Meet Timothy James

Hello Friends!
Timothy James came into the world on January 21st at 5:33 am, weghing 6 lbs 10 oz, measuring 19.5 in. This is his birth story, for those of you who like details...
Our baby boy's due date was January 20th. My mom flew in on the 19th, hoping she'd make the birth and hoping she wouldn't have to wait a week for him to be born. I had an appointment on his due date and the midwife said I was maybe a centimeter dilated and it could be another week. My motherly instincts told me otherwise. Early that morning, around 6 am, I determined I was in early labor. I was having infrequent contractions, which just felt like a menstrual cramp. First I had to distinguish it from the feeling of gas. Anyways, it wasn't bad at all. The day took its course as my mom and I went shopping to various stores, including a trip to Starbucks. Jose was busy doing school work or tutoring.
At 5:30 pm as all of us drove to birthing class I began to notice my contractions had a pattern to them and they were a bit longer and more painful. We started to time them and they were about 5-7 minutes apart. I sat through the birthing class contracting the whole time and trying to pay attention when I could. Really I was thinking about when this little baby would come out. The reason I took birthing classes so late in the pregnancy was due to our business and it just wouldn't have fit into my work schedule. January 9th was my last day at work (not forever, but for a while)! What a glorious feeling! Back to the story...The class was held at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego where I was to deliver. We asked the lady teaching the class if I should get checked out because we were already there and secondly, the contractions weren't stopping. She suggested I do. So, we went up to the labor and delivery unit and they observed me for at least a half an hour on the monitor and checked to see if I had progress. I had a gut feeling they would send me home...they did. I was still only about one centimeter dilated, and as the intern told me "no offense, but you're not in enough pain to really be admitted". I knew I wasn't in that much pain, but I also knew it would only get worse.
We came back home sometime between nine and ten. We watched some TV and ate ice cream. Contractions continued all night long...My mom and Jose went to bed, even though I found out quickly I wouldn't be getting any rest. I would lay down and the contractions would feel worse. I tried so many positions and there was no getting comfortable. I was crying out to God to please give me some clarity when I should go to the hospital...labor had started and who knew how long it would be. My prayer was that my water would break so that I would know I would get admitted. At around 1:15 am on January 21st, the Lord answered my prayer, my water broke. Then I knew it was time to go to the hospital! It took minutes to wake up Jose, I was saying "honey, my water broke"; I guess he had just got into a deep sleep. Thankfully the bag for the hospital was already packed and we were pretty much ready to go. We woke up my mom and then we were on our way.
Let me just say that was the most uncomfortable car ride ever. I found a good use for that handle that is above the car door (you know what I am talking about?). Thank God it was the middle of the night and the roads were empty. So, once we arrived it became very evident after we walked a few steps that I needed a wheelchair. Uncomfortable again. They put me in one of the small rooms before they admitted me and hooked me up to the monitor. I remember this being one of the worst parts of labor because I was confined to this tiny bed (like the size of a stretcher) while being monitored and I couldn't really move. My mom and Jose were my advocates urging them to transfer me to another room with a real bed! They determined I was about 3-4 centimeters dilated and my water did in fact break. Phew, I finally got a real bed and it felt a lot better...sort of, until those contractions kept coming! The anesthesiologist came to talk to me about an epidural. I preferred delivering naturally, but as the pain was the worst I've ever felt (that's not saying too much), I was going to get an epidural because if this was going to last for hours on end I didn't know how I would last. First I needed an IV. I have wonderful big veins, but apparently they are tricky. It took four sticks to get me. I completely understood and told the kind nurse that I stink at putting in IV's. Besides it didn't bother me to be poked when my pain was coming from another source.
Time went on and the anesthesiologist was busy with other patients. The nurse asked if I wanted an IV pain reliever....I said "yes!" I received the wonderful drug of fentanyl through my IV with some anti nausea med (to prevent the possible side effect of throwing up). As a nurse, I've given that medication quite a few times and figured it would do me good in this situation. It took the edge off my pain and I was able to actually breathe through my contractions instead of just grunting (or whatever weird noises I was making). The nurse assigned to me was great - she would look me in the eye and tell me how to breathe and with her I was able to manage the contraction. Mom and Jose were great supporters, just not as trained! By this time Jose had called his dad and he had arrived. My mom asked when they were going to check me since it had been nearly 3 hours. They wanted to wait until the anesthesiologist was ready. Also, due to the fact my water broke they didn't want to introduce risk for infection.
It was 5 something in the morning when the nurse took a look, and to her surprise (and all of ours!) the baby's head was right there!! She asked if I had felt the urge to push and I told her I did. I had been pushing through quite a few contractions already, but nobody else knew. My body couldn't help it. So, she had me do a practice push and then realized there was no time to waste. She called the doctor and pediatric team to come to the room. No need or time for the epidural...thank God! When they arrived everything was set up quickly and it was time to bear down and push. The doctor assured me the head was right there and offered me the chance to touch it. I put my hand down there because I wanted to KNOW his head was right there. She said, "oh, no one has really done that before". Three contractions later our sweet little boy came screaming into the world. Amazing!! It's an experience like no other. The Lord answered the desires of my heart! The birth ended up being natural, without complications and much quicker than I had imagined it would be! All praise go to God! AND our little guy was small and sooo cute! I have been blessed with a pretty quick recovery. I did end up tearing in three places and getting stitched up. It's totally worth it! I remember saying shortly after the birth that I could do this again! God gave me so much grace! I am so thankful my mom was here for two weeks. She cared for us so well. I was spoiled with her feeding me around the clock, doing the housework, keeping me company, going on outings, and holding Timmy whenever I needed her to. Thanks Mom!
We love our Timothy sooo much! He seems to be a calm baby, at least for now. He really only cries when he needs something - usually if he's hungry or has lots of gas. Timmy makes lots of noises...squeaky noises, cute girgly noises, and the noises that are associated with going to the bathroom. We love watching him do his long stretch routine. He is fun just to stare at. Right now he doesn't do a whole lot other than sleep, eat, and poop, but he does those things well. He appears to be growing and developing normally. I am savoring this sweet time with my precious boy! Sometimes I want to freeze this period of our life. It's a huge blessing not to be going to work and to focus fully on my family. Now that I've started writing it feels like I could write a book on just the past month. If you've read to this point, thanks, and I will try to blog a little more consistently.