The Delivery

Like most nights leading up to Kixton’s arrival I walked the halls, bounced from one bed to the next, headed to the kitchen for cups of water and of course took at least five to six bathroom breaks. As days went by, this particular night started to feel a bit different. After two failed attempts at the maternity triage, I was careful not to alert Kevin or get myself too worked up again unless I “knew” it was go time.

“Everyone kept saying you will know when you are in labor.”

Too an impatient, over-ready, inexperienced mom to be, this was quite the area of uncertainty. I laid in the guest room in the dark wondering, wishing and praying that this ever increasing pain was in fact my golden ticket to actually get admitted and be one step closer to meeting our Kixton.

I finally woke Kevin up around 3:45am politely saying; “I think we are going to have a baby today.” I am sure he questioned my “boy who cried wolf,” announcement, but like every supportive husband he said okay let’s start timing. I waited another three hours to make sure these contractions were here to stay this time. Sure enough they were and at 7am we called the doc and got the go ahead to make our third trip to the triage. We sang Man in Mirror on the way to try and calm this exciting, somewhat uncomfortable ride to Community North. I did not win a Grammy for the performance, but it did get us there in great spirits.

The first two attempts were with the same nurse, Beth, but to our surprise we were greeted by a new face. They got me hooked up as Kevin continued to Flip cam the entire experience. I feared this footage would soon flood the pages of websites and YouTube, but I agreed that some filming was acceptable and I gave him the LOOK when it was too much. He knows the look! Contractions were there and consistent, they were about to get us through the main doors.

We listened as we heard her call our doctor, alerting her that we were finally in TRUE LABOR. We were in! We called our parents and let them know the news. I started feeling the contractions more and more and yes they increased in intensity. I think I tried to wait to get the epidural and waited a bit too long to ask for it. By the time I asked and found out I was third in line; I had myself in a bit of a pickle. Finally I got the epidural and the process continued.

Kevin was more amazing than words could say. He was my support, my coach, my teammate and my loving husband. This was the beginning of our incredible journey to Kixton. After some minor issues trying to get the epidural to set properly, we plowed forward and finally it was time push. Tammy, our ex-military nurse, coached us through the process. Doc Linn in position and believe it or not the same triage nurse, Beth, that sent us home twice, pulled us into the final inning.

Fifteen hours of labor luckily ended with only about 20 minutes of pushing. Kixton crowned and the nurse yelled at Kevin to see our little man. Dad cut the cord and next thing I knew our little man was lying on my belly. He was perfect. Talk about an emotional experience. It truly takes your breath away.

After a small trip to the NICU for some fast breathing, he was in our arms. Kixton J. Gormal was here.

-Mom

Full video coming soon of the trip into the hospital and the first few nights with Kixton.