Finally…a free moment to update the blog. I have written this blog in my head about half a dozen times during late night feedings and diaper changes. But as a new mom, finding the time to actually sit down and put it all on paper has been a bigger challenge than I thought : ) Let me preface this by warning you this will by far be my longest blog ever. So….consider yourself warned.
Here we go…Gage’s Birth Story:
As most of you know the third trimester for me was spent wrapping up the last minute details and preparing for Gage’s arrival. Come the beginning of Feb and 3 weeks before my due date I was READY..And very large and very uncomfortable. The days leading up to Gage’s debut were some of the happiest days of my life. C all it instinct or intuition but Dustin and I had a feeling Gage would be here within days. So, we decided to take full advantage of the time we had just the two of us, it would be the last time in our lives : ) Thursday we went out to dinner just the two of us to a little Italian restaurant we like very much. It was a fantastic dinner, great food, great service, and great company! The following evening we relaxed at home after what we hoped was our final doctor’s appointment. It was also my last day at work until after the baby came. I was a bit melancholy about that, but happy to have the time off all in the same. I was pretty tired those last few weeks. At our 38 week appointment my doctor told me she would perform a procedure that would help push things along and commented that this procedure caused most women to go into labor within 24-72 hours. She mentioned however that first time moms were the exception. We went ahead and moved forward and hoped our little Gage would be the norm and not the exception. That night D and I relaxed on the couch with carry out and a movie. It was bliss. The following morning Dustin left for the day to head up to the deer lease with a buddy. It was one of those gorgeous Texas days outside. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, and just the slightest breeze to keep you cool. Day-Z and I spent the entire day in the backyard and just napped, read a book, and contemplated how much life would change in a matter of weeks (little did we know it would actually be days) That Saturday was Sept 12th and my mom had planned a party at her house that evening for some of her closest friends. No sooner did we show up, and I started having “contractions” Not bad contractions, most people would not have even known I was having them. I ignored them at first and told myself this was yet again some false labor. We left the party early because we were just ready to go home and be together and I was just uncomfortable. Had I mentioned that already? ; ) So we get home, head to bed, and the contractions persist through the night. I stay up all night just timing them to see how close they would get. Through the wee morning hours of Sunday morning, and on into Sunday afternoon I kept contracting. They were now strong enough to not ignore, or sleep through, but still only every 15 minutes and not intensifying or coming any quicker. Dustin and I decided to take the day making last minute preparations. However, we did find time for a picnic lunch in the park and even a stop at the frozen yogurt place with the neighbors. Those couple days before Gage came really were magical. There was just this unsaid closeness and love between Dustin and I that I can’t explain. I really enjoyed that time spent with him. The contractions continued throughout the day and that night we went to eat dinner at my Dad’s house. He had gone all out and prepared his coronary cavarones (which is a separate story in itself) and really out-did himself for dinner that night. I ate 3 whole bites. I was not hungry at all…except, I wanted toast. THIS was the first time that whole two days I had convinced myself, this was really it. I remembered my mom telling me she wanted Luby’s before she had me. Instead, she had Mexican and it didn’t go over well. I now wanted toast instead of spicy lemon garlic butter sautéed shrimp? Yup I was in labor : ) That night at 1:30am the contractions finally starting intensifying and immediately jumped from 15 minutes to 8 minutes. I woke Dustin up and told him, it was time : ) We took our time getting ready to go to the hospital, well, I did anyways. Dustin was a tiny bit of a nervous wreck. He was anxious and scurrying to load the car. He got it all loaded, I was calm and steady : ) in fact, I was eating that toast finally ..knowing it would be my last meal for a while. Right before we headed out the door we stopped and spent about 10 minutes talking to Day-Z (my first baby) It was like she just knew her world was about to change and we wanted to just assure her it was OK. Call me crazy, I know..but hey..this dog has been with me for 9 years now and has seem me through some of the most influential years of my life. The least I could do was stop and give her a hug before replacing her with my new “baby” On the way to the hospital the contractions jumped again from 8 minutes to every 5 minutes and I told Dustin maybe we should drive just a little bit faster : ) We arrived at the hospital around 5am and I was sure I was leaking water. We got checked in and settled and the nurse came in to check. That’s when my world stopped….and so did the