Barnes Family: Noah James Barnes

He's here! So very excited to finally meet our sweet baby boy and to have him here with us, safe and sound! He weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz and 18" long, pink and wrinkly and sweet and SO perfect!

The process to get him here was far from perfect, it was the worst delivery of the 3. Just like my previous 2, we opted to induce his birth. And of course the day chosen was actually our 7th wedding anniversary. June 24th. We started the day waiting to find out for sure when we'd be able to go in. Around 10am we were finally told there was room and we could go. As soon as we got there they got the pitocin all ordered and let my doctor know I was there. It took a little time to get all settled and about 1/2 hour later, it all began. the pitocin was going and the contractions were coming, although not really any worse yet then what the braxton hicks had been. My doctor came by about 11 and broke my water and the waiting began. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. Not much progress, nothing changing too much. A few hours in to labor the pitocin was making things pretty strong so I opted to go ahead and get the epidural then so I could just relax and be ready for him to make his arrival.

I was sure he'd be born fairly quickly since everyone always says it gets faster and easier each time and had my mom waiting at home to rush the girls up to meet him before they had to go to bed. Thats when things got interesting. At 6pm that night when the shift changes happen, my new nurse came in to check on me and make sure baby boy was ok. His heart rate had been dropping on and off so I had been on oxygen already for a couple of hours trying to keep him more stable. As soon as this nurse came in and assessed what was going on, she seemed worried. I hadn't really been progressing much at all and this baby boy was so not happy, his heart rate dropping more and more with each contraction. Thats when the crazy started.

The nurse was wonderful, she was so amazing and so on top of things and considering how the next few hours went, I was so beyond greatful we had her there with us. She had me moving in to all sorts of positions and finally figured out that if I laid as far as I could on my right side, nearly laying on my stomach, with one knee up a foot or so higher then the bed on a side table, his heart rate would stabilize. It was so uncomfortable and made the contractions so very painful, my hip and back were killing me, but if it meant keeping my baby safe, of course I was going to do it. I was stuck laying that way for a bit over an hour. The nurse had my doctor come in and check on me and they stretched my cervix a bit basically making my body progress from about a 5 to 8 or 9 in about 20 mins. It was fast and painful but I was so relieved thinking for sure this meant the end was so near. The nurse explained his head was slightly turned the wrong direction and that was not allowing him to drop down where he needed to be, they thought for sure he had the cord wrapped around his belly and making him stuck.

And I sat there at a 9 for a couple of hours. The nurse pretty much sat in the room with us because of this little boy stressing out and his heart rate going crazy. 3 times in those last few hours, there were nurses running in the room in their scrub caps all ready to rush me off for an emergency c section. They were trying everything they could to get this baby here without that happening, including running more fluids in with the baby so he wouldn't become distressed anymore then he already was. Finally they had my doctor come in and decided I'd just have to push and force my body to get that 10cm. I was so exhausted and stressed at the thought of a c section and crying, it was the most stressful and hard situation I've ever been in. It took everything in me to push, while the doctors and nurses did everything they could to get the baby to come.

Finally after a little bit of pushing I got really nauseous and ended up getting sick, which I guess actually forced my stomach muscles to push hard enough to get this baby here. He came out with the cord wrapped tightly around his neck a couple of times the doctor had to force off and he was finally here! He was healthy and crying and as soon as he got all cleaned up they brought him over to me hoping that skin to skin contact would help his stats to stay stable as the birth was a little distressing for him. As I held him, I noticed the color on his body was going a little grey and soon after the nurse noticed as well.

They spoke with the nicu nurse to see if he'd need to go up to the nicu nursery, and thankfully she opted to just have him sent in to the well baby nursery to be monitored until he had stabilized. It was a couple of hours before we saw him again or heard anything about how he was doing and it was a terrible end to such a long day. We were moved in to the recovery room at about 2 am, so emotionally drained and exhausted and so worried about what was going on with our sweet baby boy. Finally about 1/2 an hour later they brought him in and he was perfect.

We spent the next couple of days in the hospital, only letting him leave my sight when he was needed for tests or procedures. He was a little momma boys from the start, the nurses would bring him to me saying he was fussy and hungry and nothing they did would calm him and the second I picked him up, he'd calm right down and go to sleep. Such a sweet, loving, cuddly little boy. I am so head over heels in love with him and felt an amazingly strong bond with him as soon as he was given to us. An overwhelming sense of wanting to protect him from everything.

Last pregnant picture!