Liam's Story

This is the prelude.

Time to grab your cup of coffee, and settle in for a lengthy baby story.

Our baby....Liam's Story.

Burning....Pressure....

'I think I'm gonna be sick, I feel so nauseous. Think of something else! Anything! Ok, picture Drew and I cuddled on the couch with Liam watching Sunday football...'

Push #1 done.

' Holy Cow...I don't remember it being so darn painful! Gosh I'm gonna throw up, don't think about it Nellie...imagine football this weekend, it'll all be behind you.'

Push #2

"We can see the head Nellie! He's got so much hair!"

"You're doing so good....keep going, give it everything you've got..."

'What if I don't have enough to give....How will I ever finish this?'

15 hours earlier.

6:00am. Thursday. I opened my eyes and knew it was still early. Completely dark out, but I could hear a car warming up outside, so I knew our alarms would be going off soon. Telling us it was time to call the hospital....time to make sure there was room for us an

d our induction at 7:30am. I don't remember separate emotions, just an overall overwhelmed feeling. I knew with all my heart that I wanted to meet my son, I wanted to see him and hold him, I wanted there to be ANY other way to accomplish that without facing what we'd already been through twice. Another labor.

6:30am. Andy called up to the OB. "Hi, this is Andy Col....Oh, ok, we'll be there soon!" He got off the phone and smiled at me, "They're all ready for us." He knew I was apprehensive and was very sensitive to not prance around the house while I moved slowly in a fog. He kept a lower profile and didn't push me to smile and squeal with glee....I think he knew I needed a quiet start to our morning.

7:15am. We loaded all our bags, pillows and coats into the pickup and drove silently to the hospital. We'd look at each other once in a while and smile...It was all that was needed. Just to know we were in it together, come what may.

7:30am. We made it up to the OB ward and started the lengthy process to begin an induction. Weigh in, exchange your normal clothes for the always beautiful, fashion-inspired hospital gown, once again answer every medical question known to man and sign off on pretty much every possible horrible outcome. Let me just add my two cents about asking a nervous mom (albeit a veteran mom, still) before she begins her 3rd labor "Do you have a living will or an advance directive?" DON'T. I know, I know...liability...they need the information, blah, blah. Truly...I'm here to have a baby though, I'm not coming in half dead! Alright...moving on.

Our morning had a rough start at this point because of the IV attempts. 5 in all. Yes, 5 and it took 3 different people before a IV was correctly in place. The nurses ended up having to call in the PIC team who ended up having to use lydocaine to numb up my arm after the numerous FAILED attempts. (blood squirting, blue arm from over-tight bands, poke, root, poke!)

We spent the first part of the morning just enjoying being together. The nurses came in and out of our

room as we waiting for our doctor to arrive. I'd brought along Liam's baby book which I began to fill in. Andy set up our laptops and camera so we'd be ready to picture taking later. Our hospital is truly beautiful, very new OB ward with amazing rooms. Real recliners instead of just wooden rocking chairs, a WHIRLPOOL in each room, couch for Daddy, huge beautiful windows....It was a wonderful experience. Very spoiling.

8:45am Dr. Sarah finally showed up. She'd been delayed. She checked me, I was at a 3 and about 80% effaced. We started Cytotec and had the next hour to wait in bed and see if it would take. We watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. ;) Andy, being an all-time best sport even put in a comment here and there.

10:00am Up to walk around and get contractions going. Pacing the hallways, we walked by the nursery again and again....empty except for one little baby asleep under the lights. Tiny little thing....I kept picturing what it would look like before the day was out, with the addition of one little Coleman baby. Found "Say Yes to the Dress" on in the waiting room and paced in there for a good 30 minutes. Andy couldn't sit when I was walking....he was nervously following me around till I MADE him sit down. He was making ME nervous. :)

10:45am Checked. No progress yet. More walking.

11:30am Checked again, at a 4! Contractions were still completely manageable but coming consistently at 2 minutes apart. That spared us from a 2nd round of Cytotec at 12:45 or of eventual Pitocin. VERY thankful for that.

12:30am Checked yet again....Still at a 4. Very slow progress at this point. I was still talking through contractions and we were just rolling with it. More waiting.

1:45pm Still dilated to a 4. Took the time to make some calls, talked with my Dad for a bit. Mom brought the girls up to the hospital from home (5 blocks away) and they came and joined us in the room. That gives an idea of how comfortable I still was.

Soon after, Annette (one of the owners of County Fair where Andy works and a lifesaver for us and our kids) came to the hospital and took the girls off for a fun day so Mom could be with us for a while. Netty has been a SD grandma figure to our girls and they love her so very dearly. Mom and Andy and I watched the Food Network and kept ourselves entertained as we did more waiting.

3:00-3:30pm I assured Andy I felt good enough for him to duck out and find some food quick. Mom was there to cover for him and he was starving. He got back around 3:20pm. Checked. Between a 4 and a 5. The contractions had taking a crazy turn and were almost completely on top of each other. I was started to

become disheartened...couldn't understand what was taking so long!The pain was intensifying 100 times, and yet little progress was being made in dilation. At this point in the game with both Liv and Emma, I was dilated to at least a 6 or 7. We later learned that little Liam's head was actually preventing further dilation and my water was not going to break on it's own.In other words, the combination of his head position and the small amount of fluid left below his head were completely "stuck" and weren't progressing with the contractions.

