Baby Love

We're so excited to announce the birth of our newest love! This little guy entered the world with a bang and has completely stolen our hearts in the last 72 hours!

Kellen Patrick Hall

March 9, 2012

8:06 am

7 lbs, 5 oz

19.5 inches

I still can't believe that he actually arrived on MARCH 9!!! Remember this post, where I told you how I selected that day weeks ago to be the perfect day for his arrival? For some reason, that day had been on my mind for a while. However, after Thursday's doctor's appointment, I was pretty sure that date was out of the question. Oh little Kellen, already working hard to make Mommy happy :)

Want to hear how it all went down? Excuse all of the minute details, but I wanted to make sure they are all there for posterity's sake!

As I wrote Thursday evening's post, I was feeling some random contractions, but nothing regular or painful. I just chalked it up to more Braxton Hicks after a long week of taking care of the kiddos. We hadn't even seen Jon since the previous Sunday. He was at an overnight conference Mon-Wed, then class on Wed night, and a work function on Thursday night. I woke up around 11:30 Thursday evening not really feeling well, but didn't really think I was in labor. At 1:30, I woke up again, this time having real contractions. Jon came to bed soon after and I told him we were probably going to have a baby the next day. Poor guy had a HUGE work meeting Friday morning, but considering the length of my other labors, he thought he might just be able to make it.

I started timing my contractions using a nifty little "Contractions" app on my iPhone. They were pretty regular from the start (4-5 mins apart). I sat in the glider in Kellen's room and tried to just relax as much as possible. I held out until 4am, then decided I should probably call my mom, who was planning to come later that morning, and ask if she could go ahead and start making her way here (2.5 hr drive). At this point, my contractions had been 3-4 min apart for at least an hour. However, I still thought I had lots of time. With Landon, I labored at home for 12 hours, and was still only 3 cm when I finally got to the hospital. I went and laid down in bed for about an hour, and my contractions seemed to slow down a bit.

At 5:30, I got up to start showering and making sure things were in order for the hospital. Things got a lot more intense from there. My contractions seemed a lot closer together and more painful. It took me forever just to get through showering and drying my hair. Jon left for work as soon as my mom arrived around 6:30. By 7:00, I was in a lot of pain, but I still had some things to get together before I could go. The problem was, I could hardly do anything because I was in so much pain. I know what you're thinking right now, "You are a stupid, stupid woman." I fully agree.

I called the doctor around 7:15. By 7:30, we decided that we would go ahead and get the kids in the car. Here was our plan: my mom would take me to the hospital, where I would have the doctor check my progress before I called Jon away from his meeting. Then, she would drop Tanner off at preschool. It was an important day for him and I really didn't want him to have to miss it. It was his show-and-tell day, which means it was also his day to bring a snack, be the weather-watcher, and the calendar helper.

By the time we actually got in the car, I was already starting to wonder if I would make it to the hospital before having the baby! My contractions were only 1-2 minutes apart and extremely intense. I was feeling so much pressure. I've heard people talk before about feeling pressure, but had never really felt it before, so I didn't know that's what it was at the time. To me, it felt like my bladder was going to explode and I was going to wet my pants.

My poor mom. She had no idea how to get to the hospital and had to rely on me for directions. I was trying so hard not to act like a crazy woman in labor because I knew I was already scaring my kids who were in the back seat. The traffic was horrible, and we were stuck behind a school bus most of the way to the hospital. On the way there, I called Jon and yelled into the phone, "If you want to see this baby born, you need to get to the hospital, NOW!! I don't know if I'm going to make it!!" Almost 30 minutes later, we were finally getting close to the hospital. I called the doctor again in a panic and told her I didn't know if I was going to make it and that I would definitely need a wheelchair because there was no way I could make it in the door and up to labor and delivery by myself.

A few minutes later (8:00 am), we pulled up to labor and delivery, where Jon was waiting at the door for me with a wheelchair. They got me up the elevator as fast as they could, and we were met by several nurses who wheeled me into a room right away (8:01 am). I cried all the way up to the unit, and then into my room, where I looked in my doctor's eyes and said, "I really wanted an epidural!!!" The nurses were literally undressing me as they wheeled me in, pulling off my pants and shoes as they took me out of the wheelchair and helped me onto the bed. As soon as I laid down, the doctor checked me and confirmed the head was right there. I couldn't help it, I just had to start pushing right away. My water broke at 8:03. And little Kellen was here at 8:06.

I was a mess. The crazy lady in labor, screaming and crying that I wasn't going to be able to do it. At one point the nurse got right in my face and said "Stop screaming!" Jon looked completely shell-shocked. He told me afterwards that he felt like he was in the middle of a combat operation. Even after giving birth, I was still traumatized for a while. I think I was just so scared by the whole thing ... the drive, no pain meds, etc. This wasn't exactly how I envisioned my labor would go :) I was basically shaking and crying for the first 30 minutes after Kellen was born. I didn't even hold him for an hour or so after he arrived.

Finally, things calmed down a bit. My nurse was awesome and kept reassuring me that I did a great job. I just remember that she kept bringing me really warm blankets to cover up with that felt so good! My mom and the boys were able to come in and visit as soon as visiting hours started at 10am. They boys were so adorable with Kellen. It totally melted my heart to see them check him out and hold him for the first time. Tanner was especially over-the-moon, looking at his newest brother so sweetly. My heart literally wanted to burst.

I do have to say, even though I probably wouldn't have chosen to deliver like I did, the recovery has been amazing. Once I got over the initial shock of the whole thing, I felt great right away. I was up, moving around, snapping pictures of the boys, etc. Our time in the hospital was really fantastic. My nurses were wonderful and took excellent care of Kellen and I. I so enjoyed the peace and quiet and sweet time with my new little man. I can't believe how quickly I've fallen in love again. He is just so new and fresh and soft and smells like heaven. I can't believe that God has blessed me once again with such a perfect little miracle. I know the next few days and weeks will fly by, and soon he's going to be as big as Landon -- who, by the way, was still a baby to me until just a few days ago. I'm already wishing I could just stop time for a little while.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your prayers and well-wishes! We are so thankful to have added another healthy little boy to our family.