Boston's Birth story

My life is changed forever. There are so many feelings and emotions to share, and I hope I can remember and cherish these times. Boston is almost 6 weeks old, and he is already growing so fast! It is truly life-changing to become a parent to a sweet spirit of our Heavenly Father. I have been blessed so much along the way on this journey to becoming a parent, and I know I will be guided as I do my best to raise our boy in the right way. It has been a challenge and an adventure since Boston has joined our family. He was born on his due date - November 5 - and he weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long and has 10 fingers and 10 toes (whew!). He was delivered by the same doctor who delivered two of my sisters, and Chandler and I fell in love with him the moment he was born.

Here is the story of his birth:

At my appointment at 39 weeks it didn't look like Boston was going to come any time soon and it was discouraging. I was also worried because Chandler was going out of town the week before Boston's due date for a fly-out interview in Irvine, CA. I knew the baby wouldn't come then, but he also had a fly-out interview scheduled the week after in San Antonio, Texas. I was worried about Chandler being gone when our boy was born. I asked about being induced so Chandler could be there, but the doctors worried about me being induced early with my first baby so they had me wait a few days before scheduling anything. So my mom flew out on Halloween because we were hoping to have our baby soon. We spent a lot of time walking around and shopping the next day to get ready and to set things into motion. It was so great to spend time with my mom - she helped me prepare so much by getting me some things I needed and offering encouragement. We set an induction date for Monday, but we hoped that Boston would come on his own over the weekend.

On Saturday I started having pre-labor pains and we were getting so excited! The pains lasted for several hours, and Chandler and I even walked around Walmart at 2am since I couldn't sleep well with the pain. It was a fun jaunt, but eventually I felt tired and it seemed like everything had mostly subsided - bummer! This is probably the only time in my life I have wished for that kind of pain :)

Monday we started me on an IV of pitocin to finally induce labor (one day before Boston's due date), and realized I was already having contractions on my own. I didn't even realize. After a few hours on the Pitocin, it was clear that my body was reacting quickly and it was contracting too much and too often to give our baby a break. He kept going into distress when the contractions would start speeding up when they upped the Pitocin. The nurse said she had never seen someone react so quickly to the medicine, so we had to take it slow...

It made for a long night and hardly any progress. After about 8 hours of slow labor I was only at about 2 1/2 cm. Chandler didn't leave the room and he kept encouraging me and coming over to hold my hand. We decided that it would be hard for me to keep my energy up, so we turned off the pitocin and Chandler and I stayed at the hospital for the night. My mom brought us dinner and then went back to our place to sleep and come back in the morning. It was fun - like one last date before we had our baby. We watched Skyfall on the hospital tv movie channel and went to bed. I kept having contractions on my own, but not any serious labor. I was so tired. Thankfully I had great nurses and they were encouraging and easy to talk to.

The next day we started back up at 5am. They kept it slow, and we knew it would be a long day. At 8am Dr. Parker came and broke my water. Things started kicking up a notch slowly after that and I started to really be in pain with the contractions. I don't know how many hours I tried to endure, but some time in the afternoon I decided to get an epidural. I never wanted one, I wanted to do it all naturally, but after laboring for so long Chandler helped me decide that I didn't need to be a hero and I was running out of energy. The important thing was to get our baby here safely.

The epidural helped a lot and I was able to relax and get some rest. We were making good progress, but it was still taking a while. Thankfully the only real pains I was having were hunger pains from not eating the whole day!

I think around 7 pm I was at 6 or 7cm (it is hard to remember the timing of everything since I was exhausted and in a fog). Things were really starting to progress and I was getting really uncomfortable. Our boy was getting distressed off and on so the nurses would come in and put me on my side and give me oxygen. Chandler would just come over and hold my hand and encourage me and keep me smiling. He thought it was fun to see me in an oxygen mask, and I didn't mind - it made breathing easier :) (who cares what they look like while they are having a baby?) :)

At 9pm I was ready to push. I told the nurse and she said that Dr. Parker was at another hospital delivering another baby (he had been going back and forth all day) and I would have to wait about an hour to start pushing. I started crying because I was so exhausted and I didn't want to wait any longer but I told her I would wait because I didn't want to start pushing and then have to stop to wait. The Dr. got there around 10pm and I pushed for 40 mins. Chandler was at my side telling me I was doing great. I just kept my eyes closed and kept focusing on his voice. Part way through pushing I heard him say excitedly that he could see dark hair! That got me excited and gave me more energy.

Our boy, Boston Chandler Egbert, was born at 10:42pm. He was Dr. Parker's 7,778th baby that he had delivered. My mom was in the room and took some pictures of Boston's first moments. The moment I first saw him he was so beautiful. I could see Chandler's features in him right away. I loved hearing his cry and seeing his dark hair and quivering lips. I cried tears of joy and relief. I was finally a mom!  Chandler never let go of me the whole time, and he even cut the cord - which he thought he would never do. Then he went over to see Boston while they wiped him down and I could see how proud and happy he was to be a dad. He was so amazed that Boston was opening his eyes and trying to look around but the light was too blinding. Then I got to hold Boston against my chest and he opened his eyes and looked at me. It was one of the best moments of my life. His eyes were a navy blue color - open wide and looking at his new world.

with Grandma Mulliner :)

The next day was so great spending time together as a family. Chandler really didn't want to leave the next day to go to Texas, but we decided it would be best if he did. My mom came to the hospital that afternoon so she could be with me while Chandler was gone. Chandler held Boston and kissed him and talked to him and sung to him and I was so glad he was there - Chandler was already an amazing dad. We got to have a celebratory dinner at the hospital. They provided dinner for Chandler and I and gave us little bottles of sparkling cider and plastic goblets. It was fun! He left that night to go sleep at home before his early morning flight. It was so hard to see him go and I know it was really hard for him to leave us there at the hospital. Thankfully he wasn't gone long - and we all got to be at home together just a day later.

Going home!

Boston is such a beautiful boy, and I can see him changing and growing up so fast. He loves listening to daddy sing Christmas songs. He is starting to really smile at us. He has also gained about 3lbs. I love watching him sleep - there is just something so special about his spirit. I love watching Chandler as a dad too - I can see the love he has for Boston every day.

And now just a few pictures from Boston's first few weeks:

I found him asleep like this :)

One month old on daddy's birthday!

I love both of my boys with all my heart.