On April 19th Sharon had her regularly-scheduled appointment with the OB/GYN. It was then that she learned that, even though only 36 weeks pregnant ("only" is used here as a relative term) she was already dilated to a three, almost a four. The doctor informed us that she was on call that weekend and that we might be seeing her soon. Or, Sharon might walk around for three more weeks. That's the thing with babies. They show up on their own schedule. At this point, all of the charming aspects of pregnancy were very much over and Sharon was feeling rather miserable. The doctor assured us it was God's way to make her so sick of being pregnant that she was ready to endure labor and delivery. Here's the "baby bump."
A week later Sharon was due for her next appointment. At this point we were at 37 weeks (full-term) and feeling much less anxiety over an early birth. The doctor checked Sharon again and, lo and behold, she was now dilated to a four, almost a five. Matt's Aunt Karma lives in NW Arkansas and had offered to be a "surrogate mom" for Sharon during delivery. She wisely decided to drive over and attend the doctor's appointment with us.
Once the doctor saw how far Sharon was dilated we were sent over to the triage unit for an hour's worth of observation. Sharon was hooked up to the monitors where she was able to learn that the periodic cramps she'd been feeling every 10 minutes or so were, in fact, contractions. It was during this time that Matt's boss decided to pop in and say hello and wish us well (Matt works at the hospital.) Sharon was, of course, thrilled to meet Matt's boss while in a hospital gown and attached with various monitors and wires. After an hour of observation it was determined that Sharon's contractions weren't strong enough. So we were instructed to walk around the hospital for an hour to see if gravity would do the work for us. Of course walking around the hospital meant running into several other of Matt's co-workers. In retrospect, perhaps it isn't a good idea to have a baby at the place you work.
An hour later and we still hadn't progressed, so we were sent home. Matt was suspicious of such a decision and insisted that Sharon sit on a towel. After dinner (Smashburger - highly recommended by pregnant moms and expectant fathers) and a little TV Sharon casually asked Aunt Karma what it felt like when one's water broke. A short while later it became clear why Sharon had posed the question. (Hooray for the towel.) At 8:30 p.m. Sharon's water broke and we were on our way back to the hospital.
Labor was definitely made more pleasant by the epidural (for Sharon, not Matt.) In fact, Sharon spent a fair amount of labor taking a nap. Things still weren't progressing as well as everyone would like, and so at about 3 a.m. the nurse pushed a few buttons and turned the bed into a chair. Sitting upright did the trick as gravity helped things along. Unfortunately our little fella wasn't a big fan of labor. His heart rate began dropping during contractions (or when anybody touched his head, interestingly enough.)
At about 4:30 a.m. it became time to push. Sharon pushed while Matt held one leg and Aunt Karma the other. The epidural will only get you so far, and Sharon got to feel plenty of the pains of pushing. The baby was really struggling now and not tolerating the labor process at all. The doctor suggested we use the suction cap to help get him out of there. It took several tries to get the cap to stick to his hair-covered head. But, at 5:31 a.m. on April 27th Grayson Edward Gosney was born. (That suction gave him quite the cone head. Fortunately that's begun to shrink back down!)
From the minute Grayson arrived he was a studier. He hardly fussed, something that has continued fairly consistently. He loves having his eyes open and observing what is going on around him, and he'll crane his head when he hears his Mom or Dad talk to him. We think looks-wise he's a pretty good mix between his Mom and Dad, but mostly he just looks like Grayson. He was born needing a haircut. You can't see in the pictures but his hair could almost be put in a pony-tail in back. He's definitely a snuggle-bunny. His favorite way to fall asleep is on Dad's shoulder. As soon as he goes up there he's out like a light.
One of the perks of your Dad working where you're born is that you do get the "penthouse" room.
And all of the staff were extra-ordinarily attentive to our every want and need. (Most of their visits began with a review of the chart and the comment of "so, you work at the hospital?" We're sure we would've received great care regardless, but in times such as this a little extra pull didn't hurt.) After a rather unpleasant second day on the planet (little boys have it rough in the beginning) we took him home on Sunday the 29th.
You'll notice he's looking a little orange in the "going home" photos. Unfortunately that jaundice didn't improve and we found ourselves back at the Hospital the following Wednesday. But, after a couple of nights in his own private tanning salon, he was back in action and home again - this time a normal color.
Those of you who've known us a while know we've been waiting a very long time for Grayson to make his way into our lives. For a while it looked as if we were going to have to take some extreme measures to be able to have a child. Fortunately, that ended up not being the case. We're both pretty much overwhelmed with how much you can love someone you just met! But, for now at least, every dirty diaper is a joy and every pitiful little cry is adorable. We're so glad Grayson joined our family and we can't wait to watch him learn and grow. We love you, Grayson!
