Three weeks ago our bundle of joy arrived!

Wow! It's been three weeks since Jackson decided to make his appearance in the world. He's here and beautiful! We're loving him and being parents! So let me fill ya'll in.....

I guess I should start from the beginning.....It was Saturday night, July 4th, when it all began. Byron and I had just gotten home from a day at my mom's to celebrate the 4th. The night before we had a date night.... dinner, the movies and a spectacular fireworks show that we watched from our upstairs window. Thank you city of Sachse! We would have never guessed that the next night we'd be on our way to the hospital to become parents. So, getting back to the 4th.....we had just gotten ready for bed and were reading a little when I suddenly felt something happen. At 11:30 p.m. I realized I lost my mucus plug. That's when the contractions began to get consistent and steadily stronger. Only then did I realize that I had been having slight contractions throughout the day. I just knew the little guy was going to come that night. So the first thing I did was jump in the tub to shave my legs....I couldn't have hairy legs in the delivery room! Byron proceeded to get everything together for the hospital and get dressed while trying to time my contractions. It was quite humorous at times!

Well, we ended up calling the doctor just before 12:30. She thought we could wait a little while, but I knew better....plus, it was a 20 minute drive to the hospital. It seemed that as soon as we jumped in the car my contractions got even stronger. Boy was I glad we were on the way to the hospital! We couldn't get there soon enough. About half way there my water broke. That's when Byron felt good about having me sit on a towel for the ride. The car seat was going to be O.K. It was for sure now....Jackson was on his way. When we got to the hospital we signed in and were told that we would have to wait because there were two women in front of me. What?!?!? Wait?!?!?! Are you kidding? I couldn't believe it! They didn't even ask me if my water broke. After what seemed like an eternity in that waiting room they finally took me back. Little did I know there were a lot more questions to answer and prepping to do before I would ever see an anesthesiologist. They gave me a lovely hospital gown to change into and the first thing they did was a test to see if my water had broken. Like I told them, it had and I was there to stay. I was then dilated to about 4 cm. My FIRST question to the nurse was "when can I get an epidural?"

I guess it was about 2:00 a.m. before I finally had some relief. I could no longer feel my contractions!! Thank goodness for drugs! My nurse, Flo, then turned out the lights and told me to try and get some rest until it was time to push. Sleep, what? Now? Wasn't I about to have a baby? Apparently not for several hours. I was able to get a little sleep, as much as you can being hooked up to all kinds of machines. I ended up having a couple of side effects from the epidural through the night.....all of a sudden I was freezing...I couldn't stop shivering. They brought me some warm blankets, but that didn't help much for a while. I also itched all over. But I could handle that as long as I wasn't feeling any pain. Then about 8:15 I met the doctor who would deliver Jackson. She was nice and very good about explaining everything that would take place. About 8:25 it was time to push. That's when Byron got a little queasy and I thought, "oh no, he's going to pass out". He went to the bathroom and when he came out he was as pale as a ghost. But he was a champ.....he sucked it up and was great! I couldn't have done it without him. On July 5th at 8:49 a.m. Jackson Parker Lewis was born weighing 5 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19 1/4" long. He came out crying and was a strong, healthy boy! We were overjoyed to finally meet our son! He was much more precious than we could have ever imagined! And I couldn't wait to hold him!

So that's how it happened. The only thing I would have changed would to have had my doctor there to deliver him. But I guess I couldn't have asked for a better delivery!

Here are a few more pictures from the hospital.....

On our way home.....

We thank all of our friends and family who were able to make it up to the hospital to visit. We enjoyed seeing each of you and Jackson was happy to meet you! Thank you for sharing in such a joyful time with us!