Happy Birthday Silas!

Silas was due to be born around, well, sometime between May 17 and May 24, they never quite decided on a due date. By the time I got to June the Doctor decided it was really time for him to be born whether he wanted to come out or not. I was really ready for him to be born too! I had tried everything (within reason) to bring on labor myself, but nothing was working.

My mom and Archie came to the hospital with me for the induction while my dad stayed home with Michael, Gideon, and Jason. Then ages 7, 5, and 2. I had been contracting for weeks, but none of them were strong enough to be real labor. Which was rather funny because I actually went into preterm labor with Silas at 31 weeks! They were able to stop my labor with drugs at the hospital. That was pretty scary.

When we arrived Tuesday morning for the induction I was already a little dilated so they started me on pitocin to induce labor. I was so uncomfortable! I tossed and turned, getting up to walk or sit on the birth ball whenever they would let me. I was pretty miserable though. Hour after hour passed and my progress was very slow. I labored all through the night and early in the morning the pain started getting worse. They gave me a dose of a pain med in my IV but it didn't help much. Just when I thought I couldn't make it another minute, and told them I needed a epidural (something I have never had but always end up asking for moments before its time to push!). The nurse checked me and sure enough, it was just about time to start pushing.

I was totally exhausted. I almost felt too tired to push. It only took about 5 minutes to push him out though. I had to stop once his head was out because the cord was wrapped too tightly around his neck for the rest of him to come out, the Doctor cut it off of his neck and then the rest of him slid out. I collapsed back onto the bed completely worn out!

Besides being a 23 1/2 hour labor, it had been a long pregnancy, full of morning sickness too! Although it was not really morning sickness, it was more like 24/7 sickness. I hardly got out of bed the first  5 months of my pregnancy as it usually made me throw up to do anything.

Anyway, as I lay there after giving birth I had to talk myself into lifting my head off the pillow to look at the beautiful child I had just pushed out. I lifted my head and smiled at him and then collapsed back onto my pillow. They dried him off and weighed him and then brought him to me. 9 lbs. 6 oz. and 19 inches long. My shortest , but second lightest baby.

Silas Nathanael Edenfield. Born June 4, 2008 at 9:27 AM.

Archie and my mom were almost as tired as I was. Later that day the older boys came to visit us in the hospital. They all got to hold him, and he seemed as interested in them as they were in him! We had 4 boys!

So there you have it, Silas' birth story :)

I only spent 4 birthdays with him, and I cherish every one of them. I don't know if birthdays are celebrated in Heaven or not, but I am sure if they are, he's had a couple of great ones up there these last two!