Introducing....Kent Matthew Rhodes!

This past Wednesday, June 17, Kent Matthew Rhodes was born!

Yes, he ended up being born before his scheduled induction date of June 19. Here is our unique birth story...

I woke up at 5:30am to use the restroom. When I woke up, I noticed something wet in my pants. I thought that maybe my water had broken, but it wasn't a whole lot like I had imagined. I debated about whether to wake up Kyle or not. After I used the restroom I looked up information about water breaking in the childbirth book, which didn't tell me much. So I woke up Kyle, who decided that I did need to go ahead & call the doctor. The on-call doctor told me that based on my symptoms, I needed to get right to the hospital & not fool around.

Well, I decided that if it really was labor starting, I needed to take a shower at home first, as it would probably be my last shower for a couple of days (thank the Lord I decided to do this, in retrospect!) I wasn't in any labor pain or anything at home. But when I was getting ready in the bathroom, a slow trickle of liquid kept coming out of me that I couldn't control.

So within about 30 minutes, around 6am, Kyle & I were both off to the hospital. When we arrived at Baylor All Saints, the valet parking wasn't open yet, so Kyle ended up just dropping me off at the front door. I walked in myself while he parked the car. They kind of looked at me like "yeah, this girl doesn't look like she's in labor" and sent me back to the triage area, where I was sure I was going to be examined quickly & then sent home.

In triage, the nurse got to examining me. At first she did a check with a swab to see if it tested that my water had broken, which the result said it had not. Then she checked to see if I was dilated, and with a surprised look on her face, she said she thought I was about a 6 or 7cm dilated already! She double checked to make sure & came back with the same result. To verify because she thought she was crazy, she had another triage nurse come in to check me. Sure enough the other nurse agreed. I can say I was definitely surprised, because at this point I still wasn't having much labor pain or contractions. I was just having the braxton-hicks stuff in my back like I had been having for the past couple of weeks. At that point, my doctor (Dr. Benz) found out my progress & stated I needed to be admitted. This was around 7am. So Kyle & I officially found out, we are going to have a baby TODAY!

Then we made the phone calls to family. I called my mom & sister in Ohio, who were on standby at any moment to start the drive if I did go into labor. When I spoke with mom on the phone & told her "this is the phone call you have been waiting for" and told her how far along I was already dilated, she was definitely surprised. She then starting driving to TX within the hour. Kyle then called his parents, and the future Aunt Amanda. Actually, the future Aunt Amanda found out through the grapevine at work (she is a labor delivery nurse at Baylor All Saints) that I was in labor in triage.

So even though Amanda wasn't scheduled to work on Wednesday, she came in & was my nurse for the entire day. What an awesome, encouraging nurse she was to me through the entire labor process! I definitely got great patient care, and she looked out for me the entire day, making sure I was on the top of the list for an epidural, everything!

So when the doctor decided to admit me out of triage, I got the last of the 19 labor-delivery rooms at the hospital on Wednesday. WHew!

Around 8am or so, Dr. Benz came into the labor-delivery room while Amanda was there, and broke the rest of my water. They had determined in triage that my water had not broken, but that the membranes had ruptured. So Dr. Benz broke the water the rest of the way. I was then given a slow amount of petocin (spelling) through my IV to slowly continue to progress labor. The anasthesiologist (spelling?) then came in & got my epidural hooked up very quickly. Even though I wasn't in much pain, I knew I would end up needing it in the end.

Around 11 am or so, Billy & Paula arrived at the hospital. The labor-delivery room was so large & had a nice sectioned off area in the back, so they waited in the same room while I labored most of the day. Here is a picture of all of us early in the day when I was still feeling pretty good.

They also had a poll going in our room as to what time I would have the baby & what Kent's birth weight would be.

I did end up laboring & dilating to the full 10 cm in order to start pushing sometime in the afternoon. Amanda was a great coach on how to push, and push I did...for 2 hours! After pushing for 2 hours, Dr. Benz said that Kent's head was too big to fit through my pubic bone. So at that time, she recommend a c-section.

So off to the operating room we went. Kyle & Aunt Amanda were there as well. There are some great videos that were taken in the OR, which I will post at a later time. At 6:06 pm on June 17, Kent Matthew Rhodes was born! He weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and was 21 inches long! Hard for me to believe that this big boy was inside of little old me! So Kyle ended up being the winner of guessing his son's birthweight by guessing it exactly earlier in the day! So I ended up laboring for 12 hours.

Here is a pic of Kent a few minutes after delivery when they were cleaning him up. What a cutie...he looks just like his dad's baby pics.

Here is a pic of Kyle in the OR holding Kent, with me in the background. They had to tie both of my arms down because I was shaking so bad from the pain meds in the epidural. The epidural was wonderful for the c-section, but I was out of it for a couple of days!

Here is a pic of me, Dr. Benz, Amanda, Kyle & baby Kent moments after delivery. Dr. Benz was a great doctor. Thanks, Amanda for referring me to her! You were an awesome nurse as well. I praise God for this positive birth experience!

When I got back to my room after delivery, Uncle Brett, the new grandparents, & Debbie Lindsey (friend of the family) were all waiting to congratulate us. I was out of it, but am so glad they were there!

Proud new grandparents Billy & Paula holding Kent for the first time.

Proud Aunt Amanda! She was a trooper sticking with me all day long!

Our first family picture, a few minutes after getting back to our room. I was one tired new mama!

My mom & sister arrived from there drive from Ohio on Thursday around 1pm. I am so thankful they are here, as they have both been a godsend in helping me out. I am pretty sore from the c-section, so they are a great help. God is good at providing just the help that we need!

Me with Kent & the new Aunt Kristen. She loves holding Kent & helping out around the house. A very proud new aunt!

KYle is in love with his new son. What a special Father's Day gift Kent was this year!

The day after delivery, our pediatrician Dr. Murphy came to see Kent in the hospital. He ended up being circumcized later that night (on Thursday). Let's just say he wasn't the most happy baby for the rest of the night & part of the next day. He has been a great nurser so far, but after being circumcized, didn't want anything to do with eating. That all has changed now.

We ended up being able to be discharged home from the hospital on Friday afternoon because I was feeling so well. Here is a family pic outside of our hospital room right before the drive home.

Now we are all trying to get adjusted to life with Kent. There have been some challenges, but overall I am loving every minute being a new mom to my precious son Kent. God is good. Life is good. I am blessed! Be on the lookout for more pics/posts soon.

Thank you all for your many prayers for me, for us, for baby Kent. They were all felt and are much appreciated. Now I'm off to wake my sleeping baby.....it's feeding time!