contractions!! For 2 solid days I had nonstop contractions. Now we get to the hospital, call the moms and says its finally time, and now contractions are stopping? We sat there for 2 hours waiting to see if anything would progress. I broke down. I was already tired at this point and now the nurses were talking about sending me home until I progressed further. I was humiliated and felt more foolish than ever. I really just sat there and started sulking..and then..one more contraction. The sweet nurse took pity on me and suggested we wait just 30 more minutes to see if I progressed. And what do you know? The contractions started back up and things started progressing. We were back on track!! I got changed, got the epidural, and strapped in for what I was sure was going to be a long process. It was now about 9am by the time we got settled in. The nurse estimated that this would take about 6 more hours based on where I was currently at. An hour later she came back to check me again and I was READY! My mom warned me that I would probably go quickly if I was anything like her. Evidently, momma really does know best. It was at this time that what was taking place really hit me and I started crying AGAIN. I spent some time with our family who had now arrived at the hospital and then right before it was time for the room to clear out I sat quietly with my mom, Dustin, and Jolene. Jolene said a beautiful prayer and then everyone left. It was just Dustin and I...and the thought still makes my eyes water. It really was the last time it would be Kelch family, party of 2. We did it! All the dreams and hopes, conversations, what ifs, wondering, and preparing for the last 38 weeks were here. It all came down to this moment. Labor was easy, blame it on these hips of mine. I heard Gage cry and my heart literally filled with love. Dustin looked at me and tears were streaming down his face. He was BEAMING with pride and complete bewilderment. We both were! Did this really just happen? All those months I had foolishly worried about whether or not I would bond with Gage, would he like me, would I like him, were immediately dismissed. The second I laid eyes on him and heard him cry I loved him more than anyone in the world. When people discuss marriage and spouses and they say “when you know, you know” they were right. When I started dating Dustin I just knew. When I would call my mom and ask her ”mom” questions or listen to other parents talk about their love for their children they would just say…its indescribable. Never has a word been more accurate and more inadequate all at the same time. When I try to describe how much I adore this little person the Lord has blessed us with, there are no words. He is simply indescribable.
As most of you know the third trimester for me was spent wrapping up the last minute details and preparing for Gage’s arrival. Come the beginning of Feb and 3 weeks before my due date I was READY..And very large and very uncomfortable. The days leading up to Gage’s debut were some of the happiest days of my life. C all it instinct or intuition but Dustin and I had a feeling Gage would be here within days. So, we decided to take full advantage of the time we had just the two of us, it would be the last time in our lives : ) Thursday we went out to dinner just the two of us to a little Italian restaurant we like very much. It was a fantastic dinner, great food, great service, and great company! The following evening we relaxed at home after what we hoped was our final doctor’s appointment. It was also my last day at work until after the baby came. I was a bit melancholy about that, but happy to have the time off all in the same. I was pretty tired those last few weeks. At our 38 week appointment my doctor told me she would perform a procedure that would help push things along and commented that this procedure caused most women to go into labor within 24-72 hours. She mentioned however that first time moms were the exception. We went ahead and moved forward and hoped our little Gage would be the norm and not the exception. That night D and I relaxed on the couch with carry out and a movie. It was bliss. The following morning Dustin left for the day to head up to the deer lease with a buddy. It was one of those gorgeous Texas days outside. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, and just the slightest breeze to keep you cool. Day-Z and I spent the entire day in the backyard and just napped, read a book, and contemplated how much life would change in a matter of weeks (little did we know it would actually be days) That Saturday was Sept 12th and my mom had planned a party at her house that evening for some of her closest friends. No sooner did we show up, and I started having “contractions” Not bad contractions, most people would not have even known I was having them. I ignored them at first and told myself this was yet again some false labor. We left the party early because we were just ready to go home and be together and I was just uncomfortable. Had I mentioned that already? ; ) So we get home, head to bed, and the contractions persist through the night. I stay up all night just timing them to see how close they would get. Through the wee morning hours of Sunday morning, and on into Sunday afternoon I kept contracting. They were now strong enough to not ignore, or