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December 23, 2003
December 23, 2003
Nathan 20 months old
Austin 12 days old
Austin David’s Birth Story
Throughout my entire pregnancy with Austin we always assumed Austin’s birthday would be December 17th, since that was the scheduled c-section date. It never even occurred to us that my water may break earlier than that, especially since my c-section was already scheduled at 39 weeks. Another reason we just assumed that Austin wouldn’t come any earlier is because Nathan was actually induced at 41 weeks. So you can imagine our surprise when my water broke at 38 weeks.
Thursday, December 11th was an uneventful day up until Nathan’s bedtime. At that point I still hadn’t had any Braxton-Hick’s contractions during any of my pregnancy and certainly no real contractions. I had noticed a little bit of discharge for a few days but didn’t really think anything of it. On December 11th, we put Nathan to bed at his normal bedtime around 8:15 and only minutes later when I sat on our bed, my water broke. Of course at the time, I had no idea what had just happened because it wasn’t a big amount of fluid just then and I wondered if somehow I lost control of my bladder. Immediately, I told Kevin that something had just happened because I felt fluid of some kind. I got up right away and went into the bathroom to see if I could figure out what was going on. I decided to call the hospital to see if I should come in and get tested to see if indeed it was my water that broke. I was a complete basket case during the phone conversation. I just kept saying, “Oh my God!” over and over again. They told me to come in and get checked just in case and to bring our hospital bag in case it was my water that broke. I was in a panic state because I had no idea how I would get to the hospital. We didn’t know what to do about Nathan; unfortunately we live near no family and friends. We had no one to watch him while we went to the hospital. For a brief time I was worried I would have to drive myself to the hospital to get tested while Kevin stayed home with Nathan. Then I started worrying that Kevin wouldn’t be at the hospital with me when I had the baby. As soon as I got off the phone, water was gushing out. Indeed my water broke. I called my mom right away to tell her that my water broke; she was definitely shocked and very excited. She told me her, my dad, and brother would be on their way as soon as possible; it is a 2 ½ hour drive for them. After calling my mom, I called my best friend Amy to let her know of the surprise, at first it took awhile to get a hold of her but in the end she arrived just in time to see Kevin bring Austin out to the nursery.
We started trying to think of people who could come watch Nathan while we went to the hospital. On a side note - originally, many loved ones had planned on coming down the night of the 16th and my dad was going to stay with Nathan while we all went to the hospital on the morning of the 17th.
While I stayed home freaking out, Kevin ran across the street to ask our neighbors if they could stay at our house while we went to the hospital. Nathan was already in bed so we knew he wouldn’t be any trouble for them. Unfortunately, Kevin actually woke them but they rescued us. Believe it or not we hadn’t really packed our hospital bag yet, we did have a list all ready. Ironically enough, that very day I had made up our final list of things to take. We weren’t worried about not having our bag packed because we knew the most important things to take were the camcorder, both cameras, and the baby book so they could put Austin’s footprints in it. Kevin could bring the rest later the next day. Before we left for the hospital, we made sure that my dad would stay at our house once he arrived so our neighbors could go back home and get back to sleep.
It’s amazing how it all happened. At first, we were in a panic state because we were worried about who would stay at our home and make sure Nathan was okay while we went to the hospital. It might sound crazy but I am actually glad that my water broke; it is nice to see that my body worked on its own. It was nice to have something happen naturally. With Nathan, I had to be induced at 41 weeks and ended up with a c-section, this time my body actually did what it was supposed to do. Plus, call me crazy but I always wondered what it felt like to have your water break naturally and not by the doctor.
On the way to the hospital, Kevin and I were trying to fully grasp what was about to happen. We were in disbelief, excited, scared, and overwhelmed. We realized that our little Austin would be born either on the 11th or 12th. This fact amazed us. If Austin arrived on the 11th, he and big brother Nathan would be exactly 20 months apart, both born on the 11th and both born on Thursdays. If Austin arrived on the 12th, it would be pretty special too. The number 12 has great significance to Kevin and I (there is more about that in my diary intro). A few times during my pregnancy I wondered if Austin would come on his own on the 11th or 12th and the fact that he did, amazes me!
Upon arriving at the hospital around 9:30 pm, we noticed a sign on the door that said no one under 18 could enter the hospital due to the flu outbreak this season. On one hand, I was pretty upset about that because I always assumed that Nathan would come into the hospital to see his mommy and little brother. I also hadn’t prepared myself emotionally and mentally about not seeing Nathan for several days. I always assumed he would be able to come visit me. On the other hand, the notice made perfect sense and I knew he was safer by not coming to see me.
As soon as I got there, they began trying put IV’S in me. It wasn’t any easy task. It took several different nurses and several different attempts in order to finally get to my veins. I was very much at peace and very animated while lying on the hospital bed. The nurses kept telling me that I was cracking them up. I guess my adrenaline was really going. I started having mild to moderate contractions once I arrived at the hospital. In no time at all, I was wheeled into the surgery room.
The only part of the whole experience that really worried me was whether or not the spinal would work correctly. Unfortunately, with Nathan the epidural didn’t work properly and I actually felt a lot of the surgery taking place. I was also worried that this time they would need to put me completely under and I was afraid of not waking up afterwards and was scared I would miss Austin’s big debut. Thankfully, my body responded very well to the spinal. In fact at one point during the surgery, I asked Kevin if they had started yet and what they were doing and as it turns out, the doctor had been cutting on me for about 5 minutes, and Austin was about to make his wonderful debut to the world.
