Forever Our First Born

Just waiting...

During one of the peak contractions - Gretchen and Jim

The official time is 6:12am and 52 seconds

This is the first time that I saw Baker - after 4 hours!!!

Shane's first moments with Baker - after 2 hours of birth!

Our gorgeous son!!

3 days after Baker was born, we finally left the hospital

Koda and Baker being introduced

I thought I would take a moment to post what it was like when we had our beautiful, healthy son! I went into labor at work after my doctor assured me that nothing was going to happen that day. So, I went back to work and heated up the 1/2 chicken enchilada that Shane had made the night before. It was about 3:45pm when I was sitting at my desk and said "ouch that hurt." Linda from work said "are you having contractions?" I told her I didn't know but didn't think so. My dear friend Kristie (whom was also a co-worker) came over and said "yes, I think it was a contraction." About 20 minutes later Linda and Kristie had to convince me that I was having contractions. They counted them for me because I was in denial. I decided to finish my shift for the day so that I could make sure that I was caught up and things were in order while I was on leave. At 5:30pm I left work to drive home and called Shane on the way. I told him that he needed to get home because I was having contractions that were 5 minutes apart. I love him so much, he had so much giddiness in his voice. I got home and packed a bag (I think). Then, I went and sat on the couch. There was a knock on the door and my friend from work, Linda, apparently followed me home (I had no idea) to make sure that I made it home. She waited with me while I called Shane AGAIN and asked where he was. He said that he had just gotten his new work truck that day and was in the middle of transferring tools between the two (I later found out that after I called, he was literally throwing tools from one truck to the other to get them moved over). When he finally got home (about 45 minutes after the first phone call) he changed really fast and we were off (thank you again Linda for staying with me during the contractions).

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On the way to the hospital we were both at the point of "OMG, we are going to have a baby." We checked into the hospital and were admitted after the exam proved that I was in fact in labor. I settled into my room that luckily had a bathtub. I decided that I wanted to take a bath so there I sat for a very long time. I was then given some Phentinol. Oh, that stuff is GOOD! I was extremely relaxed. During all of this my mom arrived from Tacoma (driving like a maniac without her headlights on), Shane's parents and sister and our dear friend Jen. Basically we just sat there waiting for something to happen. I think the most fun was watching my contractions on the monitor because even when they spiked I couldn't feel them (again, phentinol - GOOD)! I don't remember much beyond this point because I had the phentinol and then I was given an epidural (2 in fact). The first one didn't numb me entirely...just one side. So, they gave me another one. During this process, they say that it slows the birth process - that was fine with me, I was tired, wanted some sleep and felt really good! At midnight everyone went home because they were told that nothing was happening. About 1 hour later the nurse told Shane to call everyone back because I was dialating quickly. It's amazing how fast family and friends will rush back to the hospital. Sorry everyone, because it was another 3.5 hours before I started pushing.

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At 4:30am I either woke up or the nurse woke me up (remember - good drugs!). All I remember was starting to push. I pushed and puked, pushed and puked! This went on for the entire time. Again, my husband was a trooper. He counted to 10, held the bucket and encouraged me the whole time. At one point the nurse said to me "honey, put your chin to your chest and grunt!" I told her that I was fine and she said "seriously, just do it, you will feel so much better." So there I went putting my chin to my chest and grunting like a cow! Wow, it's amazing how that changes everything and made the pushing more successful. I remember my fabulous Dr whom I love asking Shane if he wanted to see the head. He kind of looked down and said "I can see the top of the ears." I immediately remember thinking "OMG, we have such a long ways to go. Whatever you do, don't let that head slip back in!"

Shane was amazing. He just kept holding the bucket and holding my hand. At one point I remember the Dr saying "I didn't expect this". Because of my amazing husband and fantastic Dr, I had no idea that there was actually a problem with our unborn child.

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At 6:12am I had given birth to our baby. As soon as he/she was born about 5 nurses rushed into the room (I actually didn't realize any of this). Our child wasn't breathing. He/She had the cord wrapped around his/her neck and had swallowed miconieum. I asked Shane what we had and he didn't know. Finally a nurse cheerfully and regretfully (for not telling us sooner) said "IT'S A BOY!" I looked at Shane and began to cry! We had brought a Baby Boy into this world! As soon as the nurses got him breathing they immediately whisked him away to the ICU. Shane and Dr. Tu kept everything under wraps because I had no idea the severity that childbirth had on our son. I continued to chat it up with the Dr and my mom.

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Shane was able to see our child first, in the nursery, about 2 hours after he was born. Because of some complications that I had, I needed to rest and wasn't able to see our son. After about 4 hours, I was able to finally hold our beautiful baby boy! We knew that his name would be Baker, but had no idea what the middle name would be (we had 2 names in mind, just couldn't decide).

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Shane took me to the nursery and the 3 of us were able to get to know each other. Because of his complications, Baker had to stay in the nursery for 3 days.

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Later in the day, while Baker was asleep (in the nursery) I told Shane that I had to get out of the room. We walked around the outside of the hospital and then came back to our room. He handed me a box with a tear in his eye. When I opened the box, it was a beautiful necklace in the shape of a heart, but it is a mother holding her baby with a diamond in the middle. Shane then said "the perfect diamond for the perfect baby." Everytime I think about that moment I cry! I love my necklace and plan to have it with me during Baby Green's birth!! We then worked on finding our new son a middle name. We were torn between Shae and James. I didn't want James because his initials would be BJ and I just didn't like that. But, Shae just "wasn't it". Shane wrote both names down and let me pull one out of a hat. Whichever one I chose was Baker's middle name. Ok, here we go. I pulled out the first one and it was Shae. I looked at Shane and said, "best 2 out of 3?" So, again, I pulled out a name and it was Shae. Shane said "Ok Baker Shae it is." I looked at the name, looked at Shane and started to cry. He couldn't figure out if I was sad or happy. I said "I don't like it." He said "well, what do you want?" I said "James". He said "Ok, that's what I want too."

It was official - Baker James Kelling!

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3 years later we couldn't be more blessed. We have a terrific 3 year old who will be an amazing big brother to Baby Green. Baby Green is due any day now and we know that our lives will be even more different than before. But, we look forward to the challenge of having 2 kids and we look forward to making a lifetime of memories with our amazing kids! We are so blessed with family and friends and we thank everyone for their continued love and support! We look forward to calling everyone and telling you our Baby Green has arrived.

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Baker Boy, you are simply the best! Not only do you make me proud to be your mom, but you make me proud of the little man that you have become and are becoming. You are such an inspiration. I can't wait to make you a big brother. I know that you will be amazing. You will always be my baby boy whom I love beyond words!

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Shane, you are an amazing husband and father. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in life to share these experience with. Thank you for showing me what it means to love deeply and unconditionally. Thank you for giving me a beautiful, healthy son and any day now another beautiful baby! You are my rock and I love you forever and a day!