Perrin's Birth Story

I found out I was pregnant with our second child on June 1st, 2005. We had just started trying so it was a surprise to find out we'd been successful already! We kept the pregnancy a secret from our families until I reached the second trimester. Then, we put a shirt on our 17 month old daughter, Abby, that read "Big Sister In Training" and went to a family picnic. It was a fun way to share our exciting news.

Things went pretty well, except for the morning sickness. I was disappointed that we wouldn't be getting an ultrasound. Our doctor told us they only did them if they were medically necessary. I didn't think that would ever happen with us. Around the 16th week though, that changed. I woke up and had some light spotting. Not a lot, but I hadn't had any with my last pregnancy and it was bright red so I called the doctor. They sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound just to check on the baby and put me at ease. It was hard on my nerves to sit and wait for them to tell me what was going on. Thankfully, everything was fine. The baby was healthy and they couldn't find any reason for the spotting. The ultrasound tech asked us if we would like to know the baby's gender. Of course, we said yes. She turned the screen to face us and said there was no doubt it was a boy! We were so excited to know things were fine and that our daughter was going to have a little brother.

I took it easy for a few days and things went great until the last couple of months. I started feeling out of breath after doing the littlest things like vacuuming the floor or going up the stairs. I kept mentioning it to my doctors and they shrugged it off saying it was normal for pregnancy. I kept bringing it up because I KNEW something wasn't right, and finally one of the doctors ordered a blood test. They found out my iron was REALLY low. I was put on an iron supplement twice a day and started feeling better. They warned me that if it didn't come back up that I might need a blood transfusion after delivery. I took the iron pills everyday and managed to get back up to a safe level.

At 38 weeks I was dilated to 2 centimeters. At 40 weeks, they scheduled me for an induction. On Monday, February 6th, 2006, we got up at 5:00am to go to the hospital for the induction. We checked in at 6:00am and were sent up to the maternity floor. I was all settled in and they started me on Pitocin at 7:00am. I started having pretty regular contractions after a couple of hours. My doctor came to see me around 10:00am and said I was dilated to 3 centimeters. She decided to break my water and told me I could have an epidural whenever I was ready. She had a couple of surgeries at the hospital a block away and said she would be back after noon to check on me. She told me to have the nurses call if I felt pressure.

At 11:00am the nurse checked me again and I was dilated to 5 centimeters. I told her I was ready for the epidural. I got it right away, but for some reason, it didn't seem to help. After 15 minutes, they gave me a boost in the epidural and told me to lay on my side for awhile and then they'd come in and help me turn to the other side to help the medication work it's way through my body. At 11:30am the epidural was working great and I was starting to doze off. Right around noon, my husband, Heath, and I started hearing these strange gurgling noises. I was pretty out of it and didn't think much of it the first time I heard it. The second time got my attention a little more so I was listening for the next time. We thought the sounds were carrying over from the next room or something. The next time, we heard a definite cry! We both were instantly wide awake and realized it was coming from under my blanket! Heath jumped up from his chair and tore off the blanket. There was our little boy laying on the bed! My dad, who was also in the room, ran into the hall and yelled for the nurses. In no time at all there were eight nurses in the room and it turned into a circus. They knew just what they were doing, but it all happened so fast. Heath had unwrapped the cord from the baby's neck just as the nurses came rushing in to take over. They started to clean him up and let Heath cut the cord then laid him on my chest. In spite of all the chaos, it was like he and I were the only two people in the world at that moment. Our nurses couldn't believe what had just happened. They said they'd never seen anything like it. I couldn't believe it myself and kept telling them that I hadn't felt a thing! They called my doctor and when she got there she told me she'd delivered thousands of babies and had only seen that happen once before. To me, it was a miracle. It was nice not to feel the pain, but I was so scared when I thought about all the things that could have gone wrong. God was watching out for the little guy. We became the talk of the maternity floor and my doctor's office.

We decided to name our son Peregrine, after the Peregrine falcon, because he flew into the world so fast. He weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20 ½-inches long. He had deep blue eyes and a ton of fuzzy brown hair. I remember being somewhat unsure about how I would love another child as much as I loved our daughter. It's funny how in an instant, your heart grows another room. One minute, you think your heart couldn't hold anymore love, and the next, it does. I will never forget lying in the hospital bed that night with the lights dim, Heath asleep on the cot beside me, the snow falling silently outside our window, and Perrin snuggled warmly beside me. The only thing missing was Abby on my other side. I couldn't wait to get back home so we could all be together. I was a little worried about how she would react, but she has been a wonderful big sister. They are different as night and day. She's loud and constantly moving. He would rather have things quiet and be cuddled. Somehow, I think they'll balance each other out. And if we decide to have more children, I'll never again wonder if my heart can hold more love.