Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
They really do grow up fast!
I can't believe our little man is a little over 7 MONTHS old!
The day Case came into this world feels like yesterday, but it also feels like a far distant memory. However, it sure doesn't feel like 7 whole entire months away. I just can't believe it! We've had our first Thanksgiving, we've had our first Christmas, we've had our first New Years and we've had our first Easter!
The first year comes with SO many milestones, and we have enjoyed every single one of them. He is changing literally every day and it's wild how much you can forget...I'm hoping this blog, (along with the hundreds of pictures and videos we've already accumulated...Haha!) will help me remember all of these simple precious moments. :)
Best Decision of My Life
March 29, 2009
It was a rainy, chilly day. Not a day I would have thought I would have made such a meaningful, important and life changing decision.
I had been struggling with the decision to get baptized for quite some time, probably even years. I have always believed in God, sure I had my little doubts in high school...but over all I always knew he was there. I have always talked to him, I have always felt his presence in my life, and have always known he was watching out for me.
After I gave birth to Case, I became overwhelmed with the love you have for a child. Everyone always tells you it is indescribable, and that you will be blown away by the actual depth of love you will have for them, and all I can say is that they are right. I was in awe of the entire process. How amazing that a child, beginning as a few tiny cells can develop into a fully functioning beautiful boy or girl, all in a course of 40 short weeks. I was truly in awe of our baby boy. Of course because he was breathtakingly gorgeous and perfect...but even more because God already knew him, and formed him safe inside of my belly. He created and formed his eyes, his eye brows, his lips, his cheeks, his organs, his lungs, his fingers, his toes...isn't is just amazing when you really think about the process? It is a miracle! A miracle that a mother gets the pleasure to live first hand, an experience that allows her to feel her baby rolling, turning, twisting and kicking. Pregnancy definitely has it's ups and downs, what with the hormones, the heartburn, the aches the pains, the swelling of feet... but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the entire world.
Where was I? I always get distracted talking about my baby :) Well, after our Case came into the world it all hit me. God's love just flooded over me, and I started talking to Matt about getting baptized again. He was baptized in college, and I would always ask him how I would know when it was right...and he would always say "You'll just know, you'll feel it in your heart." Honestly, I always felt like I had to pass a test, read the whole bible, memorize the popular versus, be completely sin free for at least a month...well as I soon found out that was all nonsense. God doesn't care about any of that stuff, and no one is perfect. Not one single person who has ever lived on this earth has been perfect except for his son Jesus. We all mess up, and the only thing that you need to know to get baptized is that you love God, his son Jesus, and that you believe that he sent his son to die for your sins.
We have been attending Southern Acres Christian Church for about 6 months, and fell in love with it. We began a small group at the lead pastors house for a 10 week video series, and a lot of things kind of fell in place for me there...there were a few videos that explained that Christian's aren't perfect, and that you do not have to be perfect to be one. (That took a lot of pressure off :)) A lot of things laid heavy on my heart in that series, and I started to see my relationship with God change for the better, I could literally almost feel my heart opening and letting him in. Well, we were leading up to the Easter service and Cameron the lead pastor led an amazing sermon, focusing on the decision to let Jesus lead your life. It hit me hard, my heart started pounding, I started to cry...and I knew. I knew that this was the day I was going to hand my life over to God. I knew, just like my husband had told me I would. :) We walked right past the communion set up that day and right into Doug Piatt's welcoming arms. I later found out that Matt and Doug had a few conversations about me...they had been praying for me and waiting patiently for me to make my decision. Well, of course this caused for a whole new stream of water works. My sweet loving husband had been praying for me. :)
So, after church I said in front of my husband and some of my family that were there that day, that I believed that Jesus Christ died for my sins...and I was baptized. Ever since that day I have had such peace in my heart, and I'm so thankful. I have now truly experienced God's love, and it just keeps getting better.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Case's Growth Chart
Growth Chart
September 22, 2008 Newborn 6 lbs 15 oz, 19 3/4 in
October 10, 2008 2 Weeks Old 7 lbs 15 oz, 20 1/2 in
November 24, 2008 2 Months Old 10 lbs, 13 oz, 23 1/4 in
January 22, 2009 4 Months Old 13 lbs 12 oz, 25 5/8 in
April 2, 2009 6 Months Old 17 lbs, 12 oz, 27 1/2 in
June 22, 2009 9 Months Old 18 lbs 9 oz, 28 3/4 in
September 23, 2009 1 Year Old 20 lbs 6 oz, 30 in
September 2010 2 Years Old 25.5 lbs, 34 1/4 in
September 2010 2 Years Old 25.5 lbs, 34 1/4 in
Case man's Milestones
Above: A sleepy smile...getting close to the real thing!
