For the last 9 months, Matt and I have anticipated the day we would get to meet our little bundle of joy. On November 11, 2011 Reed Stewart Tuel decided it was time to meet his parents. It was an experience I wasn’t quite prepared for and the moment they put him on my chest, I knew my life would be changed forever. Let’s start from the beginning.
As we all know, I honestly thought Reed would come early. Possibly even as early has Halloween. As we started getting closer to the due date, I tried everything to speed up the process:
· An eggplant parmesan recipe that women swear induces labor – fail
· Pineapple and Mango smoothies – fail
· Long walks – Fail
· Chiropractor Visit – Fail
· Raspberry Leaf Tea – Fail
· Massage Therapy – Fail
· “Marital Relations” – Fail
· Acupressure…
Reed stood his ground and refused to cave into my wishes for an early delivery. He was on his own timeline. On November 9, 2011 my mother-in-law flew in for a 10 day visit to meet baby Reed, but she would just have to join the waiting game with Matt and me as the due date came and went. Thursday November 10th, Carol and I started the day at the grocery store to pick up all the ingredients we would need to make meals to freeze for after her visit was over. Then we were off to Bella Sante salon in Back Bay for a relaxing massage. My therapist was amazing! Although she informed me that she was trained to stay away from pressure points that would induce labor. I asked her if those really work, and she swore by them. Midway through, she said if I really wanted to go into labor she would show me the pressure points that Matt could try on me that night. Of course, I wanted to know all the details. She proceeded to grab my knee until it hurt. She then shook it side to side while holding the points and told me that Matt should do that to each knee a couple times. I swear, while she was doing that I felt little Reed flip over! (He was face up and my doctor said all he needed to do was flip over and that would cause him to drop and me to go into labor)
A few hours later, Carol and I were in the kitchen cooking away when my back started bothering me. I assumed it was because when Reed flipped he must be putting a new pressure on my back. I took a couple breaks, but cooked through it. At dinner my back pain continued to get worse and I had a hard time eating, but still didn’t think much of it. After dinner it was time for Matt to test out the pressure points I was sure were going to work. He squeezed behind my ankles and I immediately felt like I needed to rush to the bathroom. I couldn’t go to the bathroom, but did notice I was bleeding and the back pain got stronger as I sat there. A couple rounds of that and I realized at about 8:30PM I was in fact having contractions. We didn’t even wait to time them for an hour but called the hospital and they said to come on in.
We got the Brigham Women’s hospital at 9:30 PM and were sent to triage. I was at 6 cm dilated and immediately admitted to labor and delivery. About thirty minutes later, the epidural was in and I was ready to go! By midnight I was already at 9 cm and thinking we were almost ready. Unfortunately, progress stopped there. At 4 AM my doctor decided to give me a little Pitocin to speed up my contractions and push me to 10 cm. It worked and at 4:30 we started pushing. Matt was a trooper encouraging me every step of the way. It was a rough two hours, but finally at 6:22 my precious little angel was placed on my chest with his gigantic hands reaching for me, his mommy. The emotions that took over at that moment were crippling. I love this little nugget of perfection more than I could ever imagine. Just the sight of him brings tears to my eyes. I still can’t believe we created him and he is all ours. What an amazing experience and it is only the beginning!
I am so excited for what the future holds for our family. This is just the beginning and I am loving every minute of it!
Reed Stewart Tuel – 11/11/11– 7lbs 7oz – 20” long
