Dear Owen,
It feels strange to start your letters Dear Owen, instead of Dear Munchkin. We have spent so long wondering whether or not you were a boy or girl, what you were going to look like, and how your personality would develop. Now you are here with us and it is truly amazing. I promised that I would write a letter devoted to your birth story. It might be a little long winded and most everyone we know has already heard it, but I want to preserve it for you. Every year on my birthday, your Grandma relives the story of my birth and I want to pass on the same tradition to you. Here goes:
We started off Thursday morning with an early call from the hospital. They told us to come on over to get started. All the grandparents had arrived or were scheduled to be here that day. We checked in about 7:30 AM and didn't get a room until close to 9 AM. By then, we were all anxious and nervous. I had two labor and delivery nurses that day, Lisa and Sara. They were both as nice as could be and made the process a lot less scary. They started me on the pitocin drip and an IV antibiotic. I didn't do so well with the IV process, but we can skip that part of the story. At this point, I was already having some mild contractions and the medicine didn't really ramp it up. After lunch, Doctor Davis stopped by and decided to start me on the higher dosage of medicine to help things progress. He also checked to see if he could break my water, but your head wasn't down far enough for him to feel comfortable doing that. We would learn the next day that a fibroid tumor was actually blocking the birth canal and this was the reason your head never came down far enough to eventually be born. About 3 PM that afternoon Dr. Fogelman (the on-call doctor) stopped in to check on us. She checked again to see if my water could be broken and then suggested that she put in a Foley balloon to open up the cervix. Basically, it's a balloon is inserted and then inflated with water to help dilate the cervix to about 3 cm. Once inserted, you leave it in until it falls out or is removed. I had that procedure done and it was a little scary. I sort of lost it for a moment and when I came to, I had oxygen and all sorts of nurses hovering around. After a few minutes, I was back to normal and we continued to wait. Around 8 PM, Dr. Fogelman came back to check on us. At this point, the medicine really wasn't changing much. In fact, your system can become saturated with it and become overloaded. Her suggestion was to take me off the drip for the night allowing me to eat something, walk around, and try to sleep. In the meantime, she would put another medicine inside me called Cervadil which gets absorbed into the blood stream. It is supposed to encourage dilation as well. I was able to eat half a sandwich, walk around the halls a few laps, the nurse inserted the medicine, and then I was given a sleeping pill. Everyone went home except your Daddy. He slept beside me the entire time. I think I slept for a couple hours. Close to 1 AM, I woke up having contractions which were getting stronger. I knew something wasn't right about 3 AM when the nurses were coming in every ten minutes or so to have me change sides or positions. Your heart rate was dropping every time I had a contraction. The nurse finally was concerned enough to call Dr. Fogelman into my room at 5:30 AM. We woke up your Dad and I was examined again. The contractions were coming pretty regularly now but were still a few minutes apart. Dr. Fogelman told us that we have a couple different options at this point. I could go back on the drip to see what happened, we could go ahead with a C-section, or we could stop the process all together which would essentially send us home to wait. She gave your Dad and I a few moments to talk things out. At which point, we called all the Grandparents and told them to get to the hospital ASAP. When Dr. Fogelman came back into the room to finish discussing our options, my water broke. Just right there while I was laying in the bed. It was a totally bizarre thing and I was like "Oh, something just happened!" Right away, Dr. Fogelman said that we would know in about 15 minutes if we were having a C-Section. Your heart rate kept dipping down with each contraction, so we were on our way to the OR. It happened in a matter of minutes, there were so many doctors and nurses flying around. I hardly had time to process it. But once they decided you had to come out, there was no messing around. All the grandparents arrived in time and I was able to kiss them before the surgery. Your Daddy got all suited up for the operation. They took me in the operating room and I was scared. Not really for me, but just worried about you. Everyone took excellent care of us. All the doctors and nurses were especially nice and supportive. Doctor Davis was also there to help deliver you. I went into the operating room at 7:30 AM and you were born at 7:48 AM. You weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and were 20 inches long. Doctor Davis told me that you didn't have a lot of hair before we even knew if you were a boy or a girl. Doctor Davis pulled you out and yelled "It's a boy" and he held you up for us to look at. Then you and your Daddy were whisked away. Of course, I started crying and all the nurses were so nice to me. Once you were cleaned up, you and your Daddy came back into see me. It was then that they told us that the cord was wrapped around your neck 3 times and that I had a fibroid tumor blocking the birth canal. It was a completely overwhelming emotional experience. All of the anticipation, anxiety, and excitement coming together. After I was put back together, I went down to recovery. You were able to meet all your family who were waiting at the hospital. Your Daddy brought you into recovery for a while where I finally held you. My sweet boy. Our Son. You were finally here. How beautiful you looked and how instantly I feel in love. We spent the next four days in the hospital together where I started to recover and we started our relationship. Those days and the past two weeks will be chronicled in a future letter. Right now, I hear your stirring which probably means that you need to be changed and feed. I know that now since I am your Mom and all. See, I am getting the hang of things already, right?
I love you son,
Mommy
I love you, Mom
Now look at us:
I am so proud of the beautiful family that your Daddy and I have created. My life is so different than it was two years ago and I wouldn't have it any other way. I knew that marrying your Daddy would change me. What I didn't know was how it would change my heart. Our marriage has made me stronger, love more, and feel deeper. Each day, I thank the Lord that he is standing, sleeping, or sitting beside me. As I watch him become a father to you, it makes me so proud to call him my husband. When you are all grown up, I hope that you will find someone who makes your life complete. Just as I have with your Daddy.
It was a sponge bath. You weren't too happy with the process but hopefully you will get used to it and learn to love it. On Sunday, we went on our first stroller ride. It took 30 minutes of prep time to walk 6 houses. But it was well worth the effort to get outside into the fresh air and sunshine. Your Grandma Lumsden left for home on Tuesday. It was a very sad day. We were all upset and miss her terribly. Hopefully she can come back soon. Really soon. Like tomorrow would be nice. 
Your Daddy has stayed home with me the rest of this week. He goes back to work on Monday and we will be on our own for real. The good news is that I am able to drive and we have been on a couple outings, so I think I might be able to handle things. I am sure that it will get easier day by day. I hear you stirring in the next room, so it's off to make a bottle for me!
