Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving this year was one of the most special that we've ever celebrated. We have so very much to be thankful for; and though our faces may show that we're a bit weary with sleep deprivation, we've still got the same head-over-heels-in-love goofy smile on our faces that probably won't fade away any time soon. We're thankful for each other, for our wonderful marriage, for our beautiful, healthy son, and for our friends and family that love us and support us with continual prayers. Life is good.

We had a wonderful visit with our family in Jacksonville. Jonah got to meet lots of new faces of family and friends and I'm quite certain that he felt the love from everyone. We stuffed ourselves with delicious food and laughed much.

I am so thankful. I'm looking forward to making memories....

The Final Chapter: The Beginning

We thought our hearts were not capable of loving any more than they already did....boy were we wrong! Our son, Jonah Sebastian Porter was born on Friday, November 7, 2008 at 3:01 p.m.. He weighed 8lbs, 8oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long. He is just perfect! Just as we suspected, he is worth every single hurdle we jumped to get him here. He came out crying softly and he was so bright-eyed and alert! His APGAR scores were 8 & 9 - which is great - and he was peeing everywhere. We were so proud. Our day started off with a bang - if you know anything about us Porters....if we're gonna do something, we're gonna do it big! So it is with great pleasure that I tell you all about the final chapter in my pregnancy journey. Empty your bladder. Grab a cup of coffee and a snack. This is crazier than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride... Friday morning about 7:00AM I felt crampy & that's what woke me up. After I stood up, I realized my water broke. Well, that's not entirely true; I wasn't sure if I'd peed on myself or if my water broke but once I stood up and felt the gush, I thought, "Oh boy...this is it!!!" I had to re-group my thoughts because I had no idea what to do. Deep breath. OK. OK. Another deep breath. Your husband...you need to call your husband. Right! I called Gold's Gym and knew he would likely be finished with his work-out and in the shower getting ready for work. All the people at the front desk know him and know that I was ready t0 pop any day, so as soon as I said this is Brent's wife, the lady kind of flipped out. She promised she'd find him and have him call me - even if she had to go barging into the men's locker room to do so. Next, I need to call my mom. She'd been calling me at least 7 times a day to ask me if I "had any pains yet" - as if I wouldn't inform her....heh....she has been so excited about this from day one....so I called my mom. She always answered the phone with such anticipation when she saw it was me calling. "Helllllo?"
"Hey mom. Whatcha doin?"
"Making toast, why? Are you having any pains??"
"My water just broke"
[insert shrieking here] "THE TOAST CAN WAIT, I AM ON MY WAY! Well, after I call your father."
"Oh mom, I gotta go, Brent's beeping in"
[click call waiting]
"Hey Brent" "I'M ON MY WAY HOME, I'LL BE THERE IN 10 MINUTES."
"Don't speed, just get here. I'm fine."
"Do I have time to take a shower? I'll only wash my hair and my butt."
"Sure, take your time...but hurry up."
I begin pacing as Brent is bathing so fast and hard that I expect to see him bleeding from scrubbing his skin off. I had our bags packed for several weeks - they just needed to be loaded up in the van. I must have asked Brent 15 times during the course of his 4 minute long shower if he was almost done because as soon as my water broke, the contractions started to get much more intense. I'd never done this before. I was unsure if I was one of these women who was going to go fast and furious or if I still had 30 hours to go yet...but I knew one thing, I was ready to get to the hospital!