November 1, 2008 Case's first real smile :)
December 4-5 2008 Case slept through the night! 8 hours!
December 13-14 Case slept 10 1/2 hours straight!
February 7, 2009 Rolled over from back to tummy...woke up that way! (Sleeping 12 hours a night from here on out...)
March 21, 2009 Rolled over and over to get somewhere!
June 2, 2009 Case "Army" crawled in a straight line! (Uses his elbows and knees to crawl, doesn't quite have his belly off the floor yet) :)
July 6, 2009 Crawled on his hands and knees for more than a few steps, we have officially learned how to crawl! (Happened in the OBX)
July 7, 2009 Case pulled up completely by himself for the first time (Also happened in the OBX)
August 1, 2009 Case's first tooth came through!
September 7, 2009 Case took his very first steps! (About two steps, very wobbly towards the middle of the living room!)
September 13, 2009 Walked about four or five feet across the room all by himself!
The First Few Weeks
The first few weeks were chaotic but amazing. We had so many visitors at the hospital which made our stay just so much fun and memorable. The nurses at Central Baptist were so sweet, I felt like I had 3 Mama's taking care of me from shift to shift. We also took full advantage of the over night nursery, since we knew it would be a different story when we got this brand new baby boy home!
We had help at home though as well, we had a full house for the first three weeks, with visitors coming and going. Matt and I loved it though, if the house was empty for a few hours we were thinking...."Ok where is everyone?"
Matt took off that first week and we lounged, took it easy, ordered in food and enjoyed our baby. That second week, Matt's Mom came into town and stayed with us to help take care of Case and I while Matt headed back to work. She was so much help, and it was so much fun getting to spend an entire week with her. The time spent was so wonderful, and I was so excited that she was able to take off to spend some quality time with her first grand-baby! :)
We had help at home though as well, we had a full house for the first three weeks, with visitors coming and going. Matt and I loved it though, if the house was empty for a few hours we were thinking...."Ok where is everyone?"
Matt took off that first week and we lounged, took it easy, ordered in food and enjoyed our baby. That second week, Matt's Mom came into town and stayed with us to help take care of Case and I while Matt headed back to work. She was so much help, and it was so much fun getting to spend an entire week with her. The time spent was so wonderful, and I was so excited that she was able to take off to spend some quality time with her first grand-baby! :)
It is my Mom and Dad's fourth grand-baby! Mom helped me as well, I made her help me with Case's first bath, and I think I called her about 100 times throughout the first month with all of those questions you have with a new baby.
My sister has three children so of course I called her about 100 times as well! It was so much fun watching my two nephews and neice with my baby! They were so sweet with him, they wanted to hold him all the time, Cy, Griffin and Avery would just stare at him and smile...I have a bazillion pictures it was just so sweet!
My brother Ryan and his wife Virginia also came to visit, they even made it down the day I had him which was so nice, and it was so sweet seeing Ryan holding him....we can't wait for the day they have a little one!
We are so blessed and thankful for all of our family and friends, and will always remember how involved they were in helping us welcome Case Matthew Williams into this world. :)
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Birth Story of Case Matthew Williams
The Story of Case Matthew Williams
As soon as my ninth month of pregnancy rolled around I began to become VERY anxious to meet our baby boy. I have loved being pregnant, the whole amazing process, feeling him move inside of me, knowing he’s safe inside my womb, and that God has blessed us with a baby! However, the last months of pregnancy definitely started taking their toll on my emotions and my body. My big pregnant belly was becoming so uncomfortable! I could hardly move around, let alone find a comfortable position to sleep in. Who am I kidding though; sleep was out of the question anyway what with my seven trips to the bathroom every night! Not to mention to liquid fire heartburn I would experience the second I would lay down…I found myself answering “October 6th…I’m SO READY!!! I’m done being pregnant!!!” anytime someone would ask me when my due date was. Matt and I have been waiting to meet this little boy for 9 months now, you can’t blame a girl for being anxious for the end.
