The Birth of Charleston North

To truly get the craziness of Charlie's birth we have to start a few days earlier. The construction crew has been working on getting the covering/roof of our 800 square foot back porch completed. We decided to go ahead and put a new metal roof on the entire house since it was in need of a new roof and that was the only way to properly blend to the two structures. So Thursday they stripped the old roof and started on the new roof. When Jeremy came home he noticed that it was not installed properly according to the manufacture (which voided the warranty). So Friday all work came to a halt and the new roof was stripped off. Saturday, Jeremy and contractor friend installed some of the roof to cover the naked raw beams on the top of the porch and covered part of the roof with a large tarp nailed to 1x6x16. Rain was coming Sunday and we were getting prepared. So Sunday comes and the rain started in the afternoon. By bedtime Jeremy and I were in the attic with pots trying to catch some of the leaks. As the night wore on the wind picked up and torrential rain was upon us. I had just moved to the couch to get in a new more comfortable position when all of a sudden there was a horrible crash outside. My first thought was that the new porch collapsed. Jeremy was awaken too and we found that the wind had picked up the tarp and large board and flung it across the roof and it had landed UNDER the carport on the hood of the van. Thankfully the van was not hurt.


So I went back to the couch and got comfortable again only to be disturbed by what sounded like a frog. I sat up to look to out the window and right at that moment the ceiling in the living room above the front door, about 2 feet from me, crashed down to the floor spraying water and sheetrock all over me and the living room. I woke Jeremy up and told him "he was gonna die". So for the rest of night I was awake, terrified of every sound , hearing the wind rip things around and throw them about. Thankfully the rest of the night was uneventful but resulted in absolutely NO sleep.



Monday evening, after an early dinner, I was about to get a nice relaxing bath when it felt like my water broke. Not completely like Zion but enough that I was concerned. Jeremy was gone to the hardware store so I waited for more leaking but nothing. I decided to call my MW and talk things through with her. She said I needed to go in and have it checked out. So once Jeremy got back we left for the hospital. We enjoyed the drive, got Jeremy a coffee, and admired the full moon. No contractions out of the norm, no leaking, no nothing. Feeling like an idiot and wasting everyone's time.


We got to the hospital about 7, got comfy in triage, and hooked up to monitors. I was swabbed for amniotic fluid and then checked for dilation. I was about a 3. So for about an hour we waited in the room for the test results, all the while having mild contractions. The results came back negative so the nurse called my MW and they decided to have me walk the halls for an hour and see if anything changed. So Jeremy and I walked awhile and then hid in one of the waiting rooms for awhile. : ) I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I was extremely tired from not sleeping the night before and felt like this was a total waste of time because the contractions were no different from the frequent bouts of them I had been having at home.


So we go back to the room and she comes back in to check and surprisely I am at 4. Now at this point I'm afraid to go home so I told the nurse we would be happy with having a baby now. : ) She called my MW and they decided to admit me and rather than risk sending me home.


So we get settled in a room around 10 and by 11 my MW was here. She checked me and was about a 4 1/2 to 5 with inconsistent contractions. She broke my water and we waited. I had already decided to get an epidural so we went and got that done. I have a love/hate with epidurals. This one wasn't so great. My left side was completely dead and I hate that feeling but on my right side I could still feel some of the contractions. Jeremy slept on the couch while Mom and I talked and watched TV on and off.


I wasn't sure what or if the contractions were doing much. The nurse said she would check me again 2:30 and if things weren't progressing we would start pitocin. She came back around 2:30 and I told her we might want to up the dosage (since we were at the lowest amount) because I could now feel the contractions down into my leg. She checked I was 10 and the baby was at +2. She said "don't push" and I'm getting your MW. We woke Jeremy up while they prepped the room (we were in) and brought in the baby stuff.


I laughed through the pushing stage which was about 3 contractions long, pushing slowly so my MW could work his big head out with no tearing. She's SO amazing! Love her. So into the world he came with a head full of red hair at 2:59AM. Crazy thick, short cord but at least this time it would reach to my chest. So I held his sticky little body against my bare chest until the cord stopped pulsing.

We snuggled and he nursed for about an hour before they weighed him. I love that they know do their evaluations while they are still naked on your chest. 15 days early 7 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long.

Welcome to the craziness, Charlie. We have waited so long for you!!!!