~*~On the day you were born, Angels danced~*~

On November 19, 2008, I headed to the hospital at 5:30am in order to have my labor induced for our 4th child.  I was so tired because I did not really sleep well the night before and I was very anxious.

We arrived at the hospital at approximately 6:30am and we headed for labor and delivery.  I was SO ready to be done with the pregnancy and meet my little son.

Upon arriving at the Labor and Delivery unit, they showed us to our room and had me change into those oh so stylish gowns (you know, the ones that open in one place and have a million ties that you can't figure out).  After changing, I hopped into the bed, ready and raring to go.  The nurse came in and asked me a million questions and then the doctor came in.  He first checked me and confirmed that I was still only 1 cm dialated.  He explained the procedure and then placed a pill inside me on my cervix in order to soften it.

After a fairly short time, I began feeling slight contractions, but nothing that put me over the edge.  I waited patiently, with my wonderful husband by my side.  The contractions did start coming a little more, but again, nothing that sent me to the "dark side".  The doctor decided to give me some pitocin to up the anty a bit and get the contractions going.  The pitocin did do the trick and they broke my water some time after that.

I labored for quite some time and finally decided to get the epidural.  An angel (the anesthesiologist) came in the room and explained what the epidural did and I informed him that I had 3 other children at home and had an epidural at all of their births.  The epidural took effect and the doctor checked me and I was still only at 1cm. I was so frustrated and thought for sure that I had progressed.

Throughout the day, the doctor continued to check on me; however, I was not really progressing at all in the dialation department. He began talking about a c-section because of my lack of progress.  I was so frustrated, but asked him to give me a little more time.  I bent my body into every possible position with the hopes that my little baby boy would cooperate.

At 9pm, my doctor checked me once again and said that I was only 2cm and that he had no choice but to do a C-section because the baby was getting a bit stressed and my water had broken that morning.  He said that he had to do what was best for the baby and my health and safety.  I was so tired and frustrated, but I also wanted what was best for my baby, and for myself.  Reluctantly, with tears in my eyes and fear in my stomach, I nodded.

An entire team of doctors and nurses brought me down to the OR and my husband followed behind.  The OR was so bright and I was so exhausted that if it weren't for the excitement I felt about meeting my baby, I would have fallen asleep.  The events were so surreal and somewhat of a blur.  I remember seeing my husband all suited up, sitting beside me, holding my hand and watching our son being born.  My husband's face screamed fear, but I know he was trying to be strong for the both of us.  I could not see what was happening. I asked my husband if he was coming out yet, and my husband said yes.  My body just broke down and I began crying hysterically.

All of a sudden, I heard little baby cries and I felt a huge lift off my shoulders.  I saw them bring the baby over to one of the tables, but I could not really get a good look at him since I was numb from my breasts down and unable to move.

I instructed my husband to go over to be with our son and that I would be fine.  I lay there watching my husband with our son, while the doctors sewed me up and chatted about the various professional football teams they like. This made me giggle a little bit and my doctor smiled at me.

I heard them ask my husband if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord and he jumped all over that opportunity, as he had done with all of our other children.  The nurse took our camera and snapped a picture of this memorable moment.  I just stared over at them while my husband cut the lifeline which had sustained our son for the 9 months he was living inside of me.

After the cutting of the umbilical cord, my husband brought our son, who we named Carter Jay, over to meet me.  I was so in love with him really from the moment I learned I was pregnant, but meeting him just sealed that love. He was so beautiful and perfect and precious and innocent.  Bliss filled my heart.

After I was completely sewn up, I remember them wheeling me back to the room so that I could rest and begin to recover.  Once back in the room, they unbundled Carter so that they could do various tests on him and make sure he was okay.

I was shocked that Carter only weighed in at 8lbs even.  He weighed the least out of all of our children! Shortly after his little stint of testing, they brought him over to me so that I could hold him and just love him up.  I just held him, smelled him, and cuddled him.  I could not get enough of him, despite the fact that I was exhausted beyond belief.  My doctor later informed me that I probably was not progressing because the baby was facing the wrong way and his head was at a wierd angle. I thought that was interesting.  I was just so happy he was safe and healthy.

The nurse snapped a family photo for us!

And then, after nursing our son for the first time, I snapped some pictures of my husband with Carter and many close ups of Carter.

And on the day you were born, Carter, the Angels danced.