Well…approximately 3:00 Monday morning, September 22, I was awoken by some menstrual like cramps. They weren’t unbearable or anything, just uncomfortable. Well, I had about four or five and then I thought (like my sister suggested next time I was to feel cramps…) “I should probably start timing these”. So I did…I timed the next five or six and they were all six minutes apart! I was in complete denial though; I thought “No way, this is just false labor…or Braxton Hicks contractions.” I got up moved around, laid back down… trying to see if they would stop…but they didn’t. My mind began to race… I wasn’t sure what to do! Matt and I had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for the last month or so because neither of us could sleep with each other, (basically because I needed 10 pillows around my huge belly for any chance of sleep, and him snoring through the night and me waking up every hour also wasn’t a great combination.) I was trying to decide if I should wake him up but quickly thought otherwise because he had a HUGE day in Pikeville that day. He had a presentation to give in front of the Mayor and City Commission of Pikeville he had been working on all week, and it was one of his first big responsibilities given to him. He was so excited about it, so needless to say I was going to try and let him sleep. “Ok what should I do” I glanced at the clock and it was already 4:30am, and these cramps hadn’t stopped. I decided to call Mom before waking up Matt to see if she thought I could possibly be in true labor. So my sleepy Mom answered, and I asked her what to do. I told her I didn’t think they were real because they weren’t becoming more intense, so she said well…try to rest and call me back in an hour, but also suggested I go ahead and tell Matt what was going on. So…I go and wake up Matt.
“Matt…I’m having really bad cramps, and they keep coming and they have been 6 minutes apart…”
He’s so sleepy…he’s waking up a little and says “Well, that doesn’t sound like what they said labor would be like” (Well, this just makes me mad, a little advice…never tell a very pregnant wife who is in pain that her pains aren’t real labor even if she doesn’t believe them herself J)
“Matt! Every labor is different and they keep coming!!”
So we decide to wait it out a little bit longer, he comes into bed with me and I try to lay back down and rest. This didn’t last very long though, I eventually had to get up and I paced the bathroom floor for about an hour, and sure enough they kept coming. What was even worse was the pain would flood from the front of my stomach around to my back, and they were getting more intense and closer together. So, I call Mom back around 5 am and she suggests that we go ahead and call the number they gave us to call if I were to go into labor before work hours and just get their advice. (What they think I should do, go into the hospital or wait it out) So, I call the number and she says she’s going to page a Doctor to call me back. Matt and I are sitting in the living room in the dark just waiting for my cell phone to ring…when it finally does a VERY sleepy Doctor answers…I tell him what’s going on and about how my husband has a huge day out of town about 4 hours away and I just wasn’t sure what we should do. He tells me I’m probably not going to have the baby within work hours since my contractions weren’t a minute long yet, but he can’t tell me what to do. “Ok…” I say and he hangs up. (I guess he wanted to go back to sleep and was over the conversation! Ha!) So, we’re still clueless as to what to do. I call Mom back and she says she’s going to go ahead and get ready and come over. (This helps me to calm down a little) Then, I call Amy and say,
“Just thought you should know I’ve been having contractions since 3:00 this morning!”
“What?! I’m coming over, is that ok? I’m coming over ok!”
“Yes come over!” I say.
Well at this point it’s around 7 o’clock and I’m still having contractions, and we decide to wait and call my Doctor’s office since it will be open around 8. So…Matt goes ahead and gets ready for work. He doesn’t have to actually leave for Pikeville until around 11 so he said he was going to go in, and to call him and let him know what the Doctor says. So Matt heads to work and I take a shower and try to get ready as best I can with the pain. (Oh and among all this chaos I also call Pam at Maxwell and let her know I won’t be subbing today that I had been having contractions!) My nerves are calmed because I know my Mom and sister will both be here for me to help me decide what to do, although that calms me down I’m still having painful contractions right on top one another. When Mom arrives she helps me time my contractions, they are right on top of each other but still not that long, I pack my bag and Amy arrives as well. Amy tries to convince me I’m in labor
“Elizabeth you are in labor. You are sooo in labor, I was like 95%% sure over the phone but now that I see you and see you going through your contractions I am 100%% positive you are in labor”
It’s funny because looking back I can’t believe I was still in denial but I was…I truly thought it was still false labor that it wasn’t truly happening yet. So, we call the doctor’s office and they ask how many contractions I’ve had within one hour, we tell them and apparently the nurse thought it was insane, and asked us to call back in an hour and keep timing them to see if they got longer. Well they did, and we called back and she said Dr. Youkilis wanted me to go ahead and come in so he could check me. At this point I think it was becoming a little more real, we call Matt on the way.
“Well, what did the Doctor say?” I tell him he wants to check me and he says “Well, I mean I guess I’m going to go on to Pikeville…”
“You aren’t going to Pikeville today Matt”
“Ok…well ok.” He says.
I know he was so stressed about figuring out what the heck he was going to do with his presentation and I think he was as in just as much denial as I was about the whole thing happening now! I mean it was 2 weeks early! We thought for sure I’d be late!
