The Birth of Barrett-Part 1

Baby Barrett is here and his parents could not be more thrilled! It felt like nine months both flew by and crawled. The moment I saw Barrett, I knew he was worth the wait. It's amazing how you can love someone so intensely who you've just met. I can now attest to the saying, "Becoming a parent is choosing to have your heart walk around outside of your body". My heart is so completely wrapped up in our little boy and I feel beyond blessed to embark on this journey of parenthood.

Barrett was induced on June 6th, 2011-his dad's 29th birthday. I went in at 6am and was 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Pitocin was administered at 8am. I could have received an epidural immediately but wanted to experience some of the "joys" of labor. I had Grant, my mom, sister, and Grant's mom in the delivery room with me. Around 9 or 10am, my doctor came in and broke my water. Everyone besides my mom was out grabbing breakfast and Grant said he was bummed he'd missed such a "big event". In my opinion, it was pretty uneventful besides my mom getting to help by holding the tools for the doctor. You could tell she felt pretty important as honorary nurse.

I started experiencing some contractions shortly after my water broke. My sister-in-law asked what it felt like and the best description I have is that it felt like bad menstrual cramps, especially in my lower back. I was actually managing surprisingly well, but my nurse, Rachel, encouraged me to get the epidural sooner than later since it was part of my plan. Apparently there were nine other women on the floor in labor the same day and the "epidural man" was a hot item. (From time to time you could hear a nurse in another room counting down as a mom pushed until finally the cry of a baby would cause the mommy to cheer and cry.) Rachel suggested I not wait until I was in too much pain and way down the list to get drugs. Around 11 or 12pm, I got my epidural from the most thorough man I've ever met. He was no-nonsense and didn't even break a smile when I referred to him as "new best friend". I think his business-like demeanor is what helped me through the procedure. I had been most nervous about getting the epidural and I know Grant was nervous about seeing it. We were walked through EVERYTHING that was going to happen and not having any surprises really made the whole process much less scary. After getting pain meds, I enjoyed a few hours of on-and-off sleep, a giant popsicle, and a catheter.

As this is the turning point in the story, it seems a good place to pause and tend to the littlest Qualley. Stay tuned for the second half of "The Birth of Barrett"!