Welcome Grayson Michael Haws!

Grayson Michael Haws has finally arrived (much to my surprise!). I honestly didn't believe that he would come on his own, but that shows how much I know, or don't know in this case.

I started having mild contraction on Wednesday afternoon. Nothing big, just a little uncomfortable. Thursday arrived with still more contractions, but again I was convinced that I couldn't possibly be in labor and besides the contractions were still 10 minutes apart anyway. On Friday I saw my doc. and she told me that it is possible that I am in labor seeing as I was dialated to a 5 on Friday morning. They hooked me up to the machine just to check and of course I was having hardly any contractions at that point so they sent me home and said that if the contractions get to being 5 minutes apart then I need to head to the hospital.

So we went on with our day. We took the kids to a movie and lunch and I was getting increasingly uncomfortable. By 6 pm everything started to change. Suddenly my contractions were becoming 6 minutes apart and Aaron and I were debating on whether or not we should head to the hospital just to get checked. I didn't want to go because I was convinced that they would just send me home. I know I probably sound pretty dumb to most of you who have had babies, but I have never gone into labor before, and especially not early, so I really have had no previous experience on which to draw, and I was still only mildly uncomfortable at this point! Anyway... I called my Mom, who just happened to be almost to Boise heading home herself. She asked if I was in labor and I said I think so, so please come. About 10 minutes after I hung up the phone at about 7:30 pm my water broke. This is the point that I consider labor really starting for me. Aaron found a neighbor to come help give me a blessing and then we waited for my Mom to arrive so we could leave the kids.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:30 pm and by this time the contractions were really strong and I was ready for my epidural! At our hospital you have to check in and then they check you to make sure that you really are in labor. I was not such a fan of this step in the process because it was quite clear to anyone with eyes that I was in labor.... no questions asked. So when the nurse came in, she took one look at me and checked me (I was at a 6) and wheeled me right over to a labor and delivery room. Thank you very much! So I arrived in my room at about 9:00 pm and at this point the contractions were coming every minute and I was a 7 almost 8. I was pretty much begging for drugs at this point. I am a believer in them, and I really wanted them!

By 9:15 pm the anesthesiologist explained that because I am high risk and they didn't have any record of me at all (thanks doc., I think this step needs to get fixed by your nurse) that he had to wait for lab work to return before he could do the epidural. This did not make me super happy. But then he said he might be able to do a spinal block but that he had to make a phone call first to make sure he could proceed. I readily agreed and he came back in and said that is what he can do. He then of course explained that it works faster but only last 1 hour. At this point I think I would have agreed to anything!

So by 9:30 pm I was feeling good. That spinal blocked worked a miracle! by 9:45 pm the doctor arrived and I was at a 10. They got everything set up and Grayson arrived at 10:05 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 11.6 oz. and was 20 3/4 long. We are so happy that he is here!

At about 3 am, when we were all settled, I sent Grayson to the nursery so that I could get some rest. At 5 am the pediatrician came in to tell me that they had to send Grayson down to the NICU because he was having some apnea episodes. Basically he would just stop breathing. He did this 3 times in the nursery and then he did it once more down in the nicu. They thought that it was because he had some kind of infection, so they started him on some antibiotics. It has now been officially 48 hours since his birth and he hasn't had any more complications. His tests are all coming back great and he is doing superb. He is eating, pooping, and sleeping like a champ in the nicu. Now the doctor thinks that he just forgot to breathe a couple times during those first few hours of life. I mean they have a ton to learn to do all of a sudden! Anyway, We are very hopeful that he will come home by Tuesday at the latest. He just has to finish the round of antibiotics and then he should be good to go. The girls can hardly wait to have him here so that they can help with him too!

I am so grateful that this little boy has joined our family!