Well, we get valet parking; I can’t imagine walking further at this point…my contractions were coming every three minutes like clockwork. I make it up the elevator and into the packed Doctor’s office waiting room, I have to stand and lean over the chairs through the pain since it was in my back. We ended up asking for a room in the back because I felt like I was on public display, and I was probably scaring all the pregnant people in the waiting room! So, we go into a room and I lose it a little, I let myself cry and let some of my emotions out…this was getting very real especially since we were in the hospital. Dana my nurse comes in and says
“Looks like we’re going to have a baby today”
“Really??” I say, “I’m just in total denial I don’t think it’s real!”
(Through the conversation Amy says she gives her a look like “Oh yeah she’s in labor” ) Well a few minutes later Dr. Youkilis comes in to check me, He asks me if it’s bad enough for drugs yet and I answer “YES!” He checks me and he reveals that I’m 2 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. He tells me that the effacing is one of the hardest parts and that that’s over, and he informs me that I am in labor. I’m in early labor and that we can head on over to labor and delivery and that he would let them know we were coming.
“Wow! I just knew you were going to tell me that it wasn’t real and that I should just go home!” I say, and he smiles and sends me on my way.
We call Matt and let him know it’s the real deal! On the way to labor and delivery I had to stop every three minutes to get through a contraction, I was leaning on walls, random chairs, in the elevator as soon as we got to the labor and delivery floor I had to run out and lean on a wall to get through it. (A few nurses that were walking the halls were very sweet and were making sure I was ok) We finally get there, and Amy checks me in and Mom and I head on to the room they give me. I get changed and I’m still trying to let it soak in that our baby boy was coming TODAY! My nurse came in to get all my information and the first thing she said was “Well I just have to tell you that Dr. Youkilis said he was sending a real cutie over to us, I thought that was sweet!” I thought that was so sweet as well! So, they start getting me all set up, and I’m still getting through some seriously painful contractions. Mom and Amy are at my side, Matt’s on his way home to get my pillows and to change. The nurse is getting all my information like my address and my allergies and Matt comes running through the door “THERE’S MY BABY!” I say, and I just lost it. It was as if I was being so strong and when my husband came through the door I could let down my guard, it was such a relief that he was there, and now I knew I could do this. He got there just in time to hold my hand when I had to get the IV’s. (This, by the way hurt worse than the contractions!)
About an hour and a half later the anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural (YAY!) However, they tell us Matt can’t stay in there with me because they had a guy pass out and hit his head at some point in the hospital, and now their policy wouldn’t allow the husband to stay. So, the nurse holds my hands and lets me lay on her shoulder as they give me the epidural…not going to lie it hurt. I mean….it HURT. It took forever and finally I hear him say “Ok I think we got it that time” So, as I lay there with tubes going in and out of everywhere my nurse helps me get situated with my massive amounts of pillows (they called me the pillow princess) and from then on it was smooth sailing. I was one happy camper, Matt was telling me when the contractions were coming and I couldn’t feel a thing! It was AMAZING!
The next time they checked me I was 4 centimeters and they said Dr. Youkilis was going to come break my water soon to get things going. So a little later he breaks my water (which was so weird!) They checked me soon afterwards and I was 7centimeters, and I was thinking holy cow that is close! We asked Dr. Youkilis about how long he thought it would be now and he said probably around 10:00pm. At the time it was somewhere between five and six, so Matt decided to go grab some dinner since we probably had some time before I was ready to push. So I’m hanging out with Mom and Amy and my nurse notices that our baby has moved away from the heart monitor, so she checks my belly and says
“Wow he has moved down a lot I’m going to check you.”
So Mom and Amy step out, she checks me and says
“You are complete!”
“What??” I ask…
“Yeah, you are complete, you are 10 centimeters.”
I hear Amy start screaming in the hallway, and she says she’s going to call Matt. The nurse tells us it will still be a while, but Matt comes rushing back in the room and I start to get really excited. I wasn’t in any pain, and now I was just so excited to see our baby!
Well, as our nurse had warned, it was still going to be a little while before we got to meet our baby boy. Dr. Youkilis came in and gave us the news that Dr. Vas would be our doctor, because he had to go coach his daughter’s soccer game. By this point I honestly didn’t care who delivered our baby, just as long as he was out soon!
