Crosby: A Birth Story

I wanted to take some time to record what happened the day that our third sweet little boy was born. I will say that if there is one thing I have learned from my three deliveries it's that the labor process is as different as the kids are, both in look and personality, when they come out. There was not much that was the same about my three labors other than the fact that at the end, we had a healthy baby. I like to call Crosby my little trickster because I probably thought I was in labor three or four times before I actually ended up in the hospital delivering. I had so many contractions, NOT Braton Hicks contractions but real deal painful contractions, that seemed to produce absolutely no results. And there is nothing more frustrating to a women in her final weeks of pregnancy than to think she is going into labor and then be faced with the reality that she is not.

So on the morning of June 7th when I woke up at about 5:45 in the morning with some contractions I was determined that I would do my best to not get my hopes up. Although there was definitely part of me that thought this had to be it. So when at 8:00 or so my contractions seemed to be subsiding I stormed into the living room and informed Michael that I was going on a walk. I was not sure how much more of these false contractions I could stand.

When I got home from my walk I said, "Let's go runs some errands." I really was set on keeping my mind off of how ridiculously pregnant I was. When we got to my Dad's office to fax something the contractions started up again. I just ignored them. I was so done with trying to time and calculate to see if they were getting close together plus I knew I had a doctors appointment in an hour or so I figured at least then I would know what was going on.

Arriving at the doctor I was still contracting with my fingers crossed for some kind of dialation. When the nurse practitioner checked me I was 3 cm and she "stripped my membranes" which in other words is an attempt to jump start something under the hood. You're welcome for my car imagery. When I got home from the doctor I was in significant pain from the little procedure and contractions and after about thirty minutes or so we decided to head to the hospital. After we got situated the nurse checked me again and not much had changed so she figured the stripping of my membranes had pushed me once again into false labor. She promised to check again in an hour and let me know I could walk around if I wanted. As the hour progressed I kept thinking, "this has to be it." I was hurting too much for it not to be. And when she checked me again and I was nearly 5 cm she realized I was going to have the baby and she had better get moving if we were going to get me an epidural.

We transfered rooms, thankfully because there was quite an audience for Crosby's big appearance, drew blood, got me on an IV, and most importantly called for the epidural man:) Meanwhile I struggled through my contractions which were very painful at this point (I probably was close to 7 cm by the time I got my meds). And well, the rest is history. We got to the hospital around 12:30 and I delivered our sweet baby boy at 4:44 pm. Luckily, the nurse had caught on to how quickly things progress for me once the labor process has started and she called my Dr. in enough time for her to actually arrive at the hospital before the baby's head was about to come out. And so we welcomed Crosby Sawyer Fay into the world on June 7th 2011 at 4:44 in the afternoon. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 8oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. Perfect in every way. And he was most definitely welcomed with a great amount of LOVE. We all anticipate what this little one with bring to our ever growing family. We love you Crosby.