10.9.8

What an amazing ride we've had over the past 72+ hours. Quite possibly the most dramatic hours of our life so far. My life as I knew it has changed. With change comes new responsibility, new love, and new challenges. I'm soooo excited!

10.8.8

I came home from a long day of work on Wednesday night around 7:00. My Mom Rhonda was pacing around talking about how I probably shouldn't expect to go into work in the morning. It was time.... time? Paige had been experiencing small contractions infrequently since the night before, but now they were coming consistently. Every 4 minutes Paige would stop everything and wince from the brief 30 to 40 seconds of discomfort. Things progressed steadily for the following 2 hours, and the conclusion was made that tonight was the night. I drove Maddy to doggy day care, left Sadie with Grandpa, and packed the car. We were off to Spectrum Health's Butterworth Emergency room. Paige cried as we drove down the highway but calmly stated that she wasn't sad, but nervous about the night ahead. It was all becoming very real. Soon we would have a very new member of our family.

10.9.8

12 am came, 1 am came, 2 am came, and 3 am came and went without a dramatic change besides contraction intensity. Paige's mom Doreen and sister Blythe joined us as we counted the minutes and seconds between and during contractions. Nurses fussed over the process and assured us that Paige was doing great. She was being SO STRONG. As the night wore on Paige's contractions became very intense. At around 4 am she made the decision to have an epidural. The contractions faded away and we were all able to rest. Whew... We all woke the next morning and met with Dr. Luce about the progress. Things were going well and dilation had increased from 5 cm to a strong 7 cm. 12 pm was the projected time for pushing. Almost 24 hours of solid labor and we finally had light at the end of the tunnel. Paige took a nap and prepared for work.

At 12pm Dr. Luce came in to assess the situation. Dilation was now a strong 9 if not fully dilated and the baby had dropped to 0 position. It was time. Doreen, Blythe and I gathered around Paige as she readied for the next contraction and gave our words of support. As the pushing began and progressed, Paige laid everything she had into bringing this baby into the world. 30 mins went by and the baby was still at 0 position. 1 hour went by and the baby was still at 0 position. finally, after an hour and half of pushing the position progressed to +1. However, exhaustion was setting in for Paige. 2 hours came and went of strenuous pushing, but nothing progressed passed +1. I could tell that Dr. Luce was getting worried for Paige and the baby. She helped with what ended up being the final 1/2 hour of pushing by suggesting alternate birthing positions. Nothing worked... and Paige was completely wore out. I sensed the suggestion before it was made, because there was nothing else to be done. We were to go in for an emergency Cesarean. We cried... The family all left the room and I made sure Paige knew how proud I was of her and of all the work she had done. I did the best I could in telling her that everything was going to be okay, and that we would have a baby very very soon.

We rolled into the O.R. at 3 pm and were pleasantly surprised to have a very close family friend, Mark Laughlin serve as the standing anaesthesiologist. It felt really reassuring to have a familiar face in the room making sure that everything was going to go well. The procedure began and Mark pulled out a mirror so that Paige and I could watch what was happening. Paige immediately pulled away from watching, but Mark insisted she watch her baby come into the world. At 3:19 pm, 10.9.8 Leah Blythe Carey came into the world. She is perfect! Once again we cried, but this time it wasn't for uncertainty or exhaustion, it was for sheer joy and love.

The next hours were spent introducing family to the new baby and lots of laughing, hugging, and celebration.

10.10.08, 10.11.08, 10.12.08, ....

We spent these days in the hospital together bonding with our new beautiful girl. We love her unconditionally and will always love her this way. To us she is the cutest baby in the world and God has blessed us with a true miracle. As to Paige's recovery, she is going to be expected to take 6 weeks before she is back to normal. Please keep us and especially Paige and Leah in your prayers as we move towards the holiday seasons and begin new traditions and memories. This blog will help commemorate our lives together and share our experiences with our family and friends across the country. We love you all and can't wait for everyone to meet our little Leah.