Dedicated: Introducing...

Hudson Noah Reid!

Paul and I are proud to announce that Hudson Noah Reid was born August, 9 at 1:54pm. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz, and 21.5in long.

His story -

My due date, Wednesday the 7th, had come, so needlesstosay, I was anxious to meet my son! Wednesday afternoon I started getting really bad lower back pain - probably back labor, but not really sure.

Thursday, we had a doctor's appointment to check my progress, have an ultrasound, and talk to the doctor about how we wanted to proceed - they said I could go over due date by one week if I wanted to wait for him to come on his own. It took everything in me to get through the appointment - my back was killing me and by this point, I was feeling sick to my stomach as well. I had already started to dilate and efface, so my doctor, again, offered to induce (they offered at 36 wks to induce at 39 wks - I declined). Initially, I had no intention of inducing - I wanted to have the baby naturally without any medication, and I was going to be strong and do it! To be induced, they give you Pitocin, which speeds up and increases labor - and also has a bad rap for being painful and intensifying contractions, thus requiring an epidural, which again, I did not want. However, considering the state I was in - extreme back pain and sick to my stomach - I decided to go ahead and accept the induction offer. They said we could induce the following morning - and knowing that I could meet my son the next day was an offer I couldn't resist. So I accepted.

However - by that afternoon I started having contractions - the back pain had been back labor. I laid in bed or bounced on my labor ball with my IPhone and baby app, and started tracking my contractions. They were textbook - every 2-3 minutes, lasting for a minute consecutively for two hours. On to the hospital! We went to triage, they hooked me up to machines to track baby's heart rate and my contractions, and we started the one hour wait. They checked me when I got in, and in order to be admitted, I had to make progress and actually be in active labor. While I was having contractions, they were only early labor, and therefore, I wasn't making progress - so they sent us home to rest and come back in the morning as planned for the induction. I got a shot of morphine to help with the pain and to help me sleep, and we went back to the house to try to get some rest.

Friday morning we got up at 4:30, left the house by 5:20, and were admitted to the hospital by 5:45am. By 7:45am I was all hooked up, and the Pitocin was started. At first, the contractions were bearable, but by 10:00am I was ready for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in at 10:45 and started the epidural, and things finally started to feel better. By 12:30pm, I was fully dilated and ready! They wanted me to "labor down" for half an hour, so around 1:10pm I started pushing. He was here at 1:54pm!!

Was it the labor and delivery I had envisioned and wanted - not necessarily. But did I end up with my baby son in my arms - absolutely! And I can't ask for anything more. He is everything I ever prayed for, and everything I ever wanted. The Lord has blessed me beyond imagination, and I am forever grateful.

Holding this sweet little boy in my arms and on my chest has brought more joy and love into my life than I knew possible. It's still surreal some times - looking at him, and having him here with us, but I will never take a moment with him for granted. He has been in my prayers for a very long time, and will continue to be for the rest of his life.

And now the pictures -