Gavin's arrival

First of all I apologize for it taking 11 days to update on the most amazing experience of my life. However amazing as it has been it has been the most time consuming and exhausting experience also. So....

Our adventure began last Tuesday night when we checked into the hospital at midnight after a last supper at IHOP. I wanted to try those pancake stackers with the cheesecake in the middle. Yummy!! Our dinner was disturbed however by these teenagers on what had to be the biggest caffeine and/or sugar high ever. They were extremely loud and obnoxious so my pancake stacker experience was not all that it could have been, but I still highly recommend them if you don't have weight issues :-). After that it was off to the hospital, we met some very interesting characters that were also checking in for surgery the next morning and the helped to dispel my anxiousness. The nurses were super sweet which helped me not to come unglued when they had to stick me a million times looking for a vein for my iv. I exercised what had to be the most patience I have ever shown that night and truly tried my hardest to show the love of Jesus to them, I hope they caught it :-). Of course by the time all of this was through it was about 3 am and as tired as I was, it was almost impossible to sleep. I did eventually fall into a light slumber only to be awaken at 7 when the new shift of very sweet and helpful nurses came into check my vitals and update me on what was going to happen that day.

At this point I was reciting Isiah 26:3 to myself because I was so nervous. Don't get me wrong, I was super happy knowing I was about to have a baby, but I was also exceedingly nervous about the spinal block that was coming with my c-section. If you have seen those needles that look like drill bits, you understand where I am coming from. I was also a bit concerned with the c-section itself, not knowing what to expect. I really wanted someone to come and pray with us but since we have just switched churches and haven't even joined the church we have been attending lately I didn't feel right about having the hospital contact the preacher at our new church. Well I should have had more faith that God would meet my needs because low and behold who should show up right before they took me back to pray with us, but Bro. Phil the preacher from our new church. How he knew we where there or even that we went to his church had to be divinely ordered. It really calmed my fears and gave me the peace I had been seeking.

About 9 or 9:15, the labor and delivery nurse came to get Clay and I to head back to surgery. Clay had to put on his scrubs and I had to get my spinal block and catheter before he came in. EVERYONE was so nice and comforting, I truly could not have asked for a better group of people to take care of me during this time. Theresa the midwife that works for my OB was there and told me she was praying for me, Ashley a friend of mine who knows Theresa well, was calling her and told her to tell me she was praying for me. I knew then that I was completely covered in prayer and had nothing to worry about. I will admit to still being a bit anxious when the anesthesiologist came in to put in my spinal block. He made me sit up and told me to bend over as much as I could. Those of you who saw me in the last days of my pregnancy know that my belly was SO huge that sitting straight up was as far as I could bend over! Well in no time the spinal block was in with no pain I might add and I was laying on the table being prepped.

About this time they brought Clay in and the procedure began. I felt a little funny, kind of loopy. Not sure if this was from the spinal block or just being extremely relaxed for the first time in days possibly months. Clay and I chatted for a couple of minutes and held hands and then the doctor said that I would feel a bit of tugging and then it would feel like I had someone sitting on my chest but to breath normally. I then heard the doctor say, goodness that is a big kid, or something to that effect. Then they told Clay that if he wanted to see Gavin and to take a picture to stand up. All in all the whole thing took less than 5 minutes probably. It was completely amazing. All of the sudden I heard this really deep cry, it sounded like a toddler.

After they swaddled him up, we got to hold him for a few minutes before they took him back to weigh and clean him up. It was the most amazing feeling ever, holding him, knowing that he had come out of my body. He was the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and it was the happiest moment I can ever remember. The instant love that I felt for that child is unexplainable.

Clay went with Gavin to take pictures of him getting weighed and measured while I got stitched and stapled up and then he met me in recovery. He weighed 9lb 5.2oz, He was 21.75 inches long and his head was 15 inches around.