All girls love at least one TLC show.  Before we got engaged, Stunning loved a show where they’d surprise someone with an engagement.  Many girls love A Wedding Story, a Pregnancy Story, a Baby Story, a Baptism Story…  Anyway, in the vein of TLC, the following is the story of Junior’s birth written by the wife:

Junior was two weeks early and it was quite the shock to everyone (including my doctor) that he came when he did. My big sister, who was also due March 21, had been showing prelabor signs for days…she’d been nesting, her body was giving her the “signs”, and she’d been having irregular contractions. We were all sure that she’d have her little one early last week. On Saturday night (the 6th), my parents and I threw a baby shower for a good friend of ours. I felt great (aside from being enormous and completely bloated) and didn’t feel at all like I was going to go into labor within a matter of hours.

The shower wrapped up and we sat on my parent’s porch with them until about 11:30 just chatting and enjoying the nice weather. John and I went to bed with absolutely NO idea that it was our last night’s sleep without a baby. Around 3:45, I woke up. I didn’t have to go to the bathroom but I’d learned that if you are awake, you may as well go because you’re going to have to go again in a minute anyway. I stood up and took the first step to the bathroom and—CRAP! I peed my pants! I ran to the bathroom and called to John. I said, “John? I think my water just broke. But not really, I think I just peed my pants. I don’t know.” We had a quick google search session to find out whether I was going into labor and decided to go back to sleep (responsible, eh?) because a) only like 30% of women’s water breaks on its own and my mom’s never did so I figured mine wouldn’t either and b) I really thought it was just me wetting myself—the idea of losing bladder control at 9 months pregnant isn’t that bizarre. I woke up a few more times during the night and every time I stood up, I’d wet myself AGAIN! At that point, I was pretty sure Jack was on his way. I woke John up and we decided to head to the hospital “Just in case”. I was still pretty sure they’d send me home and tell me to buy some depends or something. We got to the hospital and pressed the buzzer for them to let us into the Labor and Delivery wing. A woman came back on the speaker and said, “May I help you?” Um…really lady, why else would someone be buzzing that? It was very awkward when I responded, “Umm…I think I’m going to have a baby?”

The rest of the day is kind of a blur. They gave me pitocin to speed up my contractions because I wasn’t having any yet and once the water breaks, the baby needs to get out in 24 hours or the risk of infection increases. So apparently contractions are kind of painful. After a couple hours of dealing with those and squeezing John’s hand into oblivion, I got an epidural. John made the mistake of looking at the needle and decided at that point that he’d keep his eyes averted from my body during the next few hours.  The epidural didn’t hurt that I remember—probably because it felt like nothing compared to the contractions. Drugs are awesome, by the way. I have a friend who is a rockstar and is going to have her baby naturally and I don’t know how she will handle it. Those first few hours of contractions were enough for me to lose my mind. Ashley, you’re awesome. Anyway, I managed to take a nap which was good because my sleep the past few weeks had been rough (especially that night) and I didn’t realize how much energy I’d need to push this little bambino out. We checked into the hospital at 7:30 AM and I began pushing around 5:45. 

Junior arrived at 7:16 PM on March 7, 2010. He was 8 lbs, 3 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. The doctor and nurses all told me how big of a baby he was. They seemed pretty shocked when I informed them that he was 2 weeks early. My doctor didn’t deliver Junior because she wasn’t on call that weekend. She came to see me the next day and said, “Well that was a bit of a surprise.” Indeed it was but thank goodness! I’d have had a 10 pounder if he’d waited until his due date!

Junior scowling at his mom.

Junior’s “Going Home” Outfit. Last summer, I lived in Texas for a clerkship while John was still up in Nebraska. He’s a creeper and made me a coffee mug with a ton of his different faces on it. He said it was “to remember him” or something. It creeped me out. It still creeps me out. Bridget & her friend had this made to continue creeping me out. It says, “Yup, That’s My Dad!”

I may look exhausted and gross, but I don’t care. Look how cute my son is. Woah, my son. That’s weird. 

When we came home, Junior was greeted with some welcoming goodies: A sign on the carport gate, “It’s A Boy!” Wreath, Truman & Boo sporting blue bows, edible bouquet from John’s work colleagues, flowers, and a fridge full of pasta!