Dear Hunter,
I still remember the day that I
told your daddy that we were pregnant with you.
It was a Monday, Daddy just got home from work and mommy had to get
ready for school. I was in my third
semester of nursing school and I had mother/baby and pharm II that day. Daddy told me the day before to take a
pregnancy test because I told him Gizmo wouldn’t leave my side. When daddy got home from work he woke me up
and went outside to wash his truck before he took a shower. I took a pregnancy test that morning and
instantly had a positive result. Tears
filled my eyes as I went to get daddy.
“Trey, come here I need to talk to you about something” was all that I
said. Daddy looked at me before walking
inside while quietly mumbling “I know what this is about”. I walked into our bathroom and pointed at the
counter. Daddy looked at the test,
looked at me and wrapped me up in a hug.
I went on to school that day barely able to bottle my excitement. I took another test that afternoon just to
make sure. Once again we got a positive
result almost instantly. We were
pregnant with you.
On October 3, 2012 we confirmed
the pregnancy with Dr. Bannout’s office in order to get a referral for Dr.
Crenshaw. Mommy was 7 weeks pregnant
with you. You also attended your first
concert that day. It was Luke Bryan in
Claxton, Georgia. Mommy and Daddy
celebrated their five year wedding anniversary on October 22, 2012. Mommy’s first appointment was October 30,
2012 with Dr. Crenshaw’s office. They
once again confirmed the pregnancy and gave mommy her estimated due date. You were scheduled to arrive May 29,
2013. A week later on November 6, 2012
mommy and daddy were able to see you for the very first time, we were 12 weeks
pregnant. You were full of energy that
day, waving your arms and legs around.
Your heart rate was amazing.
Mommy and daddy told the rest of the world that we were pregnant that
day, close family and friends already knew.
A month later mommy and daddy met her doctor for the very first time on
December 5, 2012. Once again we were
able to hear your heartbeat. Every time
we heard that sound we had a smile on our face.
Christmas was right around the
corner. Mommy’s best friend Crystal,
bought mommy and daddy their first ornament for you. It was a glass ball with your ultrasound on
it. Mrs. Joanne also bought mommy an
ornament that says “Baby Johnson” on it because we didn’t know if you were a
boy or a girl yet! I bought daddy a “first
time dad survival guide” and daddy bought mommy an at home Doppler so that we
could listen to you anytime we wanted.
At first it was like a game, trying to find you in mommy’s belly but as
you got bigger we would laugh when you kicked the probe. You really didn’t like hearing your own
heartbeat. Your grandparents got a kick out of being able to experience hearing
your heartbeat as well. We even filmed
it for those that couldn’t be here.
Low and behold January finally
rolled around. On the 8th we
went in for our anatomy scan. The
radiology tech knew that mommy and daddy were in the medical field so she took
more time explaining where your organs were and what we were looking at. This time we were actually able to see your
heart beating while we listened to it. Daddy
and I waited patiently for the tech to tell us if you were a boy or a girl, but
you had other plans. You sat with your
legs crossed for nearly 15 minutes. The
tech did everything she could think of to get you to move. She had mommy cough and she jiggled the wand
on mommy’s tummy. The funny thing is,
you made us wait until you were ready to show us. After nearly thinking we weren’t going to
find out you uncrossed your legs and she said those three little words “it’s a
boy”. She went on to tell us she was
pretty sure, but she wanted to be certain before she told us. Mommy had another doctor’s appointment after
the scan. Daddy called Aunt Sheri and
let her know before Mommy called another friend, Argentina. We didn’t want to tell your grandparents yet,
we had special plans for them. Daddy
wouldn’t let mommy buy anything for you until we found out your gender, so we
quickly headed over to babies r us and a few other stores to buy your first set
of clothes. Once we got home mommy baked
two blue cakes, one for each set of grandparents. Each cake was covered in yellow
icing and we were off to share the news with the family. Everyone was so excited!
The
next few months were relatively uneventful.
Mommy was in her last semester of nursing school and doing clinicals in
the area of nursing that she wanted to work in.
I think you enjoyed the nursing thing; you would kick and wiggle like
crazy all day until mommy got home. It
took weeks for daddy to finally feel you move.
Mommy could feel you kick for weeks and finally one day daddy laid his face
on mommy’s tummy while talking to you and you kicked him right on his
cheek. Daddy would spend quite a few
more weeks talking to you through mommy’s tummy with his cheek pressed against
it before he would feel you kick and move with his hand. In March we had a small party for daddy where
the guests brought us all the diapers you’ve been wearing since birth. Aunt
Crystal threw mommy a baby shower. We
received so many nice things for you that day.
