Baby Reid's Story

Before Reid was born I was really worried that I wasn't going to love him like I loved Averie. To be really honest, I wasn't sure I really wanted a second child. I had my precious little girl, had been though a miserable pregnancy, and I was quite content with our family of three. I knew that Eli wasn't going for an only child though, so I was sure that at some point we would have another one. I just wasn't in any hurry. Then at the beginning of last year I started to feel like it wouldn't be so bad to have another baby. We prayed about it a lot, decided to give it over to God, and I immediately got pregnant. When I say immediately, I mean the first time we tried. It was a Sunday morning before church when I took the test and got the two pink lines, and I was so shocked I didn't tell anybody for almost 36 hours. We went to church like normal, ate lunch at Mom & Dad's house like normal, went to bed like normal, etc. but the whole time my insides were screaming, "WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!" I just needed a little while to process the whole thing. It wasn't that I wasn't excited, I just really couldn't believe it had been that easy. With Averie we started trying in April and I didn't find out I was pregnant until June so I assumed I would have a little while to adjust to the idea of having another baby. But, on Valentine's day, which was the day after I took the test, I told Eli I had gotten him the greatest Valentine's day present ever and handed him a card with the positive test inside when he got home from work. He was, of course, excited and we decided we would wait a while before telling any family since last time he was at least the 4th or 5th person I told I was pregnant (side note: don't tell me any good secrets - I ruin them because I get so excited!).

Taken in Florida 3 days before the 2 pink lines

The pregnancy progressed and I was just as sick as I was before, except this time I had a 2 year old to chase after and we were going through the hottest summer we'd had in like 50 years. I had no energy, no appetite, and Averie and I spent most of the summer with me laying on the couch in the air conditioning while she tore up the house around me. The whole time I had this horrible fear that this baby would be born and I wouldn't like him. Yes, him. When I finally accepted the fact that I was pregnant I reasoned that I would be okay as long as it was another girl. I wanted another girl because I already had a girl, I knew what to do with a girl, we had girl clothes, supplies, equipment, and I had no idea about little boys. At 18 weeks we found it was a boy, and again it wasn't that I wasn't excited, it was just something I had to get used to. A boy. A little boy. A little penis. I think that is what scared me the most. A little boy with a penis who was going to pee in my face. The clothes for a little boy weren't even that cute. I just figured it would probably save us money in the long run. I found some cute alligator bedding and decided maybe a boy wouldn't be so bad after all. At least his room would be cute and I wouldn't have to deal with bloomers, tights, or hairbows.

The three of us at Stone Mountain in August

The day FINALLY came when it was time to leave for the hospital to be induced. This little boy couldn't even come out on his own and I was going to have to go through the whole induction process again. My mom came over to stay with Averie while we were in the hospital and I absolutely broke down as I was telling her goodbye. She had no idea how much her life was going to change when we brought home this little boy. I remember holding her and hugging her and telling her she would always be my baby. I cried most of the way to the hospital because here I was, almost 41 weeks pregnant with this little boy I wasn't even sure I was going to like and I had just ruined my daughter's life. I was seriously worried, what if I had to go on medicine to like this baby or what if I didn't want anything to do with him and someone else had to come take care of him? At the hospital I got checked in and settled down for what past experience had taught me would be a long process. Eli went to get us dinner and when he came back the Cervadil was making me contract every two minutes. It wasn't epidural painful, but it was uncomfortable enough that I had to stop and breath. Yippee! I though - maybe this little boy wasn't going to take so long to come after all. When the nurse checked me for the last time of the night, I was still one centimeter. Not only was this little boy making me hurt, he wasn't even progressing! I figured we were in for another long induction and settled in to drug induced dreams before the real show the next day.

Last picture as a family of three

After waking up the next morning I was at two centimeters. Hooray! It took 27 hours to get to that point with Averie. At least this little boy was being a tad more considerate than his big sister. The pitocin was started around 7 and when I got uncomfortable two hours later I had the epidural. I knew from Averie's birth that my body fights dilating when I am in pain and hopefully the epidural would speed things up. The drugs were in, I was completely relaxed, and we slept most of the day while my body was laboring. It was a Friday, and my favorite kind of day. It was dark and rainy and cold outside, and I was warm, comfortable, and about to meet my son. Around 2 that afternoon we woke up for good and watched some tv, made some phone calls, and ate lunch. Eli called my mom to let her know that it would probably be later that night or early in the morning before this little boy made his arrival so she should just plan on bringing Averie the next day. I remember watching the Halloween episode of Ellen (because this was the Friday before Halloween) when I really started to hurt. Up to this point I hadn't felt anything but I figured my epidural must have been wearing off. It was 3:15 at this point, and I really got to hurting so I asked Eli to get the nurse. She checked me and said I was 5 cm and she would call the anesthesiologist to come give me a booster for the pain. The anesthesiologist came and put some more drugs in to my epidural line, but it barely even touched the pain. I remember saying, "This is the point during my last delivery I swore I was never going to have another baby." Because I was starting to feel some pressure the nurse checked me again and I was 8 cm. I got really scared because I had dilated 3 cm in less than 30 minutes and the doctor wasn't there. About 30 minutes later I got the chills and started shivering uncontrollably so the nurse got some warm blankets to cover me while we waited for the doctor to arrive. I was in transition and fully dilated.

It was go time! I remembered from last time that I like the pushing part of labor the best because it was something I could control. The anesthesiologist had told me by this point that the only way I was going to stop hurting was to have the baby. I remember saying, "Well let's have the baby then!" and everyone laughing. The nurse had me push a few times to see where I was and I knew they could already see the head because she rushed around trying to find the doctor. Dr. Wright came in and when he saw me pushing he scrambled to get his gear on so I knew I must be close. A few more pushes and sweet relief washed over me as I saw my son for the first time. It was 4:49 pm, so I had gone from 5cm to being done in about an hour and a half so I hadn't really processed everything that was happening because it was all so fast. I was surprised at how small he was, Averie was 8 lbs 9 oz and they were expecting him to be bigger. When they laid him on my chest I remember bawling and saying, "Hey little boy, I'm your mommy!" I have never in my life felt my emotions shift so quickly or intensely. I had gone from fear and almost dread to immediate, intense love. What I felt for him was so much more intense than what I remember from Averie. Not that I loved her any less, but this time around from the very second I saw him I loved him with every fiber of my being and knew I would never, ever be the same.

We had narrowed our names down to two - Mason Joseph or Reid Joseph. Eli really like Reid but since he named Averie he said it was my choice. I wanted to look at the little man before deciding on a name, and when I saw him I knew he was Reid Joseph. He was absolutely perfect and I never wanted to stop holding him. As the doctor sewed me up, I remember feeling so at peace and calm and I knew that this was God's plan all along. As Dr. Wright left the room I was already telling him I might want to do this again. It took forever for us to be moved down in to the mother baby unit of the hospital due to shift change for the nurses, but when we finally got down and got settled we had a pretty peaceful night. Nursing was going great and Reid only cried a couple of time when he was hungry. I could tell from the beginning that he had such a calm and laid back personality. That night, laying in the hospital bed with my son between my husband and I, I have never been more sure in my life that I had made the right decision.