Finally Brent got out and we were ready to head to Spring Hill Regional about 7:45AM or so...and it dawned on Brent that he needed to get a substitute teacher for the day since he was going to have 800+ kids waiting on their Coach to be there at 8:00AM. He quickly loaded up his laptop (he could put in for a sub via the internet from the hospital) and we hustled to load up the van. Well, he hustled. I was walking, breathing, and holding a towel between my legs so I wouldn't leave a water trail everywhere I walked. Holy crap, this is it. The shower Brent took was the most futile thing he could have ever done, because the man was drenched with sweat at this point. His blood pressure was probably at stroke level; and if it wasn't what I'm about to tell you surely would have caused a swift rise in his blood pressure....He loaded up the van, I waddled and sat down in the front seat upon my neatly folded towel. He jumped in the driver's seat and inserted the key. He turned the key. Nothing happened. He turned the key again. Click, click, click, click is all that happened when we should have heard the hum of a cranked engine. Brent turned 25 different shades of green and I think I saw him dry heave a little. He hollered, "OH MY GOSH, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CALL 9-1-1!!!" If I would have had a little paper sack, I would have handed it to him to breathe in. The windows have fogged up completely at this point because between the two of us, our body heat was at least 250 degrees. The man's nerves were shot. I had to calm him down. I reminded him that we do have another vehicle...so we packed down the Trans-Am and went to the hospital in style. On the way to the hosptial, I actually called his school to let them know that Brent would not be in that day...one less thing he had to worry about doing. It's a good thing we took those lamaze breathing classes. The breathing techniques really came in handy for Brent.

After the 15 minute ride (that seemed like an eternity), we arrived at the hospital. I had already pre-registered so I didn't have to fill out a hundred forms once I arrived....but can you believe they had me sign in and then "have a seat, someone will be with you shortly"?! Are ya serious? So I sat down; secretly hoping I would mess up their chair from my water breaking. I wasn't very fond of that little snarky guy at the front desk anyway. Stupid little imp rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, after a few minutes, they called me back and showed me to my room.

Once in my room, the most awesome nurse - EVER - Julie, checked me out and said yes, my water had indeed broken and confirmed that I did not pee on myself (that would have sucked) and that I was 2-3cm dilated, 100% effaced, and Jonah's head was very, very low. She got me hooked up to some pitocin

(at a very low level) about 9:00AM to see if that would speed things up a little bit. Pitocin causes contractions and they start you out on a really low level and gradually increase it until your body responds by progressing labor. After laboring a few hours, I noticed the contractions getting MUCH closer and MUCH stronger. I asked Brent to page the nurse - I was ready for an epidural. Julie came back in to check me; very doubtful that I'd progressed enough to get the epidural yet (you need to be 4cm). Much to her surprise, I was at 4cm! I said go get Dr. Feelgood! About 10 minutes later, she returned with John. John is my hero. The epidural took about 5-10 minutes to administer, and I was feeling great after about 10-15 minutes. John the nurse anesthetist & Julie the OB Nurse. My heroes.

They made everything all better. See my thumbs up --->

Mom & Dad arrived about noon. My mother was about to float away she was so excited. Dad was, too, but he had to remain the "sane" one of the two. It's probably a good thing that he drove them down. My mom probably would have been in trouble for speeding. They left a bit after they got there to pick up some lunch - remember, Mom left the toast in the toaster? Almost immediately after they left, Julie came back in to check my progress. She poked and prodded and said "OH!" [with a tone of disbelief] I was 8-9 cm dilated! I called Mom& Dad and advised them they may want to get lunch to go. She let me sit there and simmer for a while. Brent's Mom & Step-Dad got there shortly thereafter with some lunch for Brent & themselves. And they all sat there and ate. I sat there and salivated; watching them with such envy. Brent downed about 13 tacos from Taco Bell. He's a stress eater. A little while later, Julie came back in to check my progress once more, and she happily announced that I was fully dilated at 10cm and ready to push. Luckily, at this point, everyone was finished with their lunches. I did a few practice pushes with her and got no where fast. I couldn't really feel what to do. I knew what was coming....and my fears came true when she said she was going to turn off my epidural. Once the epidural is off, you still have the effects from it for about an hour. In my mind, this meant one thing: I had one hour to get this kid out of me. Game ON. I had my mom on one side holding up a leg, Brent on the other side holding up the other leg (I still have bruises from Brent folding me in half, by the way); Dad was up by my head taking pictures, and my mother in law had a front row seat - all she needed was some popcorn & some pom-poms to cheer me on. Dr. Watterson came in to see how I was doing...watched me push for a few minutes and decided it was baby time! He went and got the lamp that looked very much like a spot light. I guess my nether region was kind of the star of the show at that point....so he got all dressed up in his catcher's gear and I was ready to rock and roll. A contraction came on....Julie told me we were going to do 3 pushes, for 10 seconds each and a fourth push was optional. Brent stared at my ear and counted for me to 10 three times...and in my mind, that 4th push was NOT optional. My time was ticking away from the sweet relief of that epidural....I pushed for about an hour and then out came Jonah's little head....Dr unwrapped the cord from around his neck....then out came the rest of him. I remember how strange it felt that I felt so much lighter after he was out. Then I heard it. The most precious sound ever to grace my ears: his first cry.
Brent and I could not stop smiling as they put the little purple, wrinkled baby on my tummy and we watched as he took his first breaths of life. He just gazed at us - as if he knew exactly who he was looking at. Our hearts could have burst with joy at that moment. Our son was here! This was our Jonah! We waited so long for this moment and ....wow....what a moment it was!