It was heartwarming to see all the people that were excited to meet
you. Mommy was quickly wrapping up her
final semester in nursing school and slowly getting ready for you to make your
arrival. Monthly doctor appointments
turned into appointments every two weeks.
The two week appointments quickly turned into weekly appointments and we
had one more ultrasound on April 29th to see just how big you were
supposed to be. Dr. Crenshaw told mommy
that she estimated that you would weigh around 8.5 pounds when you were born.
On May 2nd and 4th,
we celebrated mommy’s graduation from nursing school. With school out of the way our focus quickly
moved to the most important day of our lives, your birthday. For three weeks the nurse practitioner,
Brandy, told mommy that she could go into labor at any time. For those three weeks we did everything we
could think of to try and hurry you along with increasing signs that labor was
near, but once again, you were doing this your own way. Dr. Crenshaw didn’t want mommy going over 41
weeks pregnant with you because our risk for c-section increased. Mommy was scared of an induction but at 39
weeks pregnant we broke down and made the appointment. If you didn’t come out on your own we would
be induced on the 30th, one day after your estimated due date. Daddy took three weeks off from work to spend
time with you and mommy once you were born.
His leave officially started May 27th, Memorial Day.
The last few days slowly passed
by with mommy looking for any indication that she was in labor and daddy
working around the house with mommy’s parents to get things ready for you. On the evening of the 29th mommy
got a phone call from the hospital explaining that it was possible that our
induction could get bumped due to floor rules about the number of inductions
going on at one time. Mommy was upset
because she was really ready to meet you.
The next morning we called the hospital and they told us to come on in! The 30th was the big day. We arrived at the hospital at 5am just like
we had been instructed. They took mommy
to her room and started the paperwork and procedures in order to start the
induction. Around 7am they would start
the medication to jump start mommy’s contractions. Around 8:15 Dr. Crenshaw came in and told
mommy that she was 2-3 cm, they broke my water, and placed an internal monitor
for my contractions because the other monitor wasn’t picking them up. Mommy lasted for an hour and a half before
she said she was ready for the epidural for pain. About 30 minutes later Dr. Patel came in and
inserted mommy’s epidural, daddy didn’t like that part. About 1.5 hours later we would get a scare
because your heart rate dropped. The
nurses helping mommy would check me and said that we were now 4-5 cm
dilated. Dr. Crenshaw would come in
about an hour later and we were the same.
She told mommy that she expected it to take until dinner time for mommy
to fully dilate and that we would more than likely have you that day.
Mommy's friend Amy came by and saw us before you made your appearance. Aunt Crystal and Ryleigh came by the hospital
to see mommy while she was in labor.
During that time your heart rate completely dropped off the monitor
scaring all of us. Mommy’s nurse came in
and checked her again and we were fully dilated around 3pm. The reason you dropped off the monitor is
because you had dropped down further into the birth canal. They wanted you to drop some more so we
waited before mommy started pushing. Around
4pm Dr Crenshaw came back into the room and checked mommy one more time. She said that you were still a little high so
we were going to wait some more. 15
minutes later mommy’s nurse came back into the room to check me. You, of course were still high so they
decided to sit mommy up to help you move down further into the birth
canal. Mommy would sit this way for what
seemed like forever. Mommy’s nurse
finally came back into to check and noticed that you had passed meconium while
we were laboring down. It was time for mommy
to start pushing! Your daddy was such a
good coach throughout the entire process.
You were facing mommy’s left leg so they rolled her over onto her side
to get you to turn in the direction you were supposed to be in. Mommy pushed and pushed with every
contraction. Right before you entered
the world Dr Crenshaw and a resident made their appearance, they quickly got
ready for your birth. After
an hour of pushing you entered this world at 5:49pm. Daddy cut your
umbilical cord and they picked on him for wearing gloves.
Since you passed meconium they
quickly rushed you over to the warmer to make sure your lungs were clear. Everything looked great and they cleaned you
off, weighed and measured you, and finally placed you on your mommy’s
chest. You weighed in at 8lbs 8 oz and
21 inches long. Dr. Crenshaw correctly
estimated your weight! A nurse would
help mommy try to breastfeed you but you weren’t exactly interested in food
just yet. Your daddy would get to hold
you for the very first time, surprisingly he didn’t cry like he swore he
would. Your grandparents and great
grandparents on mommy’s side came back to meet you for the very first
time. You would take many of your first
pictures that day. This, my sweet baby,
is your journey into the world and your birth story. One month ago today you made your entrance
into the world. You’ve changed our lives
in so many ways. We love you, Hunter
Daniel, with all our hearts.
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