Sunday, June 17, 2012

We are nearing Jackson's third birthday. On this day three years, I was being discharged from the hospital pumped full of steroids with a bottle full of blood pressure pills that were meant to stop my pre-term labor.

I had had a stressful end of pregnancy. I started a new job and directed two large existing races on the event calendar. I planned, organized, and kept the date secret for a third race for several months and brought 2000 people plus volunteers and a boat load of other folks down to I-40 for a mile-ish run on June 11. The running joke with my KFD friends was that if I went into labor, they would deliver the baby on the interstate because it would make a great story. I didn't go into labor that night but did soon after....

On Monday morning, Jason and I hit the gym. I did the elliptical because my legs and body just couldn't handle a run that day. I lifted weights. When I finished up, I noticed a dull ache in my right hip. I thought the baby had turned awkwardly and brushed it off. I worked for awhile but the pain didn't go away. Sometime mid-afternoon, I called the doctor's office and asked for the nurse to call me back wondering if there was a way that I could physically turn him by myself..

We were buying groceries when the call came. The nurse said that I should come to L&D immediately. They thought I was in labor. I couldn't process what they were saying. Wouldn't I know what labor was like? I was so worried. If our due date was July 31 then this was way too early to have a baby (by the way, I always thought they were wrong about the due date). I ran into a friend in the store before I could find Jason. I cried and she told me it would be fine. We paid for the groceries and dropped them at Runners Market on our way (we were shopping at the Kroger there). Sounds so silly that we went ahead and paid for them but we thought we'd stop by the hospital and head right back home.

Turns out, I was dilated 3 cm and contracting every two minutes. He had turned all right and he was trying to escape. I stayed for two days while they gave me steroids to strengthen his lungs. I saw specialists. His weight was good. He was roughly 6 lbs and 5 oz and 33.5 weeks. It would be better if he waited a bit longer but we could make it work if he was born then. They sent me home with instructions not to work out or drive. I wasn't on bed rest but I wasn't allowed to do anything.

We held him off til July 6. I was in labor the whole time. If I didn't take the medicine right on time, I could feel the contractions coming. He really wanted to join the party.

He wants to do things how and when he wants to do things. Heck, the preterm labor told us that and I should have made a note then. We wanted him to walk early but he did it when he was ready. We really wanted him to talk. He did it when he was ready and sure that he could do it well (I think he is going to be a Type A personality like his mom).

He is an amazing kid. He is funny and really smart. He is quite the entertainer.

I am blessed to be his mother and to be the first person that go to know him. We had long talks while I was pregnant and he ran 100s of miles with me during those months.

Last week was hard. For those of you who are close then you know the story. For those who aren't, a prayer for my sister and my family would be good.

As we start a new week, I am reminded of how precious a little life is and how much goes in to bringing a baby into this world. Making it through pregnancy is such a big deal and people take that piece of the timeline for granted. I knew that complications could happen but I never dreamed that we'd be holding our breath for those last weeks hoping we had everything ready and hoping that he would be big enough and strong enough to make into the world.

He made it alright and we are lucky to have him.


A Weight Lifted

I started this blog when Jackson was a baby with the intent to write about everyday life with kiddos. There are tons of books out there on r...