Up until Jacob was born, I had been working a lot on a research study that was about to open.  It was 6:30 on a friday night, and I was sitting at work with my friend and coworker Tara busily trying to figure out the last minute details of the study (knowing that i could have him at any time since his due date was saturday).  I started feeling something vague and uncomfortable at my desk.  Tara noticed I was shifting around a lot and making funny noises while we were talking and finally she said to me, "Hey, I think you are in labor!"  "Shut up, I'm not ready" I said jokingly, "Lets keep working."  I was in a bit of denial and as usual wanted to finish a million things at work and home before he came.  So, I went home that night and busily started cleaning and organizing while having mild contractions that I thought would soon intensify any minute.  Well, they didn't.

 

We were up all night friday with contractions that were 5 minutes apart,  but not very intense.  We tried going to bed, but that was a joke and we stayed awake all night staring at the ceiling.  Saturday day came and went and I was still having contractions 5 minutes apart and slightly more intense.  I was so tired and started thinking irrationally that I was going to stay in this state of prelabor for weeks.  So i thought, 'we should go to a party and try and have some fun.'  Tim thought I was crazy (which I was), but I convinced him to go to my friend Allison's engagement party uptown.  So we drove the 30 minutes, all the while having contractions and doing my 'sh, sh, sh' breathing.  Tim was a little nervous about the party scene, but I assured him that I would blend right in.  And for the most part I did.  I made small talk and had a good time meeting Allison's friends all the while doing my funny breathing, but a little quieter.  I ate a good meal and went to the bathroom and all of a sudden my contractions picked up.  I promptly pulled Tim aside and we made our exit thinking that things were finally going to happen and this baby would be born that night. 

 

Well, after calling the doctor, we realized we still needed more intense contractions and we stayed up all night again this time in the living room watching movies and breathing, breathing, breathing.  By sunday morning, I was delirious from lack of sleep and really wanting to be in labor.  We had contractions all day and my parents decided to drive down from Fredericksburg.  I was happy that they would be there for the birth and almost wondered if they would have to wait a few days before it really happened.  But, a little while after they arrived, we went for our umpteenth walk of the weekend and decided we should call the doctor again.  This time we went in, around 11:30 pm on Sunday night.  We were 5 cm dilated and knew our baby boy would arrive finally.  We went a 3rd night without sleep (so much for getting rested before the baby is born) and the contractions slowly and steadily became 2-3 minutes apart and were very painful.  At that point the doctor broke my water, around 4:30 am and I went into a zone of prayer, reflection, and total loss of control over my body as the pain was so strong that all I could do was breathe.  Tim was by my side the entire time, encouraging me and praying for me constantly.  I could not have made it through the pain without him.  He ended up being really active in the birth and saw everything and then some, but he did wonderful and wasn't phased by anything.  I also had an awesome nurse who encouraged me to have him naturally when I started to doubt myself.  It was so neat how God used everyone involved to help us have the labor we had hoped for.  I started to push at 6 am and Jacob was born at 7:18 am.  There was no doctor there, so our wonderful nurses delivered him and did an amazing job.  I was able to cuddle with him before they took him away and felt so much emotion in that short time than I ever have experienced. 

 

It was such a feeling of joy and wholeness to finally bond with our son and see his beautiful face.  Daddy was able to hold him for a long time after they checked him out and we will always remember that special and first time that we felt like a family together.  Jacob was very alert from the beginning and quietly scanned the room with his big eyes.  We could tell he was going to be a deep thinker just like Tim from those first few moments.  Gigi and Pa Granger had driven through the night and came shortly after he was born to meet him.  It was such a blessing and a gift to have both of our parents there to love on us all and share in our happiness!  These last 4 weeks with Jacob have been awesome and I look back on his birth everyday and realize how miraculous and God-inspiring it was.  Praise be to God for His sweet creation!