3:45-4:30pm We decided to try the IV pain reliever Nubain which almost immediately puts you into a deep haze. Andy says I started mumbling about my water breaking and feeling water on my feet. Weird. My water hadn't broke. :) What can I say....I must have been hallucinating about swimming.

Shortly after the Nubain was wearing off, we did decide to go with the epidural. The anesthesiology team was quick on the scene and after the ungodly amount of fluids were pumped into me, they were ready to get to work.

I can honestly say that for the first hour after the epi we did great. Dr. broke my water which gushed

about 50 times. (Ok, almost) Strangest feeling in the world. Mom took a little break to go grab dinner and we thought we were on top of things. Shortly after my water breaking, I dilated to a 6 and the nurses were prepping our room for delivery by 6pm, thinking this was gonna fly. We did too.

6:00-9:30pm Slowly I started feeling something wasn't right. My pain never fully went away, which I was completely expecting, but as time went on, it was intensifying (just as the epi drugs SHOULD have been working). It started with pressure, and moved to pain....hard pain on my right side. My left side seemed to be going beyond numb, and yet all my contraction pain was settling in on my right. It was rough.

Every time the nurses would come in and check, the progress wouldn't be there, yet the contractions were almost without break and I was starting to become discouraged with the entourage of right-sided pain. I remember silent, hot tears running down my face as I watched Andy's next to mine. He is such a rock to me, he continued to be the confidence I needed.

The team returned to see what was causing all the imbalance, but I was not about to take out the epidural and start all over again...much less MOVE! They ended up repositioning things a bit which only lead to more left side numbness and my right side started burning. It's a risk with drugs, and we knew it may not work. Every labor is different and I will never again make presumptions on people's choices like I did when I was 20 and thought I knew everything.

From 6-9pm We were continually being told we were still only between a 6 and 7.....perhaps the most frustrating time of all being when we finally heard the nurse say "You're at an 8!" only to come back in later and say that baby had pulled the cervix back to a 6-7! LIAM!!!!! Talk about feeling like you're going backwards. I remember a good 5 minutes in there when I considered what it would be like to completely lose all progress and go home still pregnant!

Finally 9pm came and we were back at an 8, a 9 and finally completely ready. The burning pain was intense, and I knew I needed the job of pushing soon. Something to free my mind from giving up. Right before the first push, I felt a wave of nausea and fought it hard. I wanted to be done, not start puking. I forced myself to think of something else, and then it came to me.....A beautiful thought that I kept through each of the next 3 contractions and pushes. I pictured Andy and I holding Liam on our family room couch, snuggled with blankets, watching our Sunday football games together. Pain, a thing of the past, ahead, only cuddling and kissing and loving on our long-awaited son.

That thought got me through to the end when I heard Andy said "I can see him, one more push and you're done honey! I'm so proud of you." That last push was the hardest and best there was.

Liam James came into the world at 9:31pm and was greeting with tears from both Andy and I. He was covered in sticky vernix, and yet completely and utterly perfect. I only held him for about 20 seconds before it was obvious he was blue....we hadn't heard him utter a sound yet and the nurses wasted no time. They apologetically hustled him away from me and began roughing him up. Andy had already cut the cord and after kissing me and telling me again how proud he was of me, he squeezed my hand and I told him to go to Liam, I would be fine as long as he was.

After what seemed to be 2 minutes. (In reality, only another 30 or 40 seconds) Liam yelled. Oh, never is a baby's cry such a beautiful sound. Within 5 minutes, his color was returning and we were all breathing easier. As soon as we saw that, I asked Drew "What's his name?" Andy smiled back at me "Liam James."

The baby scale took a good 15 minutes to get to our room since the other couple who'd been laboring all day too delivered 6 minutes before us and was using it first. They had a little girl named Lydia...one of my favorites.

9 lbs even! Beat out by his older sister weight wise. Tough to live down. ;) 20 inches long with a 14.5" head. (Owie for Mommy as evidenced by stitches)

Liam has the body of a little linebacker, that of his Daddy. Wide shoulders, no hips and thick thighs. He just looks boy-ish!

The next 2 days of our hospital stay were so pleasant. Andy spent the nights and days with us and we just enjoyed being together. Let me say this....any husband who is there for his wife after a delivery...and I mean really there....doing those things that no one preps you for before marriage and never appeared in your own mind as you thought about what having babies would be like through rose-colored glasses....Any guy who helps her at that most vulnerable of times when even solo bathroom trips are impossible, when you're at your physical worst and can barely remember what real life looks or feels like....is the real deal.

I'm proud to say that the two men in my life made this birth story passionate for me. Hard, gut-wrenching perhaps, but still sheer beauty and miraculous to witness life again.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Thank you Lord for giving us Liam James. Help us to lead him to you, to be the parents you desire us to be. Give us strength and wisdom far beyond our years, we love you and praise you for your outpouring of grace on our lives. In Jesus Name, Amen.