Welcome Home Mac!

Welcome MacArthur Reid Chism! You are 3 weeks old today so I guess a "Happy Birthday" is in order:)
You arrived 10 days early from your June 4 due date on May 25, 2010, Nana's birthday. The day began like any other except that we were preparing for Nana's arrival from Florida. She was hoping to be here for your birth so she came a little over a week early. Little did we know what a great day she chose! We saw Dr. Gorman the day earlier for our normal weekly appointment, May 24, and he was pretty sure we would be back in another week for our regular visit. So when I began having pains on Tuesday, I didn't think too much of it. I had a few on the way to the airport to pick up Nana, and they continued throughout the afternoon. None of them were extremely bad just more of a pause in the day's normal activities. After about 3 hours of contractions that were very inconsistent, I called the doctor to find out when I should begin taking these seriously. I was told by the nurse that since this was baby #4, Dr. Gorman would like to see me.
So off to the hospital we went. Nana, Will, Sam, & Ike drove me to the doctor's office, and Daddy met us there. Dr. Gorman checked things out and said that I had progressed quite a bit since the day before so he was going to send me downstairs to be monitored for awhile and then Dr. Partridge, the doctor on call, would make the call. Nana took the boys home while Brent and I went down to triage. Down in triage, we filled out our paperwork, answered a series of questions, dressed in a stylish, backless gown, peed in a cup, and got hooked up to the monitors. After an hour and a half of being monitored and increasingly painful contractions, the nurse came in and said that although I was 3 1/2 cm dilated and having regular and lengthy contractions, they were not consistent and I had not dilated any further. Some were contraction 2 minutes apart while others were 7. The nurse told us to go ahead and go home to eat dinner and relax maybe even take a bath. I will say that I was a little frustrated. I didn't necessarily need to have a baby on Tuesday, May 25 but my contractions were pretty painful and regular in my mind. How could I go home and take care of 3 kiddos with this level of discomfort? She said that I might be back tonight or in two weeks she didn't know but it would be when the contractions came at consistent intervals. I am sure that I was pretty annoying at this point because I asked several times how I would know when it was time. (I have had 3 other babies and none of them came with consistent contractions until after I was at the hospital in full labor. In fact, with Ike, I never felt a contraction. They told me my water was spilling out and I needed to have him within 24 hours. I got an epidural and never felt a contraction;)) The nurse assured me that when it was time, I would know. So, we signed out of the hospital, made a phone call, got in the car, and began our drive home.
I had a contraction leaving the parking lot at about 6:15 pm. We got on the interstate with a contraction at 6:18 pm and at 6:22 pm, as we were exiting the interstate, my water exploded in Brent's car. Now my water broke with Will and it was like little bubbles bursting every few seconds. With Ike, my water was leaking. Never have I had my water explode before. It was strange! So Brent quickly looped around and got back on the interstate heading back to the hospital. When we arrived at triage, they cut off my roughly 15 minute old arm bands and fitted me with new ones. I filled out that same paperwork again and answered the same questions before. "Yes, I still feel safe in my own home. No, I did not take up smoking in the past 15 minutes;)" I got a new gown, hooked up to monitors, and that nice nurse came back in. She reminded me that she did say that when it was time, "I would know". I guess that is why she is paid the big bucks because I certainly knew:)
At this point, things began to move quickly, not quickly enough for my taste but quicker none the less. When the nurse reexamined me, I was now at 5 cm and she confirmed it was my water that I experienced. (Good thing for me. I think Brent and Coca-Cola will forgive me for my water breaking in the company car but probably not for peeing in it:)) As the process continued for preparing to have a baby from an administrative standpoint, my pains were becoming increasingly worse. Brent was pacing, concerned I wouldn't get my epidural. The nice nurse doing my IVs seemed concerned about that as well because he got my bed rolling down the hall, and I am certain that this wasn't his job. I got to the delivery room and waited for the man only 2 to the Lord himself, the anesthesiologist:) (Unfortunately, to get an epidural, you have to wait for blood work to come back, so I waited for what seemed like forever.) After that sweet man gave me my epidural, the nurse came right behind him to check me. Oops! Seems in that short amount of time moving from triage to the delivery room, I had progressed to 9 cm. Now I am a big fan of epidurals and anything to take away the pain but had I known that I was only a cm away from having this baby, I might have gone for it. When that sweet doctor was administering those lovely drugs, I thought I was at a 6 and I couldn't figure out how or why someone would be able to handle another 4 cm of this. I guess even though I went through most of the labor with the pain, my after the baby was pretty relaxing:)
Anyway, Dr. Partridge quickly came in prepared to deliver our baby Mac. I pushed once, and then she asked me to push half that hard. Out you came Mac! I was moved into that room, hooked up to machines, had all my stats taken, given an epidural, and pushed 1 & 1/2 times all in less than about 45 minutes. I guess you showed them Mac! You didn't care about dates or time between contractions. You were ready to come and so you did.
You weighed in at 7 lb 13 oz (same as Will & Sam). You were 20 1/2 in long (same as Sam) with lots of black hair. You were perfect. Daddy was there waiting for your arrival along with Nana. This was the first of her grandchildren that Nana was in the delivery room for the birth. (I hadn't asked her before. I actually didn't think anyone outside of the medical profession, and the daddy would want to be in there. There is alot of crazy stuff going on in that room.) Mama Fran was also going to be in there for your arrival but you came SO fast that she and Papa got there about 10 minutes after you entered the world. Pawpaw was driving from Florida so he got there the very next day to see you.
Since that Tuesday in May, we have felt overwhelmed, tired, loved... really a mix of so many emotions but mostly we have felt blessed. You are a perfect, sweet baby who loves to be held. Your brothers find you fascinating and love to touch and talk to you. Ike has a few mixed feelings. He has lost his place as the baby but we spend each day trying to convince him that this is all that he lost:) So, he loves you but he hasn't quite figured out the benefit of being an older brother. He will though, in just a short time:)
Our family is complete. Your daddy and I had always talked about having four but we took that one baby at a time. Thankfully God had that in His plans too. I look at you and see each of your brothers. No, you don't necessarily look like any or all of them but I see the promise in you that I saw in each of them. I love having you in my house under my care but I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you. You are a child of God. He loved you from the beginning and will until the end just like your daddy and me.
Happy Birthday MacArthur. You are a delight!