Carson Walker Robinett is born!

At 6:15 p.m. on June 25, Carson Walker Robinett was born in Manhattan, Kansas. He came in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces and a mighty 21 inches long. 

The stubborn little guy had been breech for nearly all of the pregnancy, despite attempts to turn him, and because of this was born via C-section.  We had scheduled the C-section for July 5, 2011, but he decided to come two weeks early. 

The morning of June 25th I felt like something just wasn't right with the baby.  I hadn't felt much movement and was starting to worry.  Luckily, my job as an OB nurse permitted me to run up to the hospital and have a co-worker put me on the monitor to ensure that baby's heart beat and activity were reassuring.  Everything looked okay, so Kellis and I went on about our day.  We went to the grocery store and I started feeling some contractions.  I attributed this to not eating breakfast and drinking very little water.  I figured they would stop once we got home and I rested and hydrated.  However, they did not!   They continued all day...and were following the "every 5 minutes and lasting 1 minute" rule.  Of course, as an OB nurse, I was in complete denial that this was true labor.  Kellis and I had been planning on seeing the movie Cars 2 (and since I was in denial that I was in labor) I thought it would be a good idea to go to the movie.  Needless to say, it was a VERY uncomfortable movie.  I continued to have regular strong contractions throughout the movie.  Once we got home after the movie, I called my mom and my friend Kelly.  I needed to hear their voices of reason.  They both insisted that we go to the hospital.  As a nurse, I didn't want to go to the hospital and be told that I was just having Braxton Hicks contractions.  I was still in denial, however, and insisted that Kellis not bring ANYTHING to the hospital with us.  I just kept saying, "this isn't labor and they are going to send us home".  I wouldn't let him bring the suitcase or anything else.  Thank goodness he ignored me and brought the camera!

So, I finally came to the realization that this was probably true labor.  These contractions were PAINFUL and FREQUENT.  When we got to the hospital I was dilated 4-5 cm...sure enough this was true labor!  I have to admit that when the doctor said that this was labor and that we were going to have a baby today I panicked!  I started crying, not because I was scared, but because I had been in such denial and wasn't expecting to really have a baby today.  I was so grateful that Kellis had brought the camera!  We instantly called our parents.  My mom was planning on being in the delivery room, but things happened so quickly that she wasn't able to be there for the delivery.  Kellis and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 p.m. and Carson was born at 6:15!  As soon as they realized I was in labor and was having uncomfortable contractions, we went right back for a C-section. 

I was nervous during the C-section that I was going to be nauseated and vomit!  After all, I had spent my entire afternoon eating movie theatre popcorn.  I remember that my biggest worry was that I was going to throw up popcorn.  Anyway, things happened really quickly and in a matter of minutes we were parents!  It was such an amazing feeling to look over from behind the OR curtain and see a crying pink baby that belongs to you!  I was impressed with how well Kellis handled the excitement of the birth.  Obviously, nothing about the procedure of the birth was going to be a surprise for me.  I do this every day and knew what to expect; however, Kellis really did not.  He was so calm and just kept reassuring me and taking picture of Carson. 

Even though I did not have the planned C-section that I was expecting, things went very smoothly and at the end of the day we had a beautiful baby boy!