sleep through, but still only every 15 minutes and not intensifying or coming any quicker. Dustin and I decided to take the day making last minute preparations. However, we did find time for a picnic lunch in the park and even a stop at the frozen yogurt place with the neighbors. Those couple days before Gage came really were magical. There was just this unsaid closeness and love between Dustin and I that I can’t explain. I really enjoyed that time spent with him. The contractions continued throughout the day and that night we went to eat dinner at my Dad’s house. He had gone all out and prepared his coronary cavarones (which is a separate story in itself) and really out-did himself for dinner that night. I ate 3 whole bites. I was not hungry at all…except, I wanted toast. THIS was the first time that whole two days I had convinced myself, this was really it. I remembered my mom telling me she wanted Luby’s before she had me. Instead, she had Mexican and it didn’t go over well. I now wanted toast instead of spicy lemon garlic butter sautéed shrimp? Yup I was in labor : ) That night at 1:30am the contractions finally starting intensifying and immediately jumped from 15 minutes to 8 minutes. I woke Dustin up and told him, it was time : ) We took our time getting ready to go to the hospital, well, I did anyways. Dustin was a tiny bit of a nervous wreck. He was anxious and scurrying to load the car. He got it all loaded, I was calm and steady : ) in fact, I was eating that toast finally ..knowing it would be my last meal for a while. Right before we headed out the door we stopped and spent about 10 minutes talking to Day-Z (my first baby) It was like she just knew her world was about to change and we wanted to just assure her it was OK. Call me crazy, I know..but hey..this dog has been with me for 9 years now and has seem me through some of the most influential years of my life. The least I could do was stop and give her a hug before replacing her with my new “baby” On the way to the hospital the contractions jumped again from 8 minutes to every 5 minutes and I told Dustin maybe we should drive just a little bit faster : ) We arrived at the hospital around 5am and I was sure I was leaking water. We got checked in and settled and the nurse came in to check. That’s when my world stopped….and so did the contractions!! For 2 solid days I had nonstop contractions. Now we get to the hospital, call the moms and says its finally time, and now contractions are stopping? We sat there for 2 hours waiting to see if anything would progress. I broke down. I was already tired at this point and now the nurses were talking about sending me home until I progressed further. I was humiliated and felt more foolish than ever. I really just sat there and started sulking..and then..one more contraction. The sweet nurse took pity on me and suggested we wait just 30 more minutes to see if I progressed. And what do you know? The contractions started back up and things started progressing. We were back on track!! I got changed, got the epidural, and strapped in for what I was sure was going to be a long process. It was now about 9am by the time we got settled in. The nurse estimated that this would take about 6 more hours based on where I was currently at. An hour later she came back to check me again and I was READY! My mom warned me that I would probably go quickly if I was anything like her. Evidently, momma really does know best. It was at this time that what was taking place really hit me and I started crying AGAIN. I spent some time with our family who had now arrived at the hospital and then right before it was time for the room to clear out I sat quietly with my mom, Dustin, and Jolene. Jolene said a beautiful prayer and then everyone left. It was just Dustin and I...and the thought still makes my eyes water. It really was the last time it would be Kelch family, party of 2. We did it! All the dreams and hopes, conversations, what ifs, wondering, and preparing for the last 38 weeks were here. It all came down to this moment. Labor was easy, blame it on these hips of mine. I heard Gage cry and my heart literally filled with love. Dustin looked at me and tears were streaming down his face. He was BEAMING with pride and complete bewilderment. We both were! Did this really just happen? All those months I had foolishly worried about whether or not I would bond with Gage, would he like me, would I like him, were immediately dismissed. The second I laid eyes on him and heard him cry I loved him more than anyone in the world. When people discuss marriage and spouses and they say “when you know, you know” they were right. When I started dating Dustin I just knew. When I would call my mom and ask her ”mom” questions or listen to other parents talk about their love for their children they would just say…its indescribable. Never has a word been more accurate and more inadequate all at the same time. When I try to describe how much I adore this little person the Lord has blessed us with, there are no words. He is simply indescribable.
Gage Matthew Kelch made his way into the world at 1:19pm on February 14, 2011 weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 ¾ “ long. Welcome to the world my little Cupid; you have completely stolen your parent’s hearts!
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