Samford Walker Lyons
7 - 25
It took me 9 months to write this one down... but I wanted to be sure I documented the special occasion so I could look back on it. Just like
your sisters birth story, both of you had very unique arrivals into the world.
July was hot. Our entire house was almost packed and ready to be moved. Renovations were underway at our new house... but we still had quite a bit to do before the COO would be ready.
My mom was here - two weeks early this time - she was not about to miss another baby being born.
Turns out she was right on time, because you didn't make her wait long.
It was a typical Monday. I worked a full day at the office, picked up your sister from Mimi's and dropped her off with GranDe, then headed downtown to set up for our marketing workshop the next day - Holiday Promotions - we had picked the date with a purpose, it was Christmas in July.
Little did I know that it would also be your birthday!
We had a lazy night at home and ended up eating chicken salad for dinner, because we didn't feel like cooking - and I'm sure it was hot, hot, hot. I was certainly feeling tired and much more uncomfortable on this particular night. I remember laying on the sofa with your daddy and sister and just couldn't find a way to get comfortable. My mom even commented, saying you don't look so great, Pete. I went to bed early, adding a few more things to my hospital bag that was almost packed and ready to go, and eating a big bowl of ice cream before bed.
That night I woke up around 1 AM to use the bathroom. Just as I laid back down in bed I felt my water break. I woke your daddy up and hopped outta bed...
It took your pops a few minutes to come-to. I think he even laid back down to wake up a little, haha. He quickly realized it was time to pack.
I called L&D and they asked that we come in as soon as we could make it. Since your sister was breach, if there was any chance for a v-back, they wanted me in the hospital to labor.
We packed our bags, just one each this time around, grabbed the carseat - that was actually installed already - yay! Door hanger and nurses gifts - ready this time. And we hit the road to Augusta, 45 minutes up the road. But, not before waking up GranDe for a big hug goodbye!
We arrived at the hospital and entered through the ER entrance - a little more calm this around - and met a L&D nurse in the lobby. She took us right up and checked us into one of the larger delivery rooms. Dr. Brooks was on call and we were excited to see him. My nurse was young and really sweet and got us all settled. At this point, I really wasn't having contractions - or any that I could feel - so they decided to start me on a slow drip of potossian to get things moving.
Not much changed over the next 8 hours. We napped, had a shift change in nurses and docs (Dr. Hoover came on!) and I actually started feeling contractions - that were coming more regularly for a little while, then very sparatic. We weren't quite sure what your plans were at this point.
Your Dad napped and had breakfast, while I enjoyed my fair share of ice chips and orange popsicles. We picked out final light fixtures for the house, curtains for rooms, and a few other items needed for the new house. We let our contractor know that we were in labor - and no pressure - but time to get to work. The clock was, literally, ticking. We took several walks down the hall to help speed things up, which did and back to bed I went.
Around 2 that afternoon, my contractions begin coming more regularly and pretty strong, so they slowed the potossian drip down. We saw another shift change - and I have never been more thankful to see new nurse faces. I remember them coming in and declaring, alright girl, we are going to have a baby! Let's get this done.
With their guidance, I decided it was time to have an epidural, so they could turn up the potossian and hopefully, get things progressing. I was only about 2 cm when they came on around 4 PM, so we had some work to do.
Over the next 4 hours they helped me rest and change positions in bed. I ate quite a few more popsicles to pass the time (by now, I was starving!).
Dr. Hoover came and checked me around 8 PM and I was only 3cm. At this point, we started talking about a c-section. I knew we only had a few hours to go before we hit the 24 hour mark and we didn't want to risk going over. Dr. Hoover gave us 15 minutes to chat and make a decision, and the nurses flipped me on my left side to see if a position change would help any. They left to give your daddy and I some time to talk.
Jesse and I were talking it over and we were almost ready to just throw in the towel and get prepped for a c-section. But you had other plans. All of a sudden it felt as through I was having a full-on contraction. I called Jesse over to see what was going on. Was I having a contraction I could feel? He was looking at the monitor and couldn't really tell what was happening. I'm not sure if I hit my nurses call button, or the docs could see my monitor, but the nurses and Dr. Hoover came back in to see what was going on.
I was in-fact having some crazy fast and strong contractions - that I could really feel on my left side.
Dr. Hoover was like, let me just check you one more time to see if there is any progress. He laughed and said, "O My! We're about to have a baby! You're 10cm and I can see the head!"
It was a whirlwind form that point on - the nurses got prepped, another "baby nurse" came in for the baby, and the doc started prepping me on how he was going to deliver.
Side note - that one baby class we took 3 years ago was zero preparation for what was happening, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. The nurses helped coach me along and it sorta all came back to me. Jesse asked, "what should I do?" And one of the sweet nurses said, just stand right here.
We pushed for about 30 minutes. Dr. Hoover stayed with us the entire time.
Next thing I knew, you were on my chest and we heard those sweet words, it's a baby BOY!!! You were born at 9:27 PM, All 9 lbs, 22 inches of you. You were a big boy, but still seemed so small to us.
We laughed and cried and couldn't believe how beautiful you were. You were perfect in every way!
We stayed in the hospital another 36 hours after your arrival - Kara brought your GranDe and Big Sister to visit, and Matt and Megan also stopped by for a few baby snuggles. Otherwise, we took it easy for a day and enjoyed what felt like a vacation this time around.
Your name came to use pretty quickly. We didn't have one picked out before we arrived, but came to an agreement pretty quickly and it just seemed. Right. Your Dad picked Samford as a little nod to both of your grampa's that both passed away in the 2 years before you were born. Your Papa Sam - just 9 months earlier and Wayford, your Dad's Dad, passed away just two months before your big sister was born. Ford came from Wayford and Sam from Samuel, which is both my Dad's name and your daddy's middle name.
Walker was just a name we loved. It doesn't hurt that both 41 and 43 bear that name as well.
Welcome to the world baby boy, you are the perfect addition our our family of 4!
Snuggles with sister as soon as we arrived home.
xoxo, your momma
