Happy 5th Birthday, Kaleb!

Early spring we have a couple big celebrations back to back. We were quite blessed this time of year to have 2 boys, 2 years apart (almost exactly). Today I want to share our journey with Kaleb.

Kaleb was a surprise, but a great one! Isaac was about 15 months old when we found out that we'd be expecting another little one. We were a bit shocked but so thankful we had just moved into a bigger home! We were still settling in to our new home. We were excited but a little nervous how all this would work out. I was sicker this time with morning sickness and trying to still keep up with a toddler. I was miserable for about 3 months of my pregnancy with Kaleb.

I remember being 39 weeks and 6 days along...one more day until my due date. I had gone 4 days early with Isaac and was expecting to go early with Kaleb. It was a long week! I was scheduled to go in for a stress test on Thursday, March 30th and right before I walked out the door I got a call from the office saying my midwife (I chose to go a different route with our second birth) was with another patient and I would need to reschedule my appointment for the next day. That is not what a very pregnant woman wants to hear!! I wanted to go and she tell me I was close to going into labor and would have this baby. I think I was even rude to the lady on the phone and she didn't do anything wrong. I was so bummed. I don't remember what I did the rest of the day but I think I was pretty grouchy.

Next morning I woke up feeling contractions. I was excited to go to my appointment to see how close I was getting. It was great news to hear my midwife say, "I won't be surprised to see you tonight!" YAY, this was finally happening!!

Jeff and I came back home and took it easy all day. With each contraction I was hoping it would get stronger. I kept progressing all day but wasn't too uncomfortable. Around 7:30pm my parents came over to get Isaac because I really felt that I would be having him within the next 12 hours. Jeff and I headed to bed early knowing we'd probably not get through the night. As soon as we get into bed my contractions start to increase and get harder. We timed them for an hour and headed to the hospital around 9:30pm.

This time around we chose a midwife out of Fort Wayne who would deliver at Parkview. So, we had about a 50 min drive and didn't want to wait until the last minute. By the time we got around and got in, it was about 10:45pm. I remember thinking I would be dilated about 5 or 6cm. I was between 3 and 4cm. I was so frustrated! Here I thought I had made more progress. Nonetheless I was in labor, so that was exciting!

I get settled in and wanted to do this birth all natural. However, Kaleb decided not to cooperate. His heart rate kept dropping with each contraction so that became a concern to my midwife. She encouraged me to get an epidural if I was on the fence in case we had to go into an emergency c-section. Praise the Lord I didn't have to have a c-section but I did choose the epidural. She helped me deliver a healthy baby boy at 3:47am! We found out that his heart rate kept dropping because his cord was wrapped around his neck twice. That happened with both boys.

What a difference! I was only in the hospital 5 hours before delivering verses the 16 hours with Isaac.

It wasn't until Kaleb was 6 weeks old that we got a heart diagnosis and you can read about our journey at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kalebmorris. Kaleb truly is a miracle!! He's quite the character, has a very strong personality but so very loving. He is such a joy and we are so blessed!!