On January 19th I went in for a routine check-up, just one day shy of 40 weeks and I wanted a baby, but I also wanted to make sure that our son came in God's timing and as naturally as possible. During the check-up, my doctor (Paul Lin who is the BEST OB-GYN EVER!) let me know that since my blood pressure was on the high side, I needed to go to the hospital for some "further observation". The staff would check my blood pressure for several hours and perform some bloodwork to make sure the baby wasn't in danger. Pete and I got our bags together, Pete ate lunch (none for me since there was a chance I could be induced while at the hospital) and with great hesitation and a bit of unease, we made our way to the staging area for labor and delivery at Good Shepherd Medical Center. While under observation, my blood pressure was in normal range and all the bloodwork came back "perfect". So Pete and I were sent home from the hospital and I was told to take it easy a day or so before going back to the doctor on January 21st. I just knew our son was not supposed to be born that day!
I was cleared to go back to work at my next doctors appointment with instructions to stay stress-free (yeah right!) and return the following Tuesday.
Side Note: For those of you who do not know what I do for a living, I am an Admissions Counselor and Preview Events Coordinator at LeTourneau University and this is the BUSIEST and most STRESSFUL time of my year due to the large back-to-back preview events I am responsible for planning.
Upon returning to work I proceeded to continue my work on the next preview event (around 50 students coming to campus that Thursday-Friday). When I saw Paul on Tuesday, my blood pressure was back up to an "unhealthy" level and I was told at that point that I would be sent to the hospital again - this time I could go through the observation routine again and return home on bed rest OR I could go ahead and have our son. This time, I was ready and had a HUGE peace that this was God's timing. Pete once again got something to eat and we made our way to the Labor and Delivery floor at GSMC.
My body went from zero to baby in a matter of 13 hours - this was remarkable considering the doctors used two means of induction to make my body cooperate! Throughout the entirety of the process, Pete was amazing and remembered all the key points from our birthing class, supported and encouraged me when I needed it, and made sure that I was as comfortable as humanly possible (not an easy task!).
At 4:05am on Wednesday, January 26 (6 days "past due") our son, Cade Bennett Greenwald was born! 6 lbs 15.9 ozs, 19 and 3/4 ", and perfect as can be! He is by far the most amazing thing the Lord has allowed me to be a part of!
The past two weeks (and 2 days - but who is counting?) have been the most amazing moments for our family. Cade is a sweet and peaceful baby who makes wonderful noises, adorable expressions, and has rockin' reflexes! I am one blessed momma!
Here are some pictures of our little bean upon birth:
