Happy 5th Birthday Ethan Andrew.
We celebrated his birthday what seemed the entire weekend
and finished off the celebration today.
But Ethan's true birthday is May 25.
He was born in a small hospital in
Whitesburg, KY. I remember his birth like it was yesterday.
With Ethan, I walked around dilated between a 3 and a 4 for a week.
Nothing uncommon for me.
On May 24, 2004, I went in to the doctors office dilated at a
5 -6 with absolutely no contractions. And this was
2 weeks before his due date.
Xander was the same way. Boys.
Anyways, as my midwife was (don't read if
you get queesy with too much graphic information)
scraping my cervix, she felt Ethan's umbilical cord.
I should have known something was serious when she called
Dr. Baker in to check. He explained to me that ordinarily they would
rush me to the hospital for an emergency c-section but because I was not
in labor and Ethan was not engaged, I had no worries.
My mother in law and youngest sister in law were in town
watching the 3 older children while Larry was at work.
So I drove myself to the hospital.
Honestly not knowing the seriousness of all this,
I called Larry and told him I had to go to the hospital for an induction.
Yay for my emerald birth stone! Anyone who knows me, knows it is all about those
birthstones.
So, I go to the hospital and the 2 delivery rooms were already occupied.
Yeah, you heard me correctly, 2 delivery rooms!
So, they put me in this cramped little room meant to be
an exam room / observation room to see if a woman was in
labor. Aaaggghhh it was small. I think our master
bedroom closet was larger than this room at the time.
Before they could induce me, they had to invert me
till Ethan's umbilical cord moved out of the way.
Being naive, I did not see anything wrong with this.
For hours, I laid in a bed with my head towards the floor and my feet
towards the ceiling. Extremely uncomfortable for
anyone pregnant or not. When Larry arrived he just giggled.
I guess it was quite a site.
After a few hours, an ultrasound tech came in with a
portable ultrasound machine to check
Ethan's positioning. The doc's were
assured that his cord had moved and was now next to his head where
my hips are.
When we moved to Asheville and I was pregnant with Ruby,
the doctor's here told me the dangers of what the doctor's there
had done. Dr Travis was in shock as I told her my delivery story.
She said Ethan should have been an automatic c section, you never
take a chance with a prolapsed umbilical cord.
All it would have taken was for labor to start, a head to engage, and
Ethan to suffocate.
So I always call Ethan my little blessing.
They are all blessings, but he had a dangerous
head start so to speak.
Happy Birthday Ethan Andrew.
I am so glad you are a part of our family.
Sorry for the sequencing.
Takes too much brain power to figure out the ordering when
I am uploading.
Every rite of passage. Ethan got the
"coveted" two wheeler" with training wheels
for his birthday.
He was thrilled to death with the pads and helmet. He
walked around with them on for hours.
And he even wanted to sleep with the
helmet on so that he would not hurt his head.
Not sure what that child does in his sleep
to have such worries.
I love these 2 shots. Jason and Sheba surprised us
with a last minute visit which allowed
one of Ethan's very best friends to be at his party.
Check out Denzil helping Ethan blow the
candles out. Such animation.
Absolutely adorable.
My little Ruby is always good for a smile and a
pose.
Ethan just so happy.
The kids brewing up some homemade root beer.
Thanks to Uncle Steve for teaching us this simple way of making
root beer. We do a batch for all different occasions.
To finish off Ethan's turning 5,
I took him and Ruby to Chuck E Cheese and then off to the
theater to watch Night at the Museum.
Picture of our Chuck E visit will be coming soon.
Comments
What a scary beginning!