. 

There was still a tiny bit of drama.  It took forever for her to sew me up.  As Dr. Brozena was leaving the O/R she stopped and told me that we needed to talk.  She had trouble sewing me up and she was a little concerned.  I’m not going to lie…I heard her, but I couldn’t have cared less at that moment.  I had my boy and we were both just fine.

The next morning when she came to check on me she told me more details.  I had been contracting for 3 or 4 weeks.  The contractions were so real that I started timing them on several occasions.  And what happens when you start contracting…your uterus thins.  When she went to open up my uterus it split open like a grape.  The tissue was so thin that it opened on contact.  Then, when she went to sew it up it kept tearing.  Yeah.  Tearing. That doesn’t sound or feel good.  She wasn’t able to sew it up correctly.  She had to take tissue from my upper uterus and attach it to my bladder in order to sew me up.  She said she is still ok with us having a 4th baby, but I can’t get pregnant for an entire year and if I start to have contractions we will deliver at 37 weeks to make sure I am safe.  Randy isn’t such a fan of this situation (and neither am I).  Luckily, we have a whole year to enjoy the babies we have and not worry about whether or not we will add one final baby to the Baldwin clan.

Welcome to the family Jake!!!  I already love you so much.