Meet Noah Andrew...

Noah Andrew arrived on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 4:19 p.m. He was 10 days early... here's the reason why -

I had my weekly OB appointment the afternoon before he arrived. I ate chicken fried rice that afternoon for lunch (a rare craving) and then went to my appointment. The nurse took my blood pressure about four times because it was unusually high (REALLY HIGH). So they checked my feet - yes, they were REALLY swollen (but they had been for several weeks). And because I had a headache earlier that week, the doctor wanted me to be immediately admitted to Women's Hospital. Then he told me I would deliver my son the next day...

I started to panic. I thought I had about 10 more days to mentally prepare for labor! I literally just watched the birthing DVD the night before while Brian was at the Rays/Mariners baseball game. I couldn't believe this was happening. After I was admitted, medicine was given to begin the dilation process. I didn't sleep that night - due to stress and pain from the contractions... I just sat in bed watching Brian snore in the tiny recliner he had to sleep in that night. ;-) Late morning that Friday, I was in severe pain. Asked for the epidural and it took what felt like an ETERNITY for the doctor to come administer it. That was painful, but nothing like the contractions I was feeling at that point. I just wanted the pain to go away, so who cares about having a HUGE needle in your spine!

After dilating to 10 cm, there were several nurses telling me to push and push and push. I was scolded for not pushing hard enough... After an hour plus of that, the head nurse wanted to get my OB on the phone for an "evaluation." Her face was very serious and that worried me. Come to find out, Noah's heart rate dropped significantly every time I had a contraction. Given this, my doc came in immediately and ordered an emergency c-section. I was rushed to the operating room and was told I would have my son here in about three minutes. I started crying because I was worried for Noah. The doctors and nurses were so kind to me - they tried to comfort me and assure me Noah would be okay. Brian made his way to the operating room a minute before Noah arrived (he had to drop off our bags to my mom in the waiting room since the nurses wouldn't watch our stuff and we'd lose our room immediately). Sure enough, within minutes - Noah Andrew was here! And we were relieved to hear him crying.







Noah is such a sweetie pie! He rarely cries (unless he's been waiting for some time for a bottle to be made or he needs to be changed). And even so, he doesn't really cry - just gets fussy! We are very blessed to have such a wonderful baby. Words cannot express just how much we love our little guy!