E Man is Home!

Easton is now 8 days old and we are trying to get back into a routine. We've had a lot of visitors and Deb and Kin have been life savers in helping out around the house. As I sit here watching Easton sleep in his swing, I get overwhelmed with joy in thinking about the days ahead in watching him develop and grow over the next several weeks. We've seen him yawn for the first time, unknowingly smile for the first time, enjoy his first UGA game day, and even pee on daddy for the first time. I can't wait for all the "firsts" to come. I go back to work tomorrow, which is bitter sweet, but we have Eastons first doctors appt. on Wednesday to look forward to.

Our Miracle Arrives

Sunday, 12:10AM: I am the most exhausted I have ever been right now, so please forgive/look over the spelling or grammatical errors for this entry. All I can say, is that there is no greater feeling in the world then what I just experienced. There is no sweeter sound then the sound I just heard. Meredith was a brave, brave woman today as we were in the ER tonight for the C-section. I had to be brave going in, but to be honest, I was scared out of my mind. It went perfect! Although I did get surprised when the doctor told me to stand up and take a picture of Easton over the sheet. Little did I know only Easton’s little (I mean big) head was out of her stomach and the rest of him was still hidden under Merediths skin. He then made his big, grand entrance and was taken over to the heating table to be cleaned up and sucked out. I went over and took several pictures, video’s, and then it happen. I went back over to Meredith and completely broke down with her. After all we have been through over the past 9 months, especially the past 15 hours, we embraced each other in some very intense crying going on (Meredith, me, and Easton!). After they made sure everything was ok with little man, I went over with him to the recovery room where they went over him very thoroughly to make sure everything was ok. At that, I was able to sneak out ot the waiting room to show the first pictures of little Easton to the family for a few minutes before heading back to meet Meredith in recovery. We then made our way upstairs to our room where our fabulous nurse Tracy went over a lot of valuable information with us, including helping Meredith breast feed for the first time (a special moment for all of us). All the family visited, Dad cried, Bobby Jean cried, Mom and Deb were ecstatic, and Kin was just plain ol cute. I would go into more detail, but I am exhausted and Easton is crying…I have a feeling I should get use to this feeling! Till tomorrow….

The Big Day for the Little Guy

Easton’s Birth Journal
9/18 and 9/19 2009




Friday, 6:39 PM: Well we got THE call! Northside just called and let us know that our labor and delivery room would be ready at 8PM. Immediately Meme jumped up and started to get everybody going! “Meme, settle down we have more than an hour” Kin Kin says. We have dinner in the oven, but at least for me, an appetite seems to be the last thing on my mind right now. Bags are packed….the room is about ready…and it’s almost game time!


Friday, 8:15 PM: We just got checked into our room…A1! Now we are getting bombarded with questions by our nurse “Florence”. Florence is from Nigeria which Deb and Hope quickly recognized with the amount of mission work they have done in West Africa. Meme seems to be doing really good. They have her hooked up to monitors for Easton’s heart beat and Meme’s contractions. In a classic Meredith moment, the audible heart beat from Easton’s monitor went away and she instantly asked Florence what happen to her baby’s heartbeat!!!! That’s it for now!


Friday, 10:35 PM: Family just left and now it’s just me and Meredith in the labor and delivery room. Silence other than Easton’s heartbeat in the background make the moment surreal. For the first time, Meredith and I make eye contact and in an instant our thoughts are the same. “I want my mommy”! Wow, it is almost here. We have been waiting for this moment for 9 months. We have been counting down the days for weeks! We have been counting down the hours for days. And here we are. I know Meredith is going to be amazing. As I lay in here gazing at her in the bed with the IV hooked up to her, I realize how lucky of a guy I am to have such a wonderful wife and mother to my son. The way she is eating her ice chips is just so dang cute. The way she keeps taking deep breaths to ward off the anxiousness melts my heart. I am a blessed man!