They let me hold him for a few minutes then they took him over and did his footprints and measurements. Brent wore a white t-shirt so he could have a keepsake. Jonah's little footprints were placed on his heart where they shall forever remain and Brent's heart will never be the same. They placed him on the scale and Jonah nearly pulled himself off the table because he grabbed the edge of the scale - he's a strong little booger! He weighed 8lbs 8oz. We thought he looked tiny, but after he was in the nursery next to a little 5 pounder, we realized this was not so. He's a strong, healthy little man and we are so very thankful! While in the hospital, we were treated so good by all of the staff. We had a little difficulty breastfeeding at first and some of the nursery staff (well, really just one nurse) doubted our ability to successfully nurse. They were trying like mad to get me to give him a bottle; but I insisted they give us a little time to practice and learn! I'm happy to say that we got it now! He nurses like a champ and has no trouble at all with his suckling ability. I was nursing him the other day and looked down and noticed that Jonah had a little message for the nurse that doubted him.....hahaha :)


I did say I was going to work on sign language with him....although this is not what I had in mind....hehe We had his first doctor's visit when he was a week old, and he already weighs 8lbs 13oz and he is now 21 inches long! He's growing and thriving on Mommy's milk. He's my little Booby Monster. Mom and Dad came down to help me for the first couple weeks - and they have been amazing! I don't think I could have managed without all the help. I hope I can keep up with stuff once it's just us! I had so much to say....and I'm sorry this was so long....but it's hard to condense the most momentous thing that's happened in my life to date in a short few paragraphs. I congratulate you if you made it this far reading all of my ramblings. Some things you just can't sum up quickly.

Brent and I are the happiest people on earth right now.....and I wouldn't change one second of my life if given the oppertunity to do so. I am so thankful for the prayers and love from our friends and family throughout all of this...

So then, the final chapter has been written, but it is only the beginning. The beginning of many wonderous things to come and many, many moments of sweet memories just waiting to be made. I love my husband. I love our son. I love my life. And I thank God Almighty for the blessings he has bestowed upon us.

The time draws near....

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest member of our family! Our son was due on October 31, 2008...and he's late!! He will come when he is good and ready; but I hope he's ready by Monday, November 10th because that's when he is getting served an eviction notice! I am scheduled for an induction at 7:30AM on that day if he doesn't make his grand debut before then. I know that good things come to those who wait, and this little boy is so worth the wait! We have had such a long, emotional, stressful road to get to this point and we are so very thankful for the blessing that will be arriving shortly! Our little man is going to be welcomed with so much love and excitement, he will wonder why he waited so long to come out! Our journey has been hard, but we have grown so close and our faith has been tested, but without tests, we would have no testimony...I know this journey will be well worth all of the heartache we have endured the moment I gaze upon our sweet baby boy's precious little face...