Courtney and Dave Schoen: Grady's Birth Day

I woke up on Thursday, January 26 as if it were another normal day just sitting around waiting for Grady. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled to check for progress and to schedule the date I would be induced if Grady didn't come on his own. Dave decided to stay home from work just in case and take me to the doctor. At my appointment the previous Thursday I was already 2 cm dialated so I was keeping my fingers crossed that there would be more progress. At some point later in the morning, I was walking into my bedroom and stopped dead in my tracks. I felt a contraction but it was different from the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having. Dave asked if I was ok and I told him I thought I was having a contraction. Dave's eyes lit up but I quickly reminded him that even if it were a real contraction this could take hours. I decided this was a good time to take a shower. My contractions, however, decided it was a good time to speed up. By the time I was showered and dressed, they were 4 minutes apart and get stronger by the minute. Dave called the doctor and we decided to go in earlier than my scheduled appointment. Good thing we did because by the time we got there my contractions were 3 minutes apart and STRONG. My doctor checked me out and said yep, its time to head to the hospital. Ah, music to my hears. I knew that meant in a few short hours (hopefully) I would be holding my baby boy in my arms - a moment I had been waiting for for a very long time!

We checked into AAMC and within one hour a very nice lady gave me some very nice medicine, a.k.a epidural. I thought it would only take the edge off, but I had zero pain after that. So things progressed quickly and naturally and by 8:00 p.m. it was push time. It was at this point that my doctor informed me that Grady was "sunny side up", meaning his head was facing up rather than down. Ok, so what? She then informed me that it would make pushing him and delivering vaginally very difficult, especially since I am a petite woman. Great. Here it comes. So she told me we would give it a good try and see what happens but a c-section is now part of the plan. Well that is not what I had in mind so I pushed my little heart out for 2 plus hours. I thought I was doing great, Dave even saw Grady's head. But, the gloves came off (literally - my dr. took her gloves off) and I immediately knew what was coming next. She said well my dear you progressed great and he moved down a lot, but its time to get you ready for a c-section, especially since he passed myconium and there is a concern he can ingest it. I tried so hard to be strong but I was losing it inside. I skipped that part in the book and I was absolutely terrified. Dave was amazing and kept reassuring me everything was fine. So off we went to the OR.

This other very nice man gave me some seriously nice medicine and I was completely out of it. I wasn't put under, but he asked me my name and I am not entirely sure what I told him but in my head I sounded like the Peanuts teacher. Dave stayed with me rubbing my head and hands and talking me through it. Grady arrived at 10:53 p.m. on Thursday, January 26. He weighed in at 7 lbs 8 ounces and 21 inches long. Poor little guy had a rough start to life though and had a 6 hour stay in the NICU because he wasn't breathing great on his own. Dave spent time back and forth between me and Grady. He is such an amazing guy and I am so blessed. I could not have done that without him!!! Ill touch on this more in another post.

There is a rumor that the NICU nurse brought Grady into the OR to see me for a minute, but I don't remember that. The first memory I have of seeing my precious newborn was when the NICU nurse finally brought him into our room around 5 am. I will never forget that first moment when I met Grady. It was truly life-changing. Since that time I havent stopped kissing his little head. Here are a few pictures of Grady's first days.