This part of the story is a little blurry to me, I was so exhausted after a full day of laboring and I hadn’t had anything to eat since the night before, plus I hadn’t slept a wink since 3:00 am. I remember I started to push, and it was so weird because the nurse and Matt had to position my legs because they were as limp as noodles. (This felt so strange!) I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. The nurse had taught Matt how to feel for contractions, and to let me know when one was coming on so that I could push. At one point Matt was the only one helping me and our nurse from the day was over working on charts, which was a little discouraging because it meant it wasn’t coming any time soon. I know I wasn’t working as hard when she was off doing her own thing. Well what seemed like an eternity later, we met our Doctor and he checked me and coached me as I pushed for a while. Then he left again and I pushed some more with my nurse. In the middle of all this, our day nurse tells us her shift is over, and wishes us luck. My night shift nurse came in and she was awesome, she was so gung ho and really forced me to push and be focused. I had been pushing for about 45 minutes and in between each contraction I really felt as if I couldn’t do another one. I would literally fall back and try to rest between each time, but miraculously another one came and the strength to push came out of nowhere and I gave it my all. I do remember asking after an hour of pushing and when the Doctor was back helping me if “he could just use some forceps or something” Dr. Vas told me that the baby was too high for forceps right now, and if I could push for about 30 more minutes and work really hard to get him down he would see if he could use something to help me push him out. Apparently Case was slightly facing upwards, and was pushing against my pelvic bone, which made it more difficult to push him down. However, after 30 minutes of pushing REALLY hard, and being VERY focused with help of my nurse, Dr. Vas said he was going to help me with a vacuum. I remember seeing a few nurses bringing in all the baby supplies, and him putting on his ‘baby catching gear’ and thinking “Ok this is it, they are all getting ready he’s coming out soon!”
Again, this part of the story happened so fast I’m not sure if I remember every detail…but I remember Dr. Vas and nurses all around, ready and waiting for a baby. Dr. Vas, as promised had set up the vacuum and was coaching me through contractions as I pushed. I remember Matt right next to me helping me count and holding my hand, I remember being so focused and everything around me fading away when I was pushing, and when I rested it would all come flooding back . I remember nurses truly getting ready with their arms waiting with a blanket, and all the supplies set up at a hands reach. Then, all of a sudden I opened my eyes after pushing and heard Dr. Vas suctioning something, and he and the nurses saying “Aww he’s got a gimme hand!” and I say “Is his head out?? Is his head out??” I don’t even remember if they answered because one push later he was out and crying! My baby was crying! He was here! Dr. Vas explained that he came out with his hand beside his head, and the nurses joked that it meant he was already saying “Gimme gimme!” However, it was a good thing he did because it was protecting his neck from the umbilical cord that was wrapped around him twice. “So that’s what took so long for you to come out!” Dr. Vas announced.
I glanced at Matt in all of the wonderful chaos and he was just beaming, then I turned back to our beautiful baby and they laid him on my chest and he stopped crying. I put my finger out and he grasped it with his tiny gorgeous hand and stared at me. He stopped crying and just stared at me. I will never ever forget that moment, nor describe how unbelievably emotional or amazing it was. We just stared at each other…we had a moment.
I remember just saying over and over “Isn’t he gorgeous? He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Matt he’s gorgeous did you see?? He’s just gorgeous!” I don’t even remember if anyone answered me, I just remember that’s all I could say. He was gorgeous. Gorgeous, healthy and here!
And so…this is the story of how our beautiful baby boy entered this big bright beautiful world.
As soon as my ninth month of pregnancy rolled around I began to become VERY anxious to meet our baby boy. I have loved being pregnant, the whole amazing process, feeling him move inside of me, knowing he’s safe inside my womb, and that God has blessed us with a baby! However, the last months of pregnancy definitely started taking their toll on my emotions and my body. My big pregnant belly was becoming so uncomfortable! I could hardly move around, let alone find a comfortable position to sleep in. Who am I kidding though; sleep was out of the question anyway what with my seven trips to the bathroom every night! Not to mention to liquid fire heartburn I would experience the second I would lay down…I found myself answering “October 6th…I’m SO READY!!! I’m done being pregnant!!!” anytime someone would ask me when my due date was. Matt and I have been waiting to meet this little boy for 9 months now, you can’t blame a girl for being anxious for the end.
Well…approximately 3:00 Monday morning, September 22, I was awoken by some menstrual like cramps. They weren’t unbearable or anything, just uncomfortable. Well, I had about four or five and then I thought (like my sister suggested next time I was to feel cramps…) “I should probably start timing these”. So I did…I timed the next five or six and they were all six minutes apart! I was in complete denial though; I thought “No way, this is just false labor…or Braxton Hicks contractions.” I got up moved around, laid back down… trying to see if they would stop…but they didn’t. My mind began to race… I wasn’t sure what to do! Matt and I had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for the last month or so because neither of us could sleep with each other, (basically because I needed 10 pillows around my huge belly for any chance of sleep, and him snoring through the night and me waking up every hour also wasn’t a great combination.) I was trying to decide if I should wake him up but quickly thought otherwise because he had a HUGE day in Pikeville that day. He had a presentation to give in front of the Mayor and City Commission of Pikeville he had been working on all week, and it was one of his first big responsibilities given to him. He was so excited about it, so needless to say I was going to try and let him sleep. “Ok what should I do” I glanced at the clock and it was already 4:30am, and these cramps hadn’t stopped. I decided to call Mom before waking up Matt to see if she thought I could possibly be in true labor. So my sleepy Mom answered, and I asked her what to do. I told her I didn’t think they were real because they weren’t becoming more intense, so she said well…try to rest and call me back in an hour, but also suggested I go ahead and tell Matt what was going on. So…I go and wake up Matt.
