Gavin Daniel // A Birth Story

I could just tell you that Gavin's birth was a scheduled c-section, we went in, they took him out, and we had our boy...but...there's a little more that happened to get there...

the morning of Sept. 5th

September 5th, I woke up at 2am and 4am and couldn't go back to sleep. Not because I was having contractions, but because I was excited to meet this little man that had been taking up so much room in my abdomen and super excited to not be pregnant anymore.

Due to the birth of Gavin's sister Taylor, we got to schedule Gavin's birthday. Now, this might seem like an easy feat, but for us, it was a little bit of a stressful decision. Gavins due date was on his sister's birthday- the 7th of September. I could just hear them when they got older if I had chosen to have their birthdays on the same day, "MOOOMMMMM!"

The earliest day I could schedule was the 31st of August. August is a super busy birthday month in my family, so I vetoed that. My OBGYN informed me that I could not have this baby on the 1st-3rd because she would be in Vegas attending the Bruno Mars concert. Priorities... I know. I was actually kinda jealous. So the next day we would be able to schedule was the 4th, however- this is my wedding anniversary- soooo you see- the 5th was really the earliest day I could logically schedule. Although- if he came early, I just wanted him to be born in September.

Although I clearly had this date picked out, the week prior I tried to induce labor. I didn't care about dates- We had made it to September and I. was. miserable...but this little boy didn't care. Starting on Sept 1st, I went swimming, danced in the pool, did squats, drank beer, went for walks and tried to get him to come out. I didn't care that my OB was gone... I was done being pregnant. However...this little boy was happy as clam all snuggled inside me. So September 4th, I gave up. Less than 24 hours and he would be here. Patience is one of my downfalls. That night, since it was our anniversary, My husband took me to an amazing steak dinner with lobster mash that I keep dreaming about. It was honestly one of the best meals I've ever had- I think it was because I knew I was going to get a liquid diet for the next couple of days. We took our last picture as a family of three, and we went to bed. I snuggled my little girl extra hard that night.

Last photo as a family of three

Waiting for the drug doc

Back to the morning of the 5th...I woke up, took my last nice shower, and was ready to leave by 4:50, even though we planned on leaving at 5:15. We got to the hospital, they checked me in, I got an IV, I waited for about an hour, and then I walked myself to the OR, hopped on the table, and the Anesthesiologist gave me my spinal tap, and we talked about Game of Thrones with everyone in the operating room. My husband came in and they cut me open. I heard my doctor say "man this baby is ready to come out!" and then she pulled out the baby boy that was so active in my belly. My doctor pulled down the curtain, and said "be happy you had a c-section- he's a big boy!" the second she held him up, he started crying. Hearing him cry so fast was such an amazing and relieving sound. Taylor didn't cry for so long, his cry instantly put me at ease...and then he peed all over the table. A great start to his first day of life. We all giggled and continued with cleaning him up. I watched my husband cut the umbilical cord, and they wrapped him up and placed him next to my face. I kissed his sweet squishy face, and I will never forget the first smell and feel of a brand new baby, knowing that he was mine, we made him, and he was 100% worth the wait.

After I was all stitched up, they wheeled me into the recovery room where he was getting cleaned up. He was suckling on a nurses finger to keep him busy. Little man was already so hungry. While the nurses were cleaning me up, I started to hemorrhage. the look on my husbands face was making me worried. Apparently, due to the size of Gavin, he had stretched my uterus so thin, this causes some excess bleeding. I was also informed by my doctor that even though I had a Tubal Ligation, due to how thin my uterus was stretched, she would have recommended that we do not have anymore kids. After many medications and a little worry, I was finally wheeled into our room and was able to snuggle with my handsome little chub. 9lbs, 7 oz of pure squish.

It's true what they say...you never know the extent of the amount of love your heart can hold. I found myself completely in awe of this little boy, how much he reminded me of the first days with his sister, and how much his little sister loved him. Seeing Daddy hold his little boy and little girl completely makes my world stop.