Weston's Birth Story

I am finally catching up on my personal blog! Yikes, it's been over three months. I guess I have had a lot going on with adjusting to life with a new baby and all ;-) I thought I would share Weston's birth story...hopefully I still remember everything! So here it goes.....

 I had been having impending labor signs for a few weeks before my due date. My doctor even said that my progress was really good for a first time mom. I tried to not get my hopes up, but wondered if Wes might come early...or at least on time. Good thing I didn't count on that because he was not early or on time! A couple days before I was 41 weeks, we went in for an extensive ultrasound to see how he was doing and discuss the possibility of induction. Wes was doing well and all looked good. They were estimating that he could be 8 1/2 lbs. Of course, they say it can be a pound off. My doctor would let me wait until 42 weeks if I wished since all was looking okay with Weston. However, we had to decide if there was really any benefit to waiting a little longer. Luckily, I have been blessed with an incredible doctor who fully supported our wishes to go natural and she was totally up for it if we wanted to wait longer. Dr. Speight went ahead and stripped the membranes to see if that would help encourage my body to start laboring. She said if we decided to induce, she could do it the following Tuesday night (1 day later) or the following Friday night. She told us to go home and think about it and give her a call in the morning if we decided to move forward with induction.

 Ryan and I prayed about it, discussed it, and felt a peace about moving forward with induction. I really didn't want to be induced, but felt like my body had tried to start labor a couple times already and then would stop after several hours. For us and our situation, we didn't feel any real advantage to waiting another week. We felt like we were supposed to move forward with induction, so I called my doctor and we were set to head to the hospital that next day (Tuesday night) for me to received the Cervidil to induce labor. Cervidil is a less invasive form of induction and it was our hope that it would be all we would need to get my labor going and that I wouldn't have to eventually get Pitocin. The Lord sure answered that prayer!

 The next night, we (my mom, dad, sister) were waiting on Ryan and his mom to get home in order to all go to the hospital. Ryan said he was going to go get a quick haircut on his way home. I initially thought he would have time for this and didn't think much of it. Well, we waited and waited and finally just had to tell Ryan and his mom to meet us there. Apparently the salon was packed and his haircut took forever! It was kind of a stressful drive on the way to the hospital, with a quick stop for dinner to go. We got to the hospital and Ryan was there...all was well (and yes, his hair did look good!). At 9:30pm, I was administered the Cervidil. I already was feeling pretty regular contractions (the stripping of the membranes could have started early labor for me already). They gave me an Ambien and said most people just sleep through the early labor...hoping I would sleep. That did not happen as my contractions were already getting more intense. By 2am, I was dilated to a 4, so the nurse said it was time to move me to labor and delivery. I am glad that the Cervidil was the only help we needed to get labor going and I was able to get my wish of a natural (drug-free) labor. At 6am, I was dilated to a 6. At first, I rocked in a rocking chair for a while and watched the Olympics while breathing through contractions. I then moved to the birthing ball and pretty much stayed there the rest of the time until I was ready to push. By 8:30-ish I was entering the transition stage of labor. This was the hardest for me, especially since my body had the urge to push the WHOLE time. Apparently, that isn't normal and the urge to push usually comes at the end of this stage. I was supposed to just breathe through those urges and try to not push. Sometimes that worked, sometimes my body just involuntarily did it. Ryan was amazing through it all and was so encouraging during this hard part. He quoted the scripture verses we had memorized for the labor. He made sure the worship music was playing in the background. He encouraged and praised me for my efforts. He was such a blessing. After about and hour of the transition stage, it was time to push. That was a relief for me since my body was wanting to do that! At 10:13am (Wednesday, August 1, 2012), Weston Dean Hembree was born. Phil Wickham's song "Beautiful" was playing when he was born. So special and fitting! He was 7lbs 11oz, 20.5 inches long. It all seemed so surreal and still feels like it was a dream.

The whole experience really was great! I feel blessed to have only had a 10 hour labor, knowing it can be much longer for first time moms. I feel blessed that the Lord allowed me to be calm and focused during the whole labor/delivery. It was only through relying on HIM that this was accomplished. I felt His comfort and strength helping me each moment. I will never forget the moment I saw Weston for the first time. He was worth the wait. Perfect. So handsome. Our son!

 (I should note that Ryan's Grandpa Bob passed away on the Friday after Weston's birth. He asked everyday if Weston had come yet. I think he was waiting to see his great-grandson before passing. Not only did he get to see a picture of Weston, he also got to see a picture of his other great-grandson who was born 2 hours apart from Weston. Lucas was born to my brother and sister-in-law in China on the same day. Lucas was one week early, Weston was one week late. How awesome that they share the same birthday!?!! I really feel that the Lord gave us peace about moving forward with induction because if we had waited much longer, Grandpa Bob most likely would never had seen a picture of Weston before his passing. I am grateful that he had that chance.)

- Katie