Two weeks prior to Mason arriving. We got our new camera just in time to snap a few belly shots!
I really did enjoy being pregnant. I had minimal morning sickness and no complications of note. I had been running and was able to continue until the 7 month mark, at which point the protruding belly became a balance issue. I was able to continue working full time right up until the very end. It was as smooth as I could have hoped for. So skipping to the end.... at 6 days past due.
I had mentally prepared myself from the beginning to go past my due date, so as the days passed I really wasn't too concerned and knew it would happen... eventually. I just didn't want him getting too fat in the meantime. On Monday, January 19th, I went to the doctor as scheduled and showed no progress, nothing.
I remember my Mom coming out to the house to visit that afternoon, we decided to hang pictures in the nursery. She told me that if the frames were hung, the baby would "know" it's room was officially ready and decide to come...
Our house had been decorated by Grammy Barbi and Aunt Laura while we were in the hospital!
About that time I began not feeling well, just "yucky". Around 8pm I began having contractions, which were pretty unmistakable as I hadn't had anything at all up until this point. From the beginning they were about 5 minutes apart. We placed a call in to Dr. Danny (Dustin's brother) for his opinion. We were told to try and get some rest until things started progressing. Dustin took this as his opportunity to go to bed. I paced pretty much every room in the house throughout the night while contractions remained at 3-5 minutes apart, but not necessarily increasing in strength. Somewhere in there Dustin woke up to check on me :). Around 7am I talked with my doctor over the phone and she suggested that I go somewhere and walk for a while or head to the hospital. At this point I knew I was waaaay past just walking, so we opted to head to the hospital.
At the initial check around 8am (12 hours after first labor signs) I was 3 cm dilated, and they told me I'd have my baby by that afternoon. Suddenly things became very real. However after getting situated things had actually slowed considerably and I really began to doubt their prediction. They broke my water and I began walking the halls and it got very intense very quickly. I remember holding onto the railing at the end of a dead end hallway and wondering if I would make it back to the room. I did in fact make it back and was at 6 cm. At 1:59pm on Tuesday, January 20th, Mason Michael was born. I will never forget looking into Mason's eyes for the first time. What a miracle and gift from God! It was incredibly emotional and overwhelming, and in some ways I don't even want to try and put words to it. So that is Mason's birth story, and our lives have never been the same since!
Dustin would be 28 in a month, I was 24.... I feel like I look so young!
The day we brought Mason home, January 22nd, was so warm that Dustin was wearing shorts!
