We are in Labor!

It’s 3am and the phone rings, it’s our birthmom and she thinks that she is in labor! OMG, okay we are on the way right now…. Remember we just got in around 2am and had been drinking so Doug jumped in the shower I gathered all the stuff we needed at the hospital… the carseat, t-shirts, camera and who knows what else at this point. After my shower we jump in the car and head to her house now it is about 3:30am. It may seem like this is a long time but at this point her contractions are about 10 minutes apart. We get to her house about 3:45am and she is very casual. She was packing a bag and ensuring she had everything she needed and her mom is walking around the house just getting ready for the exciting day. Since her due date was not until January 9th, I am actually thinking this is going to be a false alarm.

We leave for the hospital at 4am and it is only about 5 minutes from her house, they immediately take her back for a quick exam. We sit with her mom in the waiting room and about 10 minutes later they roll her out in a wheelchair moving very quickly saying the contractions are now about 4 minutes apart and we need to get her to a room quickly before the window of getting the epidural expires…. So we gather all the stuff and we move to the maternity ward, get her set in the room and we begin the waiting process. The time now is about 4:30am.

Doug is on one side of her and I am on the other rubbing her head and holding her hand… I am actually about to get a bit emotional as I write this as this was truly an amazing experience and we never thought that we would be this close or that it would happen this way. Now it’s about 4:45am and she is ready to push but the doctor administers the epidural and that slows down the contractors. So now instead of the contractors coming every 4 minutes they are now about every 9 minutes – so the waiting game is on..

We hang with her in the room as she rests comfortably talking; laughing and then I remember we need to call the attorney! I jump up, call the attorney and provide the nurses with the hospital plan. This is when I become nervous because you hear stories about hospital teams not honoring the plan or showing their dislike for gay couples about to adopt a baby and we are in a really southern state. But to my delight, this hospital team is awesome. They not only honor every single thing in the hospital plan they are friendly, comforting and extremely helpful to all of us. The head nurse took the time to read and review the plan with us and then ensured that each nurse and doctor that entered the room understood the birthmom’s wishes.

Time check, it is about 8am and the contractors are now about 4 minutes apart again and now it’s 8:45am and the doctor comes in to check on our birth mom and says it is time to push. Technology is an amazing thing….. a team comes into the room a huge contraption opens in the ceiling and the room immediately becomes a birthing center. Our birthmom is in position and about 9am she begins the cycle of pushing…. Doug on one side, I on the other and we can see everything and it is simply amazing!

The doctor says push and we count with her to 10….. Push, Push, okay stop, okay PUSH, PUSH bare down and PUSH again, PUSH again—OMG-- -It’s a boy! It’s now 9:16am and she has delivered a baby boy!!! She only pushed about 4 times in total before he arrived.. I go with the hospital team in the corner while they clean him off a bit and weigh him, he is 7 pounds even…. Then a few more checks and then directly to Doug and the doctor has instructed Doug prior to take off his shirt. Then Doug and Jackson begin the bonding experience skin to skin.

Jackson has arrived and he is healthy with a great set of lungs! Our birthmom is excited and so happy for us and after a bit of time she takes Jackson and holds him for a bit. For some reason I thought I would be really emotional but I don’t think it has hit me yet what has just happened. It won’t be until the next morning that I literally breakdown….. For now I am calling my mom and Doug is calling his mom—guess what? You are grandparents but still keep it to yourself as it will be at least 3 days before the birth mom will sign away her rights—so we now begin the longest 3 days of our life…