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Manna is here!
Hey guys!
Dean Mark arrived 8/2/11 via a successful, med-free vbac. He was 7lbs 9oz and 21inches long.
He is completely healthy and has stolen this mama's heart. The girls can't get enough of him either. Things are a bit chaotic, but we feel so blessed with our new family of five. Here's his birth story:
The morning of 8/1, I awoke to sudden 5-minute apart contractions. They lasted that way an hour, though they weren't very strong, so we called the docs and were advised to come in since I was a vbac patient. As soon as I arrived at the hospital, they stretched back out to 15 minutes apart. Dean and I were both monitored for two hours and sent home. Which was a very, very good thing because I don't think I could have liked my nurse any less...
My sister was on her way from Beaumont and almost to Austin, so she kept coming (thankfully, as you'll see in a minute!). I napped and went to Amy's and continued my day. The contractions stayed 15-minutes apart all day, but grew in intensity. I was NOT going back to the hospital, though, until I was 100% sure it was the real thing.
After going to bed that night I was woken up by contractions every 15-minutes or so... until about 11:50pm when I felt a distinctive "pop" and realized that my water had broken. I sprang from my bed (as much as a 9-month pregnant woman in labor can do) and ran to the bathroom to discover that, yes, indeed, this was the real thing. I yelled to my husband, jumped in the shower, and got ready to head back to the hospital for the real thing.
I got to the hospital around 12:15 and met my amazing, wonderful, perfect nurse. Seriously, she was the reason I was sent home... so I could have her as a labor nurse. She let me off the monitors to walk around and guided me through each contraction. My husband was a rockstar as well. I couldn't have done it without his support. I started at 2cm and 50% effaced, frustrating after an entire day of pretty consistent contractions. Thankfully, things started progressing pretty quickly from there, or it would have been a very long day.
Dean was born at 6:26am (so about 6.5 hours later) after about 6 pushes. I cried when he was born because I was so grateful for a successful vbac and a healthy little boy. Being med-free was hard, but so incredibly worth it. If we ever had a fourth (ha!) I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was one of the best experiences in my life.
Oh, and his name... not an M. He was named after the guy that was DH's surrogate grandfather (his grandfathers had died when he was very young). He was a very special man in both of our lives and passed away about 3 years ago. There is no other name we would want for our little boy. We hope and pray he is much like the original Dean. 
Re: Manna is here!
Collin Thayne 10.11.2010
I knew better than to read this at work! Now I'm all weepy.
I am so thrilled for you. What an exciting year it has been for your family. I LOVE the significance behind Dean's name, and that is wonderful that you were able to do a med-free vbac! Way to go Mama!
Congratulations! What a great birth story!
Congrats!
This made me tear up. So so so special.