I know not everyone will be interested in this post and that's ok. This is the story of Landon's birth, from beginning to end. If nothing else, I want to be able to remember the details of this day for the rest of my life.
On Thursday the 19th, Kristen went to the doctor for a follow up appointment to see how far long she was. She had a stress test done to monitor the baby's heartbeat and measure her contractions. The baby's heartbeat was great but no contractions. We also had an ultrasound done to see how he was doing. Unfortunately, he had a hand over his face so all we could get was a shot of the lips and nose. When Kristen's doctor came in, she examined her and said she had dilated a little over a centimeter. She then mssaged/stripped her cervix in hopes of getting things going. If it worked, we would know in 36 hours. We went ahead and scheduled her to be induced on Wednesday June 25th at 5:15 am. Hopefully, we were going to avoid that by Kristen going into labor on her own.
We went home that afternoon, we took a walk, had a regular evening, and did our part to try and move things along. On Friday morning, I woke up at my usual time to head into work. As my alarm went off, Kristen told me that I may want to work from home today as she has been having contractions since 2 am. Surprised, excited, nervous as can be - all at the same time. I jumped online for work and let me co-workers know what was going on. During the morning, Kristen's contractions got worse. By 10 am, she was doubled over in pain as her contractions were about 6 to 7 minutes apart. I called and let our families know what was going on. By 11 am, the contractions were near the 4 minute mark and she was in so much pain she ended up vomiting. I showered and got ready and then waited on her to get ready. Normally, she gets ready pretty quickly. Not today. Every few minutes, she would pause and double over in pain and lay down on the bed. Finally, the contractions were close enough and been going on long enough, we headed to the hospital.
I drove to the hospital with my warning lights on, running a couple of lights, taking liberty with a couple of stop signs, and got to the hospital at about 1:30. I filled out her paperwork and they took her back to see how far along she was. The contractions were still about 4 to 5 minutes apart (2 to 3 minutes every once in a while). However, she was only at 3 cm. She was in so much pain she was starting to cry. The doctor suggested she walk around to try and get things to progress. However, she was hurting so bad she couldn't. Fortunately for us, they realized things were moving along and went ahead and admitted her. Our nurse, Lorna, came in and went over the paperwork that she needed to sign - security procedures, admission papers, epidural consent, etc. Kristen was in so much pain that she would have signed her life away. So I was carefully paying attention to all that was going on so I could follow. Finally, the anesthiologist came in and gave her the epidural around 4 pm. Kristen was back to herself and was happy to talk to the nurse now. Contractions were still very strong and consistent but she couldn't feel them any more.
As for me, I was pretty restless. I hated seeing Kristen in so much pain but once the epidural kicked in, things were a little slow and boring. I ate some snacks, read a little, tried to sleep but time went by pretty slowly. Around 6 pm, the doctor came in to see how far along she was and went ahead and broke her water. Not much came out because his head was right there. At that point, she was around 5 cm so we just continued to wait. More reading, talking, eating dinner, and even a little TV. Our nurse, Lorna, came in every once in a while to check in and see how things were going. Finally, another doctor came in around 9. Since she was going off duty and another doctor was coming on, she wanted to check one more time to see where she was. Upon checking, she said she was already dilated to 10 and he was ready to go. I ran to the bathroom, gathered up our stuff, and Kristen was headed to the operating room for delivery.
She was all set up, hooked up, and monitored as they got her ready. The nurse told me I was going to help by holding her leg as she pushed. No curtain, no sheet, nothing. And definitely no standing by Kristen to just encourage her. I learned how to watch the monitor to learn how the contractions were coming and was there holding the leg, encouraging Kristen, and watching this head begin to come out as she pushed. The doctor who checked her came back in as the head began to crown. Then another doctor, Dr. Porter, took over as the head was beginning to make its way out. It was a slow process and not as quick as I thought it would be. We were told this could take an hour and a half to two hours. TV and movies make this happen so quickly and make it seem so painful.
Kristen was doing really well. She didn't have pain but could feel the contractions and so she knew when to push. She would do 3 or 4 pushes in a row holding for 10 and then take a break until the next contraction. I was so impressed with her because she was so strong, wasn't fatigued, and said she was fine and relaxed between each contraction. Little by little, the head began to appear and I saw the hair. Because it took such a long time to get the head to come out, I was fixated on the hair trying to figure out if he was going to be a redhead or not. The nurses and Kristen were laughing at me but it was all I had to concentrate on. So many people (guys) say that the birth process is so gross. It didn't bother me at all. I was holding the leg with each contraction and was looking right down over his head so I could see the whole thing. I thought it was really cool and it was fun to be a part of the process.
After an hour or so, the first third or so of the head came out. The doctor and nurses were helping out by stretching Kristen out so she wouldn't tear. After every push, the head came out a little more. Finally, after an hour and 45 minutes, the whole head came out. And then we were all surprised, nurses included! As soon as his head was out, he opened his eyes and began looking around!! The rest of his body was still inside but he couldn't wait to see what was going on. Fifteen seconds or so after that and with one more push, the rest of his body came out just like that! I was so shocked at how fast he came out (as was Kristen), I wasn't even prepared. After pushing for nearly 2 hours just to get his head out, the rest of his body followed in a matter of seconds. The doctor gave me the scissors and I cut the cord. At 11:11 pm, Landon David was born and he was placed on Kristen's chest. We both got tears in our eyes as we watched our little guy cry. He had actually cried a little before they even suctioned his mouth. Immediately, he quited down and just looked at both of us. This guy was ready to make his appearance in the world.
The nurses dried him off and I grabbed my camera and took a couple of pictures. I asked the nurse to take a couple as well. He was then turned over to a nurse to be weighed, measured, poked, and prodded. I followed him every step of the way just taking pictures. Landon was 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20 inches long. The rest was a blur as I was just walking around and following him in a joyful daze. After he was finished being examined, he was given back to Kristen and wrapped up.
From there, we were wheeled off to recovery where he was fed, given a sponge bath, and wrapped up. Kristen was fed and I headed outside to let the family know. We spent the next few minutes just watching him as he was put in his bassinet. After a couple of hours of follow up, we headed to the postpartum room.
We arrived at 1:45 am where we got settled. Kristen and Landon were settled in and their vitals were taken. Then I headed home because there was nowhere for me to sleep. We spent the next couple of days in the hospital. He was in great health but did have some mucous they had to get out of him which hindered him from eating. He was circumcised Sunday morning and by noon, we were headed home. Our little boy Landon was coming home!
Reflecting back, it still seems like a dream. It's a joy to look at him and just have him home. However, I will never forget that day as long as I live. I am not a perfect person and I will never be a perfect parent. There will be days that I am not sure about this parenting thing and days I am just so tired that this seems too hard. However, one thing is for sure - I love my son and my wife. June 20th will always be a special day.


