Dalton's Birth Story

My first child, a boy, was due July 14, 2005. Every year, all the men in my husband's family go for a week-long male-bonding fishing trip. That year, they were going to go the last week of June.

At my appointment on the Monday before my husband was to leave for his trip, my doctor told me my baby was getting big and that I should consider an induction. I had a choice of being induced that Friday, or I could schedule a C-section for the following Monday.

Since I knew the fishing trip was coming up, I called my husband to see which he preferred. Fortunately, he chose to come home early and we would go for an induction that Friday. This would allow us to have the weekend to bond with our new baby before he would have to return to work. Let’s just say, he made the right choice! Thursday afternoon, my husband returned from his fishing trip and we spent some time together before heading to the hospital after dinner. I was nervous and very glad he was with me. My doctor started the induction around 8 PM that evening, and on Friday morning, I received Pitocin. By 3 PM, I still had not had any contractions. My doctor told me he had an operating room waiting for me; all I had to do was say I was ready for the C-section.

At 3:40 PM, Dalton Edward came into the world via C-section. He didn't take his first breath until 3:47, and his dad and I were both very scared. I kept thinking in my head, "Dalton, breathe. Dalton, Mommy needs to hear you scream. DALTON, DO IT!" My husband said he was so scared he'd have to tell me that Dalton didn't make it. After he started breathing, the doctors took him to the NICU while they sewed me and prepared to take me to recovery.

When Dalton had been breathing for 10 minutes on his own, I held him for the first time. He was an hour old and the most precious thing I'd ever seen. That hour in recovery passed very quickly. On our way back to my room, my husband stopped in the waiting room to tell our parents, my brother-in-law, and our closest friends Dalton was doing well. The grandparents followed us back to the room and were so excited to meet their first grandchild. Then, soon after, our friends made their way to our room to meet Dalton. Within two hours of being born, Dalton met five grandparents, three uncles, and an aunt.

We just had Dalton’s second birthday party and we celebrated with all of the same people (and more!).