Baby Noah's Arrival

Wow has it really been a month since I have been away from the blogging world?? I guess so. Well I have somewhat found myself in a routine with the arrival of our sweet Noah. So I thought I better update our blog about his arrival and adjusting to a family of four. I have so many pictures and things to share. So hopefully you will be patient and keep checking in for new posts.

So here it goes...

Our sweet Noah's arrival was anything but planned. His due date was March 20th but we had a scheduled c-section date set for March 13th. I just knew towards the end of the 3rd trimester I was not going to make it to the 13th. Mommy intuition I guess. Curtis and I don't plan the arrival of our boys very well. Trey was born smack in the middle of basketball season and Noah's arrival set for right at the end of this season. Curtis left to play the LA schools on Wed. Feb. 29th and was scheduled to stay in LA to possibly Mar. 11th because of the PAC 12 tournament.

I was already extremely nervous about him leaving because that Monday (almost 37 weeks) I had started contracting regularly and was in the hospital that day being monitored. My cervix wasn't changing so they sent me home. The contractions slowed down that Tues. and no longer were in a continuous pattern.

What made the contractions and possible impeding labor a little more difficult was being on a blood thinner since my blood clot this summer. If I felt like I was going into labor before one of my two daily injections I was to notify my OB so they could decide if I should hold my blood thinner shot. If I took my shot and were to go into labor to close to the last dose I would have to be put under general anesthesia for the c-section. So I kept thinking how do I know for sure if I was truly starting labor or not (I never went into labor with Trey). So after that Mon. I was pretty nervous to give myself a shot each time.

My Dad was planning on coming into town that Wed. Mar. 7th (beginning of the PAC 12 tournament) and staying through the delivery. Just in case something happened before the 13th. I sort of had a back of plan before my dad was expected to arrive. My brother said he felt comfortable taking care of Trey and doing his tube feeds if necessary and Coach Bone's wife Connie who I am very close with said she would fill in for Curtis. I never thought this plan would have to fall into place.

Wed. Feb 29th the day Curtis left my brother was planning on staying the night with Trey and I. He had a big test the next morning and Trey wasn't exactly letting him study so I set him home for the night. I was feeling fine and my contractions had almost completely stopped. Boy was I kicking myself later.

I woke up around 2am extremely nauseated. I literally thought I was going to be physically sick for about an hour. Then around 3am the contractions started again but this time I had major back pains with them. I tried to sleep it off for 2 hours but they wouldn't let up. I called my mom in a panic not knowing if I should go in. I didn't want to wake Trey and take him in with me. I didn't want to disturb my brother before his big test. And I didn't want to call anyone to come over at 5am. I kept thinking what if I go in and it is nothing. How terrible I would feel. But the contractions continued and I knew I would eventually have to be checked before my morning injection. So my mom convinced me to call Connie to come over. I thought OK I will go in get checked and be back in time to start Trey's first tube feeding by 9am.

Connie was sweet enough to come over and stay with sleeping Trey and I headed in to the hospital. Sure enough I was contracting every 4 minutes. They did a cervix check and it hadn't changed much since Monday's visit but they wanted to do another check in a hour. So a hour passed and they rechecked and felt that I had made a slight change and that the baby had moved further down. My OB came in to see me and said that he wasn't sure if he thought things were going to progress to a delivery that day but he wanted me to stay longer to see. Of course me thoughts instantly went to Trey. My brother had his test and couldn't get out of it and I hadn't showed Connie how to do his tube feed. So my doctor was sweet enough to let me go home and pack Trey up and come back for further monitoring.

So Trey would hang out with me until my brother got out his test. Well obviously that wasn't an ideal situation. Trey was not comfortable at all in the hospital. Anytime someone walked in with scrubs on or they messed with my stomach he would have a melt down. One of Trey's therapist who works at the hospital was so kind enough to come and hang out with Trey during her breaks and help me out which was huge. Connie had an appointment she had to go to so Trey's favorite person, Chelsea came to be with Trey until my brother arrived.

So the monitoring continued and my contractions seemed to increase and little Noah had a few decelerations with some of the contractions. So my OB didn't think there was a point to prolong things since I had reached 37 weeks and I was obviously going to have the baby in the near future. The only thing we needed to prolong was waiting for Curtis's arrival back to Washington.

I called him earlier that morning to give him a heads up. The team was set to play UCLA that night but Coach Bone gave him the OK to head home. He was waiting to get on 2 stand by flights. He would have to fly from LA to Seattle and then Seattle to Spokane and then drive to Pullman ( 1 1/2) My doctor said that we were fine to wait for awhile as long as my labor didn't progress and baby was doing ok. Well Curtis wasn't able to get on either stand by flights. There was a for sure flight he could get on but that wasn't until 3pm or so. In addition to that late flight it had started to snow and the roads from Spokane to Pullman weren't suppose to be good. So we really had no idea what time he would actually make it in.

So hours passed and my doctor didn't feel comfortable waiting any longer and I was told we would have to proceed without Curtis. At this point my brother took Trey home and Connie came to be with me. My mom found a flight for that night to come and help with Trey. But obviously my worse fear was becoming a reality. Curtis wouldn't be here for the delivery. I was so disappointed, totally sleep deprived at this point and beyond stressed. Looking back now the sadness of not having Curtis there is still fresh but I know God handpicked amazing people to be with Noah and I during that time. I had a sweet nurse who I had befriended this summer when I was coming in for fluids. My OB doctor wasn't on call but stayed to do the c-section. I had a wonderful anesthesiologist and OR nurse. I also had a friend by my side throughout it all. Connie was phenomenal fill in for Curtis. We prayed together before going to the OR. She was so calming and supportive while my anxiety raised as I anxiously waited for Noah to be born. Even though I wasn't able to have Curtis by my side God supplied every other need. And most of all He delivered us a beautiful and healthy little boy.

Here are some pictures from Noah's big day....

My walk to the OR. I joked with my OR nurse and doctor as they came to get me that I had changed my mind about delivering our little guy...


Hello Noah


Getting to meet my little Noah for the first time.



A bundle of love.


Cute little feet.



Hello everyone.




Noah with Auntie Connie.


A very sick Curtis (hence the mask) FINALLY did make it in and was introduced to his sweet son.


Big brother Trey wasn't so sure about his new little brother.



Uncle Jay meeting his new nephew.


Mommy getting big hugs from her Trey.


After this challenging and difficult pregnancy that seemed to last an eternity the end result is all worth it.

Introducing....

Noah Curtis Allen
16 lbs. 14oz
19 inches
6:32pm