so, there is such a thing as perfection :)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above"

James 1:17

At approximately 3:30 on Friday, July 23rd my water broke... at WORK.  Yes, at work.  I know, how lucky am I?  Luckily, the "mom" of the office was outside the restroom, so when I heard her voice I thanked God and then called her over to me to tell her what happened.  I sent Matt the much anticipated 911 911 911 page and called the hospital.  Next thing I know we are wondering around Brookwood looking for Labor and Delivery,.  You see, July 24th was the day Matt and I were supposed to take our "Preparing for Parenthood: class.  The class that teaches you what to do when, per say... you're water breaks :)  We had NO idea what to do, our hospital bag was not packed... we were just in shock walking the halls of the hospital, asking for directions and then not remembering what we were told 5 seconds earlier.  Finally, a hospital worker walked us to L&D and I was admitted.  Luckily, I HAD pre-registered us, so that was taken care of!  As I was being hooked up to the IV and Matt was filling out paperwork, we looked at the nurse with wide-unknowing eyes and asked...."So, does this mean the baby is definitely coming? Or could this be a false alarm... or...." She looked at us with sympathetic eyes, "Sweetheart, you're not leaving this hospital without a baby in your arms!"  I think that was supposed to be in our class we were supposed to attend the next day... when your water breaks, baby is on his way!

Who would have thought... the child of in infamously tardy Byrons would be 3 weeks early!!! Definitely not my parents... who were in Costa Rica.  My mom had been torn on whether or not to go on this vacation because it was so close to my due date.  I assured her, "Mom, the baby is definitely not going to be here until August. GO!!"  Oops.  I mean, I wasn't "miserable" yet.  I kept hearing stories of women in there last weeks of pregnancy... swollen feet, miserably hot, huge, uncomfortable.... I wasn't there yet!  I still was 3 weeks away!... so I thought :)

The mass text went out to my closest friends to spread the word, Matt called his family, and we called verizon to get international calling added to Matt's phone plan so we could call my parents (who were in Costa Rica!!! Remember??) It seemed like within 5 minutes the news had spread. I was only 1 cm dilated and contractions were so weak I couldn't feel them yet... so we knew baby wasn't coming anytime that day.  The nurses were so great and gave us a quick course in what to expect.  Matt's parents arrived within the next few hours from Chattanooga.  Our sweet friends Sarah and Chris went to our house and picked up a few essential items... phone chargers, change of clothes,...Buffett :) Now, we were just playing the waiting game.

My L&D experience might be the best possible scenario imaginable.  I was given sleeping meds to help me sleep through the night (as contractions were getting stronger, but still bearable).  I slept through the night and.... well, most of the next day, too.  I am not use to sleeping pills!! I woke up for minutes at a time, but really slept until Noon on Saturday.  This is when they said they were going to induce labor because I was not progressing as they would like.  Once the water breaks there is really a 24 hour window before they would have to do a C section.  I prayed quickly for God to be with me and for this to happen naturally... I did NOT want a c section. I got the epidural and my first round of pain medication.  The nurse bragged on my pain tolerance and asked if I was sure I didn't want to do it unmedicated because I seemed to be handeling it so well.  Matt was shocked.  Never in his wildest dreams did he (or I) think anyone would ever comment on how my pain tolerance was! The nurse checked me and I was still just 4 cm dilated.  This time however she noticed a "fore-sack" or water that seemed to not have burst yet.  It is uncommon to have two sacks.  The nurse broke the second sack and I then...well, went back to sleep.  I slept this time til 2pm when the nurse came to help me move into a different position.  When I woke up I felt like the baby's head was about to pop out.  The nurse checked and I was 10 cm dilated!! She called the obgyn and said it was time to start pushing! She warned me that for first time moms it is normal to have to push for 3 hours. My "pushing" experience was like nothing I was expecting, I mean, in the movies there is chaos and screaming and shouting and the woman looks like she is in so much pain.  In our room, it was just the nurse, Matt, and me.  I pushed every time I had a contraction for about 40 minutes.  In between pushing I... take a guess... yep, you're right... fell asleep.  I might be the only woman in the world to sleep in between contractions.  After 40 minutes the nurse called the obgyn down.  One push and two minutes later... ta-da.... Baby Ben was here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 lbs 3 oz. of perfection!!

When Ben came out, the cord was wrapped around his neck and he wasn't crying... so for about 5 minutes (though it seemed like an hour) we were waiting, scared to death, that something was wrong.  5 nurses surrounded him and I couldn't even speak I was so scared.  All of a sudden a little whimper was heard and then a cry! Hallelujah, a cry! Matt and Ben went to the NICU for about an hour to monitor Ben's temperature.  I stayed in the delivery room and, once again... slept!  All of our wonderful friends who traveled to be there for Ben's birth were anxiously awaiting in the family & friends room.  My parents changed their flight to leave first thing Saturday morning and were about to land in Atlanta.  My poor mom cried all the way from Costa Rica to Atlanta!  They rented a car in Atlanta and made it to Bham just as Ben was brought to my room.  Perfect timing :)

The day was so calm and natural, nothing like I had been dreading for the past 8 months.  Ben was/is more perfect than I imagined.  God is so good!!!!!!!!!  He has blessed us with an amazing joy that is truly unexplainable.

Benjamin Luke Byron

6 lbs. 3 oz. 19 1/8"

July 24th, 2010 at 2:36pm

first photo... hello, world

such a sweet, sweet boy

very, very proud mom & dad

after my first bath!

after an intense nursing session :)

being a newborn is tough work!

more to come! thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! ben can't wait to meet you...