A Week Ago Today: Hello, Rowan.

Rowan Lee William Guffey

Born: November 3, 2014, 6:20pm

7.6 pounds, 19.5 inches long

My, how life can change in a week! This exact moment last week, Rhyno and I were headed to the hospital to begin inducing labor. I hit my due date, October 27, without any signs of oncoming labor. Every morning following the long-awaited due date, I rubbed my then super pregnant belly and asked, "Is today your birthday?" Rhyno and I walked our neighborhood and ate spicy food at every meal. We visited our doctor and he confirmed what we suspected, there were still no signs of progress and we quietly scheduled an appointment to induce labor on November 3. 

The night before we were to head into the hospital I kept waiting for my water to break. I had been so against being induced and badly wanted things to happen naturally. Rhyno and I spent the night before our induction quietly at home, soaking in our last hours as just the two of us playing cards, snuggling Violet, watching movies, and laying in bed talking about what the next morning would bring...and secretly we were both waiting for labor to begin earlier than expected and rush to the hospital in the middle of the night. The next morning we both woke up at 3:30am anxious for the day's events. After what seemed like years we finally grabbed the hospital and diaper bags and made our way to our hospital.

I have to say now, induction wasn't what I thought it would be. We were placed in a big birthing room, my parents met us at the hospital, and we spent the day monitoring baby's heartrate and movement and my contractions. To spare the long details, after nearly 9 hours of intense epidural-free contractions I still had shown no signs of progress and my water was intact and my doctor uttered the phrase I had desperately hoped to avoid: C-Section. It was best for baby and myself and our doctor had really tried his best to avoid it as I had told him throughout my pregnancy I wanted a "traditional" labor and delivery. 

The second the words left the doc's mouth I started to cry. I had never had surgery and a c-section just wasn't how I envisioned bringing this long awaited baby into the world. I wanted my baby delivered directly to my chest, I wanted their umbilical cord to finish pulsing before it was cut, I wanted to breastfeed minutes after their arrival. I saw my vision of my "perfect" delivery. I finally had my moment of panic--I was afraid of surgery, afraid of letting go of my delivery dreams, afraid of being "out of it" when my baby arrived. 

The hour before surgery was a blur--nurses rushing in to get me prepped, my dad (who had run home to let the dog out) rushing back to the hospital so I could see him before I headed to the OR, my final visitors stopping in to make sure I was alright, and--in a moment of irony--my water breaking as I got into a wheelchair that would take me to the C-section I hoped never to go through.Rhyno was left in the OR hall to dress in his "bunny suit scrubs" and in my terror and panic I was left to get my spinal block and get prepped for the very first (and most important) surgery of my life. After getting my husband situated on the stool next to my head and making sure I was numbed up, the doctor went to work. 

"Well, are you ready? You have a handsome baby boy!" Sweeter words have never been spoken and there was no shortage of tears as Rhyno and I both repeated, "A boy? We have a boy! We have a son!" Ry announced his name to the surgical staff in the room--Rowan Lee William Guffey--and the doctor held him over the curtain for me to see. He was absolutely perfect (in my hormone, adrenaline-fueled state I loudly proclaimed, "Oh thank goodness, he's really cute!" The nurses, knowing how badly I had wanted my golden hour, let me hold my new baby on my chest and when I met my boys in the recovery room a short time later, a nurse quickly helped me breastfeed and hold him skin-to-skin. As for my umbilical cord wishes? Welp, it was cut as soon as possible instead of being allowed to finish pulsing, but for good reason. It turns out someone was looking out for my baby because upon pulling him out of me they discovered his cord had been wrapped around his neck twice so a vaginal delivery could have had major, terrifying complications. Things have such a way of working out for the best. Our families were able to quickly visit us in our room and we spent the following days bonding and falling madly in love and (for me) beginning to recover from major surgery while learning to breastfeed and be someone's mom (oh, but that's for another post). Life has completely changed in 7 days and I couldn't be happier.

So, he's here! After years of waiting and trying and crying over negative pregnancy tests, our beautiful (and I mean seriously beautiful) boy is here. Our Babysaurus is home, Rowan Lee William, our Ro, our future Blackhawks power forward. He has my pout and pointy chin, Rhyno's nose, and big feet that we aren't quite sure who to attribute to. He has the most beautiful slate colored eyes (though in the last couple days they have begun to lighten and it's bittersweet that he's already beginning to grow up). He is sweet tempered (mostly, he also throws a pretty rocking temper tantrum) and seriously strong (must be all that spinach I ate!) and I could (and do) spend hours looking into his little eyes or holding his tiny hands in mine while he eats and running my hands over his sandy colored hair and kissing those little baby cheeks.Did I mention the clothes? I could spend my whole day changing Ro's tiny hats and outfits...if only he didn't despise getting dressed quite so much.

Welcome to the world, my Babysaurus, it's a much sweeter place now that you're in it.