“Matt…I’m having really bad cramps, and they keep coming and they have been 6 minutes apart…”
He’s so sleepy…he’s waking up a little and says “Well, that doesn’t sound like what they said labor would be like” (Well, this just makes me mad, a little advice…never tell a very pregnant wife who is in pain that her pains aren’t real labor even if she doesn’t believe them herself J)
“Matt! Every labor is different and they keep coming!!”
So we decide to wait it out a little bit longer, he comes into bed with me and I try to lay back down and rest. This didn’t last very long though, I eventually had to get up and I paced the bathroom floor for about an hour, and sure enough they kept coming. What was even worse was the pain would flood from the front of my stomach around to my back, and they were getting more intense and closer together. So, I call Mom back around 5 am and she suggests that we go ahead and call the number they gave us to call if I were to go into labor before work hours and just get their advice. (What they think I should do, go into the hospital or wait it out) So, I call the number and she says she’s going to page a Doctor to call me back. Matt and I are sitting in the living room in the dark just waiting for my cell phone to ring…when it finally does a VERY sleepy Doctor answers…I tell him what’s going on and about how my husband has a huge day out of town about 4 hours away and I just wasn’t sure what we should do. He tells me I’m probably not going to have the baby within work hours since my contractions weren’t a minute long yet, but he can’t tell me what to do. “Ok…” I say and he hangs up. (I guess he wanted to go back to sleep and was over the conversation! Ha!) So, we’re still clueless as to what to do. I call Mom back and she says she’s going to go ahead and get ready and come over. (This helps me to calm down a little) Then, I call Amy and say,
“Just thought you should know I’ve been having contractions since 3:00 this morning!”
“What?! I’m coming over, is that ok? I’m coming over ok!”
“Yes come over!” I say.
Well at this point it’s around 7 o’clock and I’m still having contractions, and we decide to wait and call my Doctor’s office since it will be open around 8. So…Matt goes ahead and gets ready for work. He doesn’t have to actually leave for Pikeville until around 11 so he said he was going to go in, and to call him and let him know what the Doctor says. So Matt heads to work and I take a shower and try to get ready as best I can with the pain. (Oh and among all this chaos I also call Pam at Maxwell and let her know I won’t be subbing today that I had been having contractions!) My nerves are calmed because I know my Mom and sister will both be here for me to help me decide what to do, although that calms me down I’m still having painful contractions right on top one another. When Mom arrives she helps me time my contractions, they are right on top of each other but still not that long, I pack my bag and Amy arrives as well. Amy tries to convince me I’m in labor
“Elizabeth you are in labor. You are sooo in labor, I was like 95%% sure over the phone but now that I see you and see you going through your contractions I am 100%% positive you are in labor”
It’s funny because looking back I can’t believe I was still in denial but I was…I truly thought it was still false labor that it wasn’t truly happening yet. So, we call the doctor’s office and they ask how many contractions I’ve had within one hour, we tell them and apparently the nurse thought it was insane, and asked us to call back in an hour and keep timing them to see if they got longer. Well they did, and we called back and she said Dr. Youkilis wanted me to go ahead and come in so he could check me. At this point I think it was becoming a little more real, we call Matt on the way.
“Well, what did the Doctor say?” I tell him he wants to check me and he says “Well, I mean I guess I’m going to go on to Pikeville…”
“You aren’t going to Pikeville today Matt”
“Ok…well ok.” He says.
I know he was so stressed about figuring out what the heck he was going to do with his presentation and I think he was as in just as much denial as I was about the whole thing happening now! I mean it was 2 weeks early! We thought for sure I’d be late!
Well, we get valet parking; I can’t imagine walking further at this point…my contractions were coming every three minutes like clockwork. I make it up the elevator and into the packed Doctor’s office waiting room, I have to stand and lean over the chairs through the pain since it was in my back. We ended up asking for a room in the back because I felt like I was on public display, and I was probably scaring all the pregnant people in the waiting room! So, we go into a room and I lose it a little, I let myself cry and let some of my emotions out…this was getting very real especially since we were in the hospital. Dana my nurse comes in and says
“Looks like we’re going to have a baby today”
“Really??” I say, “I’m just in total denial I don’t think it’s real!”
