The Birth of My Son, Barrett Stone Mooney

It’s only been two short weeks since I met my darling son face to face for the first time. He was small, swollen and screaming but to me he looked like the most handsome little man I had ever seen. My heart instantly grew to make room for another “love of my life”, and I knew there was something amazingly special and different about having a son. He was perfect and he was all mine :-) After my first labor and delivery experience I wouldn’t say it was impossible or anything like that, and I didn’t look back on my experience with dread of ever going through it again. I was in fact excited to be becoming a mother again and even looking forward to a second shot at a natural delivery since my first hadn’t gone according to plan. Today however I will tell you that my first experience was miserable and that I don’t want to ever do that again now that I know what it can be like :-) My son was good to me and I was blessed with an amazing experience this time around.

His due date came and went on the 30th, just like his sister he was content to stick around a little longer brewing inside and I didn’t mind. While this pregnancy had been more uncomfortable, the last few days I was feeling much better and enjoying a few days of peace and quiet before his arrival. We had just wrapped up an amazing but very busy week long vacation with all 18 of my family members here in Colorado. Anyways we spent the day relaxing and making a Build A Bar for our little man since we had done the same thing on Willows due date. We went out to dinner and had a last quiet night home, although we didn’t know it. The next day I woke up in a funk. I felt just fine but just felt like something was off. Around 1 in the afternoon I noticed that I had been having contractions pretty consistently but doubted it was the real deal. Cody left for work around 3 and me and Willow enjoyed a quiet afternoon alone playing and reading books together while we gorged ourselves on animal crackers dipped in nutella… should have been my first hint that something WAS going on inside of me ;-P LOL. After I put Willow down I started timing the contractions and found out they were consistently about 6 minutes apart. I let Cody know but told him I still wasn’t sure if it was anything. I tried to get some rest but wasn’t really tired yet and by the time I was the contractions wouldn’t allow it. A little after midnight I told Cody I thought it was time to head home since things were continuing to progress. I was still dealing with everything just fine but since he was an hour away I would feel better if he headed home. He got home around 1:30 and took a nap while I showered and got ready wasting time through more contractions. At around 3 I called Erin and she headed up our way to be with Willow. After she got there I waited through a couple more contractions not sure if it was time to go in yet or not.

At this point in the game my contractions were about a minute and a half apart, so why wasn’t I sure??? Well it just didn’t hurt enough! Now don’t get me wrong I wasn’t happy, and there were even some tears but it wasn’t anything like what I had experienced for hours of labor with Willow. I was afraid that if I went in and I wasn’t far enough along, or thing weren’t progressing they would put me on pitocin again, and in turn I would cave right of the bat and ask for drugs cause I knew what kind of labor it would bring. Finally I agreed it was time to go and we headed off, couple more contractions in the car, few more in the parking lot as I still wasn’t sure I should go in yet and finally I walked through the doors of that hospital. When the nurse checked me and announced I was at an 8 it was like the heavens opened up for a split second and you could hear the angels sing “Hallelujah!” It was around 4:30 and we started the whole check in process, a million and two questions, IVs and getting settled into our room. By the time things were getting wrapped up Cody was answering all the questions and I was feeling something much more like labor! We worked through a couple hours and when they checked again close to 7 I was at 9cm so they offered to break my water… the thought of that has always freaked me out but they promised it would speed things up so I agreed. The minute she was done that kid was on the run to get out! Holy cow did things go from 0 to 60! I looked at Cody and said “I don’t want to do this any more!” Haha Thankfully after only a couple more contractions it was time to push, or more I told them I was pushing cause I wasn’t going to do this any longer! So far it had been so smooth and doable but here is when things got good, I pushed a handful of times, if I was contracting or not I was just breathing and pushing determined to get that kid out :-) And then they said they could see his head! I remember my eyes shooting open and looking at the nurse with shock, I’m pretty sure I even asked if she was sure that’s what it was lol. It was so fast! Another contraction and she said the next could be my last if I wanted it to be. So I shut my eyes and gave it everything I had, but she was wrong. So when I felt the next contractions coming I cried “Please get out of me this time!” and finally pushed that little guy out.

The nurse told me to look and I was able to, I watched Cody deliver our son into the world. It was so different then with Willow, I was hardly able to lift my head off the pillow when they lifted her onto my chest and this time I was reaching for my baby boy. Such an amazing and beautiful experience that I am so thankful for! He was here and now he was in my arms, so sweet and wonderful, a crying little bundle of pure joy. We had done it, all three of us, worked together and here he was in our arms at last :-)

Just like with Willow the world disappeared while I stared at his darling little face. I took in his smell and the little sounds he was making, perfect little puppy noises. He cuddled right into me and I was filled with a mothers unconditional love, so much so that when he started to pee and poop all over me I didn’t even care enough to tell anyone! I didn’t want anyone taking him from my arms just yet. What a blessing to have such a healthy little man to add to our family, ugh those first moments are just the most amazing rush of emotion I have ever experienced :-)

I know without a doubt that my calling in this stage of life is to be a mother. Never before have I done anything that makes me feel so accomplished or proud. Being a parent is the most rewarding thing I have ever done and I feel so blessed and honored to get to parent this sweet little boy. I look forward to the next year knowing how filled it will be with love and joy as we watch him grow, and for many more years to come. Our life is truly overflowing with Gods amazing gifts…