Five years! It has been five years since we made the trip to the hospital on that unusually warm November morning. I had seen the doctor two days before, at my 40 week check, my blood pressure was inching its way up, and I had protein in my urine sample. The doctor decided to induce my labor since I had struggled with my blood pressure the entire nine months, just as I had while pregnant with Caleb. It was a Wednesday and she gave me the choice of Friday or Monday. So, Monday was Josh’s birthday, how fun would it be for baby and daddy to share such a special day? But, lets face it, I was NINE MONTHS pregnant I felt like crap and the choice was left up to me, I chose Friday. :o) November 8th sounded like a good day to have a baby!

We got to the hospital at 6:30 that morning. I got into my gown, I had the monitor wrapped around my belly, I answered a ton of questions, I had my IV placed and we waited. My room was full, Josh, my mom, Molly, and my mother-in-law all sat around me and waited. The pain was little to none up into the early afternoon. All though the monitor was showing I was having contractions. At 1:30 Dr. G came in to check me, I was at 6cm, she broke my water and said she wasn’t going to go far, since my labor with Caleb had been so quick. (Three and a half hours!)

This is when things first started going down hill. My contractions where horrible!!! The nurse explained that the inducing meds were causing them to hurt worse then they did with Caleb. I had given birth to him with only one shot of pain meds. I could see that I was going to have to have that shot with this baby as well. That was a waist of time! Dr. G came in to talk about pain meds with me and she recommended a med that was a shot in the back but not an epidural. (Please excuse the fact that I don’t remember what it was called, I was in pain and I didn’t care what it was called…lol) The meds helped with the pain. Soon it was time to push. The waiting room was filling up with family and friends at this point in time. Dr. G said “I bet we will be meeting this baby in about half an hour.” Again, this is where things started going even further down hill. I pushed for THREE hours!!! I have never felt pain even close to the pain I felt with each contraction. Dr. G explained to me that I was going to have to have a c-section to get the baby out, that the baby was stuck under my pelvis bone. I beg her to let me keep trying, that I could do it. She told me that she was going to give me fifteen more minuets and then I would have to sign the consent papers for the surgery. Josh and Mom both talked to me and told me that it was going to be OK and that I needed to sign the consent form. This was a nightmare coming true! The last thing I wanted was to have to be cut open to have this baby!

The next part of the story is really a blur to me. I was starting to go into shock and was in the middle of a contraction that lasted forty-five minuets. The nurses didn’t seem to believe me until I rolled on to my side. Two of them came at me with needles, one in each arm, to stop the contraction. Someone came in to draw blood, my bed was wheeled out of the room and down the hall into the OR. I felt like such a failure. I couldn’t push the baby out. What did I do wrong? At this point in time I had been pushing for close to 4 hours.

Josh had to wait outside until my epidural was placed and I was draped. As he was walking in to the OR he heard me asking the Anesthesiologist if he was married. Josh was shocked, “Shana!” The Anesthesiologist with a smile, simply replied, “She isn’t the first one to propose.” He had stopped my pain, he ROCKED!!!! I no longer felt like a failure. I was to happy to be pain free that all I thought about was seeing my baby! Everything moved rather quickly after that and we soon heard the cry of our baby and the long awaited announcement “Congratulations! It’s a boy!”

I was in a lot of pain, I was completely worn out. But I was insistent on keeping Brayden in the room with me. I hadn’t had that opportunity with Caleb. I wasn’t going to lose it this time too. Josh had went home to stay with Caleb that first night. He was only 3 and didn’t want to stay away from both his mommy and daddy that night. Molly and Barry stayed with me that first night. I wanted to give Brayden his first bottle, but I was to weak to hold him in my arms, so Molly held my arms for me, so I could hold him. I will never forget that moment, as long as I live! After that first feeding I slept, but Barry and Molly stayed and helped with Brayden. They changed him and held him and fed him, so I could keep him close that night. They were awesome!

The day that we left the hospital was just as crazy as the day he was born. The morning of our discharge Brayden had been circumcised, and we had to wait for him to have a wet diaper before we could leave. Well, we waited and waited and waited. Josh decided to come home and take a shower and come back to get us. My mom and Grandma had stopped in just as Josh left and Brayden also decided to pee shortly after. I called Josh and told him to just stay home, there was no reason to have him drive 20 miles back to the hospital, Mom could bring us home. On the way home we were in the middle of one of the worst rain storms I have ever seen. Mind you it was the 10th of November, it was 65 outside and RAINING! This was not typical weather for NW Ohio! Half way home it starts hailing. The wind is so strong my mom had a hard time keeping the car on the road. The thunder was so loud the car shook with each bang!!!! As we pulled into the driveway, everyone came running out and as I opened the door, I heard the tornado siren. We had no idea but we had driven home with Tornadoes touching down all around us. My mom still reminds everyone that God takes cares of fools and babies, and that there was both in the car that late afternoon…:o)

So, our little Brayden came into the world with lots of drama and fan fair! He still fills our lives with the same joy and love that he brought with him that day. He is now five years old and loves to run, build with Lego’s, play video games with his big brother Caleb and with play with his GEO Trax train with his baby brother, Andrew. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is very creative. He loves to color and draw pictures. He is still my picky eater and loves him some junk food. His blue eyes melt my heart and his laughter is contagious. And today he is five!

Happy Birthday, my blue eyed baby doll,
Happy Birthday Brayden!!!