(Through the conversation Amy says she gives her a look like “Oh yeah she’s in labor” ) Well a few minutes later Dr. Youkilis comes in to check me, He asks me if it’s bad enough for drugs yet and I answer “YES!” He checks me and he reveals that I’m 2 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. He tells me that the effacing is one of the hardest parts and that that’s over, and he informs me that I am in labor. I’m in early labor and that we can head on over to labor and delivery and that he would let them know we were coming.
“Wow! I just knew you were going to tell me that it wasn’t real and that I should just go home!” I say, and he smiles and sends me on my way.
We call Matt and let him know it’s the real deal! On the way to labor and delivery I had to stop every three minutes to get through a contraction, I was leaning on walls, random chairs, in the elevator as soon as we got to the labor and delivery floor I had to run out and lean on a wall to get through it. (A few nurses that were walking the halls were very sweet and were making sure I was ok) We finally get there, and Amy checks me in and Mom and I head on to the room they give me. I get changed and I’m still trying to let it soak in that our baby boy was coming TODAY! My nurse came in to get all my information and the first thing she said was “Well I just have to tell you that Dr. Youkilis said he was sending a real cutie over to us, I thought that was sweet!” I thought that was so sweet as well! So, they start getting me all set up, and I’m still getting through some seriously painful contractions. Mom and Amy are at my side, Matt’s on his way home to get my pillows and to change. The nurse is getting all my information like my address and my allergies and Matt comes running through the door “THERE’S MY BABY!” I say, and I just lost it. It was as if I was being so strong and when my husband came through the door I could let down my guard, it was such a relief that he was there, and now I knew I could do this. He got there just in time to hold my hand when I had to get the IV’s. (This, by the way hurt worse than the contractions!)
About an hour and a half later the anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural (YAY!) However, they tell us Matt can’t stay in there with me because they had a guy pass out and hit his head at some point in the hospital, and now their policy wouldn’t allow the husband to stay. So, the nurse holds my hands and lets me lay on her shoulder as they give me the epidural…not going to lie it hurt. I mean….it HURT. It took forever and finally I hear him say “Ok I think we got it that time” So, as I lay there with tubes going in and out of everywhere my nurse helps me get situated with my massive amounts of pillows (they called me the pillow princess) and from then on it was smooth sailing. I was one happy camper, Matt was telling me when the contractions were coming and I couldn’t feel a thing! It was AMAZING!
The next time they checked me I was 4 centimeters and they said Dr. Youkilis was going to come break my water soon to get things going. So a little later he breaks my water (which was so weird!) They checked me soon afterwards and I was 7centimeters, and I was thinking holy cow that is close! We asked Dr. Youkilis about how long he thought it would be now and he said probably around 10:00pm. At the time it was somewhere between five and six, so Matt decided to go grab some dinner since we probably had some time before I was ready to push. So I’m hanging out with Mom and Amy and my nurse notices that our baby has moved away from the heart monitor, so she checks my belly and says
“Wow he has moved down a lot I’m going to check you.”
So Mom and Amy step out, she checks me and says
“You are complete!”
“What??” I ask…
“Yeah, you are complete, you are 10 centimeters.”
I hear Amy start screaming in the hallway, and she says she’s going to call Matt. The nurse tells us it will still be a while, but Matt comes rushing back in the room and I start to get really excited. I wasn’t in any pain, and now I was just so excited to see our baby!
Well, as our nurse had warned, it was still going to be a little while before we got to meet our baby boy. Dr. Youkilis came in and gave us the news that Dr. Vas would be our doctor, because he had to go coach his daughter’s soccer game. By this point I honestly didn’t care who delivered our baby, just as long as he was out soon!