Friday, 11:18PM: Meredith is comfy. I just made my rock hard bed. And the lights are off. Time for some much needed rest for the day ahead. Wake up call at 6AM sharp and the induction will begin at 6:30AM. Night Easton!


Saturday, 5:03 AM: Well, now I know what its like to sleep on a parking lot with a speed bump as a pillow! Wow. But I guess I cannot complain considering Meredith has an 8 pound baby kicking in her stomach, painful contractions every 2 to 3 minutes, a needle in her arm, 2 monitors wrapped tight around her belly, and a blood pressure cuff on her arm that pumps up every 30 minutes or so! I have been laying with Meredith for the last 20 minutes or so rubbing her lower back as her contractions are starting to get a little more intense. Last night around midnight Meredith couldn’t sleep so I talked her into taking a sleeping pill. The good news is she got some sleep. The bad news is she had very vivid dreams about little elves in brown overalls in our room dancing and singing to the tune of Easton’s heartbeat! Note to self…Meredith shouldn’t EVER take a sleeping pill again. Well here we are. In a quiet and dark labor and delivery room, which will be ANYTHING but quiet and dark within the next hour. Next up…Meredith and Cody’s first experience with an enema…

Saturday, 6:15 AM: Anemia…..WOW.


Saturday, 7:50 AM: Florence, our nurse from Nigeria, has administered the Pitocin drip and so the countdown is on. The contractions are getting more regular now. Coming on and peaking regularly now every 2-3 minutes. My parents, Hope, Deb, and Kin are now here and we had a very special time of prayer a few minutes ago. For me, time is at a snails pace as we wait for little man to come into this world and bless our lives forever. Our new nurse has just arrived and she is checking out Meme and asking her questions. Meme is doing amazing…other than a little back pain, all is well. Hopefully the next entry will be welcoming Easton into this world.


Saturday, 8:40AM: We just saw Dr. Anand for the first time and she broke Meredith’s water. Meredith said it feels like a faucet was turned on between her legs.


Saturday, 10:40AM: Nurse Emily say’s, that’s freaky! In what was nothing less than a hilarious moment, Meredith has us walk her into the bathroom. I crack a harmless joke while Meredith is standing in the bathroom that causes her amniotic fluid to start pouring out. Weird. We finally got her onto the toilet and she COMPLETELY overflows the pee measuring container. I am talking over 20 ounces of pee at one time! No wonder Meredith’s eyes were turning yellow! She didn’t develop any stretch marks on her stomach during pregnancy, but I bet her bladder now has stretch marks. The poor girl is still getting rid of that enema. They have cranked up the Pitocin to “6” on the IV and the intensity of the contractions are starting to get a little more pronounced.


Saturday, 2:52PM: Well, I just experienced something so intense they could bottle it up and sell it for adrenaline freaks. My wife just received an epidural. Basically a big ol needle was jabbed in her spine. She is no doubt much stronger of a person than I could have ever be. She tried to hold off on using the epidural as long as possible, but the contractions were getting too painful and we decided to go ahead and get it. Wife/momma is now resting good but has her leg jacked up in the stirrup to try and open up the pelvis to help the baby down. One funny story that has to be documented. Lindsey, Meredith’s friend, came into the labor and delivery room with balloons and told Meme “Congratulations” and asked her how “he” was doing. Meredith said “good”. Lindsey then said “How does he look?” and Meredith responded “I haven’t seen him yet!”. This conversation went on for 3 to 4 minutes with Lindsey thinking the whole time that Meredith had already had little man Easton. She is a blonde through and through.


Saturday, 5:15 PM: 9 hours and 45 minutes and still dilated 2 cm. I am exhausted mentally and physically so I know Meredith is even more so. She is still in good spirits. If we don’t get some changes by 7 PM it will be done by a C Section. We will see what happens…


Saturday, 7:20 PM: We are going in! Literally….to get a C-Section. We are dressed in our scrubs ready to head to the OR. Healthy baby…healthy momma…..Will update soon with details on Easton!!!!