Coming in at a respectable 9 lbs. 14 oz. and 21" long... William Anderson Hodge!!!
What an emotionally taxing day!!! Shew!!! I started it by reluctantly going to work, as (at that time, still) Preggars McGee had been having contractions for two days that were getting stronger and more regular. Well, my reluctance proved to be warranted. Around 4:30 that afternoon, Preggars called me and told me they were close and strong. We agreed I would stay until they were that way for over an hour and the she had already called the doctor. Fast forward a bit because you obviously know I left work... At the hospital, I was a bit more positive about it than was she. However, as some of you may know, her jadedness didn't come out of nowhere. We had come and been sent home 3 other times before this one. The observed her for a while and then proved her wrong. Around 10:30, as many people were texted, we were in the room we would soon meet Will. Or so we thought...
And so we played the waiting game... sleeping when we could, me a little more than her :-)... watching Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty, A Few Good Men, The Rainmaker, and even a little of Sleeping with the Enemy. Somewhere in there getting an epidural, getting her water broken, and starting a pitocin pump. Kill enough time for ya? And here's where it got a little rough. Jeana had stayed at 6cm for a few hours and then, suddenly, went to almost a full 10 in less than 2 hours. So, the nurse had her push three times through a couple of contractions to see if we were ready to do this. That didn't work out so well... Will's heart rate dropped dramatically with every push/contraction. The doctor then made the decision that she had to have a c-section and now. I won't bore you with counting the times I cried... suffice to say it started at this point and continued off and on for 3 or so hours. Worry consumed me and I tried my best to hide it from Jeana. I don't think it worked. The whisked her off to the O.R. and had me get scrubbed up and put me in the "time out chair", as I'll choose to call it. Seriously, they pointed to a chair in the hall and said, "You, sit there." and I did. For 15 minutes I sat while they prepped my wife for a surgery she was not ready for. Will had already dropped WAY down. And, here's the big one (at least to me) she had an epidural, not a spinal. To me, there's a difference. And after yesterday afternoon, you will never be able to convince me otherwise. Anyways, I was ushered in and directed to sit at her head and hold her hand. The procedure started. She felt pressure for a while, then she felt tremendous pain. It's not easy to look at your wife in so much pain and be utterly and absolutely powerless against it. As all this going on, Will did come out and come out screaming.
Best thing I've EVER seen. Ever, ever, ever. Ever.
So, that part went well. Here's where it gets a little dicey. If you've read this blog before, you know how badly I've wanted to hold my son. Maybe even a little more than everyone else on Planet Earth. That, however, doesn't make it easy when I do get to hold him for the first hour of his life while, now free of whatever causes Preggarcy... The Jeana, CAN'T hold him. It broke my heart. All I wanted was to hand him to her. Then, her epidural started wearing off. That's not good. At all. Not at all. So, what does the anesthesiologist do at this point? Knock The Jeana plum out cold. Not nice. Well, I guess it's better than the pain. I guess I just wish there'd been a third option. You know, with no complications. But, alas... we have a healthy baby boy. Oh, oops... the reason Will's heart rate dropped dramatically during contractions is that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and his body. Good call Dr. Piper. Wish there didn't have to be an emergency rip up my wife and put her back together session.. but, good call none the less.
After we get back to our room and the stuff starts wearing off and The Jeana wakes up enough, she got to hold her son.
New best thing I've EVER seen. Ever, ever, ever. Ever.
After a little while with just The Jeana, Will, and myself I went out to get Mom, Dad, Billy, and Kristi... I started to lose it before I ever got to them. So, as to not alarm them, I did the only thing my tired mind could think of. I walked up to them balling with two big thumbs up. What an idiot. No doubt comical to onlookers. It had just been a very rough 2 hours and it all came out right there... nothing I could do. Ah well. :-)
Now my other favorite part. Seeing "Mamaw" and "Daddy Hodge" hold their first grandson for the first time.
And Uncle Billy... well crap. I'll wait til Dad gets here today and pull some more pictures from his camera... sorry Billy and Kristi...
Sorry about the senseless ramblings and grammatical errors... I'm tired.
Well, we are here at Baptist this morning, happy, in less pain, and tired. We have our son, he's healthy and happy. We're blessed. Happy Father's Day, indeed.
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