The Arrival

Just a few pictures that I dug up. I can't believe that my baby is 10!
Chase on his first day of Kindergarten!

I love his hair in this picture
The boys loved making fun of my maternity pants when I was pregnant with Cade.
They are growing too fast!
Sweet baby Chase!

I was on the couch just watching t.v. It was late and Mark was sound asleep but I could not sleep that night. I was having contractions, but I was not in pain. I remember watching "Cheers" and when it was over I could not remember a single thing that happened on the show. I realized then that we would most likely be going to the hospital that night. I went to take a shower because I wanted to be clean and have shaved legs :-). After I got ready, I began to pack a bag. Mark had been sleeping until that point. He wanted to know what I was doing. That made me laugh since I was 9 months pregnant and packing a bag in the middle of the night. Mark decided to take a shower, then he decided not to take one. He was going in many different directions. We finally made it to the car and started to drive to the hospital. I told him not to rush because I really was not hurting very much. We were driving and I was watching the clock when I realized that my contractions were only 3 minutes apart. I told Mark that maybe he should speed up a little bit, which he did. We arrived at the hospital and we were checked into a room. Labor and childbirth did not really scare me, I had seen so many labors and deliveries. What did scare me? I was afraid that it would be false labor and I would look like an idoit and would have to go home. When they checked me, it was obvious that I would be staying. I was dilated to a 7 (you start at 0 and you go to 10). I still was not in a lot of pain - UNTIL, the doctor (unfortunately my doctor was not on-call) broke my water. Then, I felt pain worse than I had ever felt before. The kind of pain where you are barely aware of your surroundings. I remember Mark being there along with my friend, Becca. What a great friend to come and see us even though it was very early in the morning. Finally, the anesthesiologist arrived - blessed man. He attempted to give me an epidural again and again - calling me "Gina" the entire time. Finally success and relief!! Epidurals are good, good things. At 7:29 a.m. Chase made his arrival and our lives forever changed. Poor baby aspirated meconium (translation: he went to the bathroom and it got in his lungs). He was grunting and they quickly whisked him away. I had no clue that anything was wrong. Mark followed them up to the nursery but he soon returned. He had a funny look on his face, but I thought it was because he had just become a father. I found out later that they had kicked him out of the nursery because "this baby is having a hard time breathing". I was oblivious until the pediatrician came to talk to us. Then the tears and the fears came. He developed pneumonia, my sweet little boy. When we were finally allowed to hold him, it was limited and we had to hold an oxygen tube to his mouth. Those pictures of me holding him are ugly! Up all night, having a baby, fluid retention, and crying do not leave me looking my best. My sweet baby had to stay in the nursery. My sweet baby had to stay in the hospital when I was discharged. Obviously, he got better:-) Now my sweet baby is 10 years old!! How is that possible? He has grown into such a sweet, caring boy. I am so proud of the way that he treats others. He is truly our treasure. He is loving and kind (most of the time). He is incredibly good with Nate. He is the one who wants us to have another baby!! Happy Birthday, Chase!