Baby boy Salem is here!

Salem Lee Mason is here!

Friday, June 12 2009 @ 4:20 p.m.
Asheville, N.C.
6lbs 7oz 19 inches long

Salem's Birth Story,
Salem came with no warning at all!! I was not expecting him to come so soon, however I was excited when it all happened! I thought for sure I would be late again, since I was so late with Miles. So the story begins....I woke up Thursday night with light contractions coming every 5 minutes. They started at about 2 am and never really went away. They weren't too bad, but I knew it was different because they were so regular. I finally got out of bed at about 5:30 and put a load of Salem's clothes and bedding in. We hadn't even set up his crib yet, so I figured well if I"m in labor I better get on that! So I did a little organizing and took a shower. I got my bag packed and just started doing the normal duties for the day. My mom was at my house thank goodness. She was sleeping in MIles' room so when I awoke her with the news that "I think I'm in labor" she jumped out of bed with excitement! I kept thinking what bad timing, because this was the day she was supposed to be moving into her new rented bungalow. We were all going to help her unload her uhaul and get things set up. Oh well... plans had to change a little. So my contractions were still regular, not too painful yet, but I did have to stop and breathe through some of them. We quickly all got ready and headed to West End Bakery for a bite to eat. We then met Corey over at my mom's new house and helped unload her Uhaul. I couldn't do much because by now my contractions were a little more intense! We had to get her truck unloaded because it was due back that day. Anyway, we quickly unloaded the truck and then Corey and I decided to grab a quick bite to eat from Lenny's and then head to the hospital. I had checked in with my midwife earlier and she said I could come in whenever I was ready.

So we headed to the hospital, checked in, and I immediately got hooked up to the monitor so they could see how my contractions were progressing. My midwife joined us soon after and that's when I found out I was only dilated to 1 cm. I was pretty bummed because she said that it could just be false labor and they might subside. I couldn't imagine this because they were pretty strong. I decided to stay for 1 more hour so that she could check me again and we could make the call whether to stay or just go home and ride it out. I stayed hooked up to the monitor and I had already made up my mind that we would just go home and carry on about our day. My contractions were subsiding, so I thought for sure I would not be progressing. Jan, my midwife, came back in shortly after and checked me again and to her surprise and mine I was at 6 cm. So I had progressed 5 cm. in one hour, and my contractions had slowed down. Didn't make sense to me but I was so excited, we were going to be having a baby!!! So I quickly got checked into my labor and delivery room. My labor and delivery nurse was awesome! She was so much fun to talk to and a lot of help to me when things got intense.

So I spent the next hour on the bed just working and breathing through the contractions. I didn't progress much more that hour, so I decided to get in the tub. I was in the tub for about 2 hours. I love getting in the tub. It relaxes you and the water makes labor so much easier. Getting out of the tub was pretty intense. I was almost ready to push by the time I got out and I was having really intense pressure. So I made it to the bed with some help and got settled in there, it was almost pushing time. I spent about 30 minutes or so breathing through more contractions. They were getting really intense, I could tell he was almost here. So I continued to work through the contractions and all of a sudden I had a really big contraction and I knew it was pushing time. So I started to push and he was out in about 3 minutes. These were the longest 3 minutes of my life, it was really painful but once he was out it was amazing. They brought him right up to me, Corey got to catch him as he came out. It was a beautiful moment! The experience was so smooth! I am so thankful that everything went so smoothly and that Salem was healthy! My stay at the hospital was wonderful. I really enjoyed all my nurses and it was nice to just rest up and be served! I love being a patient. It was nice having the time to really bond with Salem. What sweet memories we made!

Today Salem is 2 weeks old. It's hard to believe that it's already been 2 weeks. Why does time go be so fast after you have babies!! He is doing great! He's growing though, I wish I could keep him from growing but I don't think that is going to happen! LIfe is good with 2! So cheers to you Salem and happy 2 week birthday! You are a joy!