Beckham's Birth Story

On October 29th (about 3 weeks before my due date) Blake and I had settled in for the night after a dinner out with my family where we ate waaay too much food. It was 10 pm, we were watching a show and I was slowly drifting. All of a sudden I felt an unfamiliar rush, like I had accidentally gone to the bathroom. I groaned and slowly got up, thinking to myself “Oh the joys of pregnancy! Can’t even tell when I need to pee”. I started to wobble over to the bathroom when I immediately felt an even bigger rush- like one where it was necessary to RUN to the bathroom. I made it (no carpet was harmed, thank the LORD!). I remembered a previous conversation with a fellow mom when I had asked her how she knew her water broke; she had said that her adrenaline kicked in and her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest. Wouldn’t ya know it, my heart started pounding. I literally was whispering to myself, “no no no no no. I’m not ready I’m not ready I’m not ready”. I was in so much denial that I put off yelling for Blake in the living room for a couple minutes, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t going into labor. I’m sure I am not the only one that has always romantically thought of the excitement of telling your husband that your water broke. I figured I would be giddy and so happy to yell to him something like, “Babe! Pack your bags for the hospital, we are having a baby!”. Instead, here I am freaking out and trying to talk myself out of going into labor. Finally I let out a soft, “Blake.” I said it again a little louder. I heard him pause the show and wait for me to say something. “I think my water broke.” He didn’t respond. “BLAKE. I THINK MY WATER BROKE.” I hear some movement, and he slowly makes his way over the the bathroom door holding his stomach. Guys. All he said was “I’m so full.” LOL. I knew what he meant. He had eaten way to much at dinner, then downed a dessert and a big glass of milk, then heard that he is going to be a Dad. AKA he wanted to throw up. The next ten minutes consisted of calling my Mom, the clinic, and essentially running around like chickens with their heads cut off. You would have thought that we didn’t even know we would be bringing home a baby in the next few weeks?! By 10:15 we were on our way to the hospital. Blake was still blue in the face, my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I was trying to gear up for what the next 24 hours would bring.

Apparently we were one of many couples who went into labor that night. When I checked in all of the delivery rooms we full. We were sent to a triage room where I got my IV and was asked some questions. Up until that point I had been pretty joyful. I would joke with the nurses and had a smile on my face (Blake was still in desperate need of a bathroom). But when we found ourselves alone in the room waiting for labor pains to kick in, thats when my anxiety started to kick in. I would cry at the reality that I am not leaving here without having to deliver a baby. I didn’t know what I was doing, I wasn’t prepared for that kind of pain, and I didn’t know how to be a mom. It’s crazy to try to explain all of the emotions and thoughts going through your mind.

I was transferred to a delivery room around midnight and given an epidural around 1:30 am. They said they were giving it to me early so I would be able to relax and sleep (yeah right). My mom showed up for support and to take photos of the birth around 5 am. When the sun came up we would have family members come in and see how I was doing and ask for an update. The doctors said we were expecting Beck to arrive around 2 pm, but round 10:45 am I was told to start pushing. Blake’s mom came and prayed for me, nurses started to filter in and move things around, and my heart was pounding. There was a lot of crying in between pushes from both Blake and I. He was such an incredible support to me, hugging me and kissing my forehead saying how strong I am. At 11:38 Beckham arrived. He was 7 lbs 8 oz and 20.5 inches long. Blake prayed over him the second they put him in my arms. I will never forget him asking God for guidance as parents and for Beckham to see Jesus in our family and in his every day. It was beautiful, and we LOVE our boy.