2 Have Made 1

As most, if not ALL of you know, we welcomed our PRECIOUS son, Malachi into the world on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 2:44pm. I woke up Friday morning feeling overall pretty crappy. I didn't sleep at all Thursday night and just didn't feel right. I had horrible nausea and was very anxious. So, I called my Dr. at 8:00am on Friday morning. I was having some small contractions, but nothing major, and they were about 10-12 minutes apart. Definitely not the 5 minutes apart they had told me the contractions would need to be. But, the nurse sensed my anxiety and told me to go ahead and come in and they would check me. By this time, Malachi had "dropped" and I could BARELY walk. I literally looked like a duck. The nurse told me to come in ASAP and by 10:00 we were at the office in Amarillo. I told Thomas before we left to pack everything in the car because I just felt like this was it. When we got to the Dr., they immediately took me back to a room to check me. The Dr. came in and told me I was 4-5 centimeters dilated. Keep in mind, however, that I had been dilating slowly for 6 weeks by this point, so we weren't REALLY surprised. Previously the Dr. had told me that he would break my water at a 5, so that's kinda what I was expecting. However, he asked me in the office if I wanted to know what my options were. At this point I asked him if I could TELL him what I wanted. He laughed, and obliged. I told him I was ready to "get the show on the road" and meet my little boy. He rubbed my shoulder, patted me on the leg and said get to the hospital, we'll call and tell them you're coming and I'll see you a little later on this afternoon. They asked me to wait a little while because they didn't quite have a room ready, so we came back to Canyon, picked up my little brother from school, my dad from work and Aunt Kelly came from the daycare. We walked into the hospital Friday at 11:30 and the charge nurse, Jennifer, who is a good friend of ours, set up a room with a BEAUTIFUL view for us. She immediately put me on the monitors and we started playing cards. I was having contractions about every 7 or so minutes apart by this time, but I was talking through them like they were nothing, so I didn't think anything would happen anytime soon. The nurse even mentioned that the contractions were pretty strong, and I was feeling pretty good that I could do it without drugs if this is all it was! (haha...yeah right) The Dr. came in around 1:40 and checked me again and said I was definitely a 5. He pulled out his little crochet hook, and broke my water at 1:47pm. About 5 minutes later, the MAMA contractions started. I grabbed Thomas' hand immediately and actually had to start breathing through them. I had always said that if I could make it without drugs I wanted to, but it all depended upon how quickly I would progress. After about 10 minutes, I told them I wanted drugs and they gave me a shot of Fentanyl (sp?) to take the "edge" off. The nurses then started running around my room like mad. I wasn't really sure why, but I figured it was normal. At this point, the nurse checked me and said that I was around a 6. She told me she didn't know if I would get an epidural or not because the anesthesiologist was in a C-Section, but she told me she would tell him to hurry. She even said on the video that in a few minutes I would be playing cards again...yeah right again. After about 15 more minutes I began feeling the urge to "push" and told the nurse tech. She ran and got my nurse who came in and checked me during my next contraction, which were now coming about every 2 minutes or so. She raised her eyebrows, told me I would not be getting an epidural because I was "conservatively" a 9. She ran out into the hallway, told my Dr. I was a 9, and came back in to get ready for the big moment. She told me on my next contraction to push and push is exactly what I did. I pushed 3 times through the first contraction, took a few deep breaths, ate an ice chip and got ready to push again. This contraction was a little more intense and my yells told the story. Finally, the next contraction, after letting out a "little" scream, the nurse told me to gain control back, and I took a deep breath. The next thing I heard was my incredible husband crying telling me how much hair our son had and that he could see the head. My mom came down to my level, (all while holding my leg up for me) and gave me one last bit of encouragement. Finally, I felt one more contraction, took one more deep breath, and at 2:44 pm our son was born! Malachi weighed 5lbs 13oz and was 18 3/4 inches long! Thomas did SO incredible. For anyone that knows him, you know that his stomach isn't exactly made of iron and he didn't even think he would be able to handle it as well as he did. The only reason that things went so well for him is because he didn't have a chance to think about it! He held my foot, held my hand, kissed me, encouraged me, and watched our son being born! He even cut the cord!!! I am SO glad that he was able to do all of the "traditional" father duties and enjoy the birth! Nothing in this world can describe the incredible feeling of bringing a child into the world with the one person you love the absolute most! There truly are NO WORDS to describe the feelings!

Thomas has taken to fatherhood so well! I felt so very blessed to have my husband hand me our son for the first time! We have a GREAT picture of the moment, by the way! I cried, he cried, he kissed me, I kissed him, we both kissed Malachi and it was AWESOME! Our hospital was great. They pulled down a queen sized Murphy bed for us and we were able to sleep together (well...not REALLY sleep...haha) with Malachi in the room and for the first night, we were sleeping as a FAMILY! My mom stayed for most of the first night just because I needed her there for support, and I am VERY grateful for that. I have a feeling that Lolli will be a source of LOTS of advice over the course of Malachi's lifetime! Thomas hasn't been the LEAST bit apprehensive about Malachi. He feeds him, holds him, changes his diapers and does everything that I could possibly need. Not to mention, he has been cuddling me a lot while my hormones try to level themselves back out. In fact, last night was pretty rough for me, I was just exhausted. He kept encouraging me, took Malachi, told me to go to sleep and all three of us were finally able to settle in. I don't know what I would do without him! He is my rock and I love him more now than I ever thought was possible. There truly is nothing more special than to look at my husband holding our son, that came from our love and God's grace!

We had lots of visitors in the hospital. Everyone from Malachi's aunts, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, adopted grandparents, friends and other family members came to welcome him into the world! We truly had the PERFECT childbirth experience and thank God for it. Every prayer that we prayed was answered so specifically. I prayed that God would allow Malachi to be born on a Friday, during the day, after I was able to get up and get ready. I prayed that we would have a particular nurse. I prayed that we would be able to get through without drugs and that the birth would be uneventful and quick. I prayed that Thomas would be able to participate fully. Most of all, I prayed that we would have a healthy son! EVERYTHING happened the way we had hoped and prayed that it would! It was TRULY PERFECT! We are SO very blessed and give God the glory for everything. He truly orchestrated the entire pregnancy and birth and deserves ALL of the credit for it. Now, it's our turn to give our son back to Him and allow God to do with Malachi what He will. My only prayer is that we will be Godly parents to teach Malachi the ways of the Lord and show him how much God blesses you when you stay in HIS will!

We love all of you so very much and will be sure to keep updated pictures on the blog!! Please help us welcome our new son, Thomas Malachi Allen into our life together!