This part of the story is a little blurry to me, I was so exhausted after a full day of laboring and I hadn’t had anything to eat since the night before, plus I hadn’t slept a wink since 3:00 am. I remember I started to push, and it was so weird because the nurse and Matt had to position my legs because they were as limp as noodles. (This felt so strange!) I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. The nurse had taught Matt how to feel for contractions, and to let me know when one was coming on so that I could push. At one point Matt was the only one helping me and our nurse from the day was over working on charts, which was a little discouraging because it meant it wasn’t coming any time soon. I know I wasn’t working as hard when she was off doing her own thing. Well what seemed like an eternity later, we met our Doctor and he checked me and coached me as I pushed for a while. Then he left again and I pushed some more with my nurse. In the middle of all this, our day nurse tells us her shift is over, and wishes us luck. My night shift nurse came in and she was awesome, she was so gung ho and really forced me to push and be focused. I had been pushing for about 45 minutes and in between each contraction I really felt as if I couldn’t do another one. I would literally fall back and try to rest between each time, but miraculously another one came and the strength to push came out of nowhere and I gave it my all. I do remember asking after an hour of pushing and when the Doctor was back helping me if “he could just use some forceps or something” Dr. Vas told me that the baby was too high for forceps right now, and if I could push for about 30 more minutes and work really hard to get him down he would see if he could use something to help me push him out. Apparently Case was slightly facing upwards, and was pushing against my pelvic bone, which made it more difficult to push him down. However, after 30 minutes of pushing REALLY hard, and being VERY focused with help of my nurse, Dr. Vas said he was going to help me with a vacuum. I remember seeing a few nurses bringing in all the baby supplies, and him putting on his ‘baby catching gear’ and thinking “Ok this is it, they are all getting ready he’s coming out soon!”
Again, this part of the story happened so fast I’m not sure if I remember every detail…but I remember Dr. Vas and nurses all around, ready and waiting for a baby. Dr. Vas, as promised had set up the vacuum and was coaching me through contractions as I pushed. I remember Matt right next to me helping me count and holding my hand, I remember being so focused and everything around me fading away when I was pushing, and when I rested it would all come flooding back . I remember nurses truly getting ready with their arms waiting with a blanket, and all the supplies set up at a hands reach. Then, all of a sudden I opened my eyes after pushing and heard Dr. Vas suctioning something, and he and the nurses saying “Aww he’s got a gimme hand!” and I say “Is his head out?? Is his head out??” I don’t even remember if they answered because one push later he was out and crying! My baby was crying! He was here! Dr. Vas explained that he came out with his hand beside his head, and the nurses joked that it meant he was already saying “Gimme gimme!” However, it was a good thing he did because it was protecting his neck from the umbilical cord that was wrapped around him twice. “So that’s what took so long for you to come out!” Dr. Vas announced.
I glanced at Matt in all of the wonderful chaos and he was just beaming, then I turned back to our beautiful baby and they laid him on my chest and he stopped crying. I put my finger out and he grasped it with his tiny gorgeous hand and stared at me. He stopped crying and just stared at me. I will never ever forget that moment, nor describe how unbelievably emotional or amazing it was. We just stared at each other…we had a moment.
I remember just saying over and over “Isn’t he gorgeous? He’s gorgeous isn’t he? Matt he’s gorgeous did you see?? He’s just gorgeous!” I don’t even remember if anyone answered me, I just remember that’s all I could say. He was gorgeous. Gorgeous, healthy and here!
And so…this is the story of how our beautiful baby boy entered this big bright beautiful world.
The Wedding
Our wedding was breathtaking. It was held at Talon Winery, a beautiful vineyard surrounded by countryside. The date was July 21st, a cooler day with rain in the air. It was simply perfect. We celebrated with our family and all of our friends, it was the day I married my best friend.
It All Started When Two People Fell In Love
It all began on a late September evening in 2005, when I set eyes on my future husband. I was at a friend's house warming party, when my friend and I randomly decided to head over to another friends house...and there he was! I remember thinking he was SO cute, handsome, country...and the first thing I said to him was "Oh my gosh! You are my soul mate!" (NO JOKE!) Now, granted I had a few beers in me, and the reason behind it was because he had a case of Corona's in hand...but I like to think I knew what I was talking about. :)
We had a magical night, we talked, we laughed, we even played football...in the rain. :) We were inseparable from that night on. I knew he was a gentlemen when he called to make sure I got home alright that night. Then literally saw each other every single day for the next few weeks. We had lunch on campus, we went golfing, we went to dinner and a movie - that was when we had our first kiss. :) He asked me to be his girlfriend at his favorite bar Redmons, and that soon became our favorite place!
Over the next couple of months we fell head over heels in love with each other. We were even talking marriage and life long plans! I remember thinking that my family would think I was crazy if I told them we were already talking about spending the rest of our lives together. However, much to my surprise I told my Mom and my sister one evening and they were so excited and supportive! I knew then that it really was meant to be. I know people thought we were crazy, but as corny as it sounds...you really do just "know" when you find the right one.
We were so right for one another, and we were just so happy we had found each other! He fit right in with my family, I went home with him to Ashland to meet his Mom and grand-parents within the first two weeks, we both loved each other's families and everything just fell into place!
On January 2, 2006 Matt and I headed to Telluride, CO for a ski trip, and the first evening of the trip he had "WILL YOU MARRY ME!" written on the ski slope outside of our balcony...got down on one knee and proposed. :)
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