At 11:13 pm on December 11th, only an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital, I heard sweet little Austin David’s first cry. Austin is named after my dad, David, who passed away in 1995; we know he is always with us. Words can’t describe how I felt at that moment. My heart had never felt so full of love. I couldn’t believe how much love I had for him. I couldn’t believe this moment was just as special as it had been when I heard Nathan’s cry for the first time. I was overwhelmed with emotion and love for Austin. I will never forget seeing him for the first time; I was blown away by his beauty and spirit. I couldn’t believe how blessed I was to be having a second son. I was completely blown away at how much Austin resembled his big brother Nathan.
After the surgery, I was in the recovery room for an hour, while they monitored me. At this time, Kevin went to the nursery with Austin. We were very blessed, our loved ones ended up arriving at the perfect time. They got to see Austin get checked and bathed in the nursery. My family and best friend ended up witnessing all they would have if Austin has been born on the 17th as was planned. My parents, Aunt Sheila, my brother Joe and best friend were the people who planned to come down the night before our planned c-section that was originally on the 17th. The only person who was unable to make the unexpected and fast trip was my Aunt Sheila.
I will never forget being wheeled out of the recovery room and seeing Kevin, my mom, best friend, and brother all waiting to see me while they stood outside of the nursery window. They were all beaming with pride and you could tell they all had shed lots of tears. It was a pretty emotional moment getting lots of kisses and hugs from them all. Before they wheeled me completely past the nursery window, the nurse inside held Austin up so I could see him again. This was a wonderful moment. It was like seeing him for the first time again, since before I wasn’t exactly coherent. I will never forget what I said to all my family. I said, “Oh my God, I am going to start balling, he is sooooo beautiful!” Then of course, I broke down and shed many tears.
Soon after seeing him through the nursery window, they wheeled me into my room and not much later, they brought my sweet little Austin in. My mom, best friend, brother, and of course Kevin were all in the room with me when I held Austin for the first time. It was so amazing! I felt so enormously blessed to be holding my second son. None of us could believe how much he looked like Nathan, in many ways, I felt like I had Nathan all over again. While I was holding Austin for the first time, we all witnessed his first smile, involuntary or not, it was so darn cute and special! We took lots of pictures and everyone left around 3-4 in the morning. Kevin went ahead and went to our home with everyone else so he would be there when Nathan woke up and so he would have some sort of routine that day. My best friend insisted on staying the night with me so she slept on the cot, which meant a lot to me. I kept telling her she should go with everyone else to our house to get better sleep than what a hospital provides.
The next day, a nurse came in with Austin and told my best friend and me that he wouldn’t be able to be circumcised during his hospital stay due to a medical condition. He has been diagnosed with Hypospadias. Basically the urethra (hole where urine comes out of penis) isn’t exactly where it should be. This is actually a very common condition among male infants. About one out of every 300 male infants are born with it. Parents usually don’t talk about it because of the sensitivity of the area and because it is easily correctable and the child will never know they had the condition. Other than this condition we are very blessed that Austin is perfectly healthy. Both of his Apgar scores were 9. On a side note - In March we will be seeing an Urologist to find out if Austin needs surgery and other information we need.
Unfortunately, he will have to be put under general anesthesia for the surgery, if he needs it, which is the scariest part of it. We were emotional when we were first told about this condition but we know we are very lucky that it is something very correctable and it’s actually very common. Luckily, Austin has a very mild form of this condition and most people wouldn't even notice the problem. There are other levels of the condition that are more severe. We are very fortunate that he is otherwise very healthy. If you are interested in reading more about the condition here is a great article on it - http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/urology/pediatric/hypospadias.html
I was discharged from the hospital on Sunday, December 14th. My parents helped us that day and before they left Nathan and Austin opened their Christmas presents from them since they wouldn’t be seeing them on Christmas this year.
* Thank you sooooo much Mom for coming down and helping to watch Nathan so Kevin could be with me some in the hospital. I don’t know what we would have done without you! We appreciate everything you do for us!
* Thank you to everyone who have sent email or who have posted on my board telling us congratulations! It means the world to me! I hope things calm down here at home eventually so I can catch up with sooo many of you out there, I miss ya ladies!!
* My next entry will be all about postpartum, life with two under two, and all about our First Christmas as a family of four! We won’t be seeing any family this year since it would be way too much to travel with a toddler and a newborn with a mommy who is still not feeling back to normal. No matter what, we will enjoy our Christmas with the four of us!
* We have NEW pics of Austin, Nathan, and the two of them together on our website – click on 2003 Photo Gallery and then click on December 2003 Part 2!!!!!!!!! Let us know what you think!!!!!!! Would love to hear from you ladies out there!
I am so in love with all three of my boys! Kevin, Nathan, and Austin I will love you forever and always!!! I am truly blessed!!
Happy Holidays everyone!!!!
A little note for Austin David from mommy ~ Thank you for coming into our lives! You are so beautiful and special! You and Nathan will have so much fun in life together! I will love you always and forever! You are a wonderful Christmas Blessing! You are nothing less than a miracle from God!
God Bless~
Kelly, Kevin, Nathan, and Austin
http://web.infoave.net/~kelkev12/
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