Keaton Jay Humphreys arrived at 4:36 pm on October 10, 2013. He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. Our third baby...he wasn't going to be over looked, so he created an incredible birth story that we'll never forget (although we don't have much documentation of it!). Here is Keaton's birth story...
Thursday morning, I woke about 6:15. We all had school that day, and I typically wake up around that time anyway. I was feeling some cramps in my lower abdomen. I knew they were different than the Braxton Hicks I'd been having for the past few weeks, but they weren't painful. I figured I just go about the morning and see how I felt. At that point I was half-heartedly timing them and they were about 9 to 10 minutes apart. We went on to school and I assisted in my two year old classroom at Growing in the Son. When the day was over, I was still feeling the cramps so I thought I'd at least go get checked out at the doctors. I called Drew and the doctor, and we were planning on meeting there. Kerrington, Kellan, and I drove over to the hospital. My parents met us there to take the big kids.
Once we arrived at the doctor (my doctor, Dr. Scarborough, was out that day), I was hooked up to a non stress test to monitor Keaton. He wasn't moving around like they wanted him to, so they sent us to ultrasound. Throughout this time, I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart and they were starting to become uncomfortable. I remember having to lay on the ultrasound table and it being really uncomfortable. He looked great in ultrasound, so we went back to the waiting room to wait for a nurse practitioner to check me. While in the waiting room, my contractions became 3-4 minutes apart and increasingly more uncomfortable. At this point, I was having to close my eyes and stop what I was doing. It was about 3:15.
We got back to the room and while we were waiting to be checked, I was uncomfortable sitting. I knew at this point, that we weren't going home. I told Drew he could start making arrangements for the weekend services. The Nurse Practitoner came in, she let us know the results of the non stress test and ultrasound. She was going to explain what our options were, but decided to check me first. When she did, I was at 5 centimeters! I remember her saying, "Well, the good news is, you're at 5! I'll call for a wheelchair." When they came back in, they told us there was no beds over in labor and delivery.
We were wheeled over to labor and delivery (thankfully, our office is in the same building). Once there, we sat at the front desk for about 25 minutes while they got a room cleaned. Since Dr. Scarborough was out of town, the on call Dr. came to introduce himself. He had heard I had a history of quick deliveries so he wanted to introduce himself before he came in and delivered our baby. I was contracting every 2-3 minutes at this point and in pain with every contraction.
Once we got in our room, it literally was a whirlwind. A few nurses came in to get things started. I changed in the bathroom, between contractions. When I came back out, they had to start an IV and draw blood. I was so uncomfortable sitting at that point, they were working around my contractions. Initially, throughout this pregnancy, I had thought about trying a natural childbirth because I have been blessed with fast deliveries. I had told Drew that I thought I'd get one (over in the office before we got over to L&D), because the pain was intense and I didn't know how long it'd last. After the IV, I was on the side of the bed with a contraction and my water broke! The doctor had come in at this point and he said, "Well, I was going to do that after your epidural!". I got back on the bed so he could check me and when he did, I was at a 9 with just a little cervix left. At that point, he was explaining to us our options with epidural. My contractions didn't seem to be stopping, and I had to interrupt him to tell him that I felt like I needed to push. The nurses in the room begin to scramble because there is nothing set up for delivery...no tables, no instruments, no gowns, gloves, the bed, nothing. I leaned over to my right side and lifted my leg in the air. With 1-2 big pushes, Keaton Jay was laying on the bed!
Here are the few pictures we have... Drew only had his phone with him... (if you have a queasy stomach you may want to pass up the first two).
Just born Keaton
Dr. Smith barely had time to put on a gown and gloves.
First they did was lay him up on my chest. It was so incredible!
Meeting our lil guy for the first time.
Drew gets a kick out of this one...he loves the expression on my face...like, "What in the world just happened!"
Pure joy.
Me and my sweet lil guy! Love at first sight!
Keaton, Mommy, and Daddy.
Two of my three handsome men.
It was a crazy, crazy experience. I still am shaking my head when I think about it. I am so thankful that I did have the opportunity to have one of my children naturally but it was definitely a lot harder than I thought. I joked with Dr. Scarborough afterward that I was glad that he wasn't there because I wasn't sure what escaped my mouth while Keaton was being born. Drew told me that I cried out to God just a couple of times!
We were overjoyed and full of emotion the next few hours after his birth. We looked at each other many times that evening and just shook our heads. We only have a handful of pictures to document his birth, no video, but I don't think we'll ever forget this experience. Keaton Jay, you're one special little boy and you've captured our hearts!
