preston's birth

On September 11, 2012 at 9am Jimmy and I checked into Covenant Hospital to be induced. The first room we were brought into we were quickly disturbed by construction right outside our window. After waiting a half hour or so for our nurse to arrive we asked to be moved. After waiting another half hour we were told we were going to be brought into another room - thank goodness! How annoying would construction noise be while enduring contractions and labor??

So, finally about 10:45am I was situated in bed, checked by the nurse, my IV in, and Pitocin was started. And so the waiting began. I was dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced before they started the medicine and it took quite a while for me to progress. After checking me every few hours around 1pm they broke my water. A few hours later I decided to go ahead and get the epidural - so that happened around 3pm. 

My mom was at home spending the day with Lily and Jimmy's mom and sister Jalissa came and went throughout the morning and early afternoon to the hospital. When my dad got off work he and my mom brought Lily up to see us at the hospital - it was so good to see her! And then they swapped and had Jimmy's mom head back to our house with Lily while they hungout at the hospital for a bit. A few hours later they left the hospital to put Lily to bed for the night and the whole Grover clan came to visit.

Once I got to 5cm I progressed rather quickly - about 1cm per hour. So by late afternoon we were pretty confident that it would be late into the night until I had our little man. Being induced with Lily I didn't expect anything different however, I was hopefully it wouldn't take as long!

I tried to rest off and on during the early evening but had a hard time actually falling asleep. Something about knowing that we would be meeting our baby soon makes it hard for one to sleep :)

By 11pm my parents had come back - leaving Lily with our previous nanny, Bailey - so that they could be at the hospital during the actual birth. It was also around 11:30pm or so that I was 9cm and 100% effaced. It wasn't long after that that I began to feel intense pressure and the urge to push.

Around 11:45pm I wasn't sure I could "hold it" much longer and told the nurse I was pretty sure I could feel his head. Within a few minutes my doctor was in the room, the delivery crew and baby nurses were in place and it was time to have a baby! 

About 11:55pm my doctor asked me if I wanted to wait a few minutes so that he wouldn't be a 9/11 baby and I said "yes" - she had a feeling he would come quick and that it would only be a few pushes before he was here!

Right at midnight I began to push. After a few hard pushes they discovered that he was face up - another face up baby! Which meant it would take more than a few pushes on my part. When I overheard these conversations I automatically got a little discouraged as I remembered the 3 hours of pushing it took to deliver Lily due to her being face up! However, I tried to stay positive, remembering what I did with Lily that worked and just pushed hard.

We used the "towel tug-a-war" method where I pull on one end of a towel and a nurse pulls on the other. This seems to help me push "correctly" and it's what worked with Lily and Preston.

So after about 30 minutes of pushing our son was delivered. I remember feeling his head crown and then with the next push the relief as his head and shoulders came out. And he was instantly laid on my chest and the emotions I felt at the moment are truly indescribable. The love, joy, adoration and relief is overwhelming. The love is so instant and the relief that he is healthy and here is incredible. I was worried about if I would love him as much as I loved our first child or if I'd feel the same way when he was born and I absolutely did - without a doubt. He was perfect!

After he got cleaned up and wrapped up a bit they brought him back for me to snuggle and try to nurse him. He wasn't too up for eating right away but we enjoyed some special time just the 3 of us for 30 minutes or so before he was able to meet his grandparents.

So it was 12:29am on Wednesday September 12, 2012 that James Preston Grover was born. He weighed 7lbs 12oz and measured 21.5inches long. 

A little bit of history behind his name......Jimmy is the 3rd James in his family. His grandpa, dad, and he are all named James but have different middle names. So when we found out we were having a son and discussed names James was an obvious front runner. However, Jimmy wasn't positive that he wanted to follow suite and name his son James. He admitted to some confusion when growing up having the same name as his dad and he wanted to think it through a bit. We soon decided that we wanted to use James in one sense or another, whether it be the middle or first name. After lots of discussion and ideas of other names to accompany James we decided on Preston. We then decided that we did want James to be his first name but decided we would have him go by his middle name, Preston. So, James Preston it is and I am honored to carry on the tradition of a strong family name, I love the fact that he has the same name as some wonderful men, men that will surely be an important part of his life - and I think it fits him perfectly :)