The Malko Family: December 2010

To be completely honest I never could have imagined what our lives would be like. I thought surely I would have time to get everything done that needed to get done around the house, and extra time on the side to do leisurely things, like blogging. I thought I may even get bored being at home all day. If you are a mom I'm sure you are doing one of two things - laughing or rolling your eyes. I have never been more busy in my entire life! I could not have survived our first two weeks home without my mother - bless her heart, and since then we have been in survival mode just now, finally, falling into a new normal. We have never been more exhausted, more busy, or more overwhelmed with love and joy! Truly parenthood is the beginning of having no option of whether or not your life is your own - it is absolutely not! Never more has God's grace been more evident in our home, and the gift of our son has been greater than we ever could have imagined!

Labor was tough for us - nothing really went as planned. In a perfect world we planned to labor naturally and hopefully for not too incredibly long, but that is opposite of what happened. Here is our story:

We went in to be induced September 28th at 8pm. Anderson was too cozy and not planning an appearance without an eviction notice :). We did all the necessary "check-in" procedures and finally received the induction around 9:45pm that evening. The goal was to still attempt natural labor and that is what we did through the night. The nurse assured us that nothing would happen until the morning so my family did not come that evening and Jon went to sleep. The laboring pains - though very early on were fairly painful. My water broke around 4am and we were so excited thinking maybe things would speed along! At 6am the nurse checked and I still hadn't progressed very much at all. She told us it was going to be a LONG day. At that point I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. The pain was pretty intense since I had been in labor now for 8 hours with no end in sight. Once I received the epidural labor was a piece of cake. No pain or discomfort and I was actually still able to move around - by move around I mean roll from side to side. around 3pm I started to feel the baby move again - which I thought was weird so I told the nurse. She assured me that was OK and we went on as normal. Slowly I began to feel more and more and it became painful. I finally insisted that we bring in the anesthesiologist and she suggested that I just roll to my other side since the epidural works with gravity and most of my pain was on the side that I was not laying on. When I rolled over the nurse saw that my epidural had fallen out! At this point it had been out for several hours and the medication was completely gone. by the time the anesthesiologist got there, prepped, gave me the medication, and once the medication actually took effect I had been without any medication for over an hour and a half. It was absolutely the worst most indescribable pain I had ever felt and was so thankful I wasn't doing my entire labor unmediated - that was a crazy idea - haha! Once the 2nd epidural had taken effect labor was going smoothly again. I had managed to remain graceful through the whole ordeal and was actually enjoying this special time with family and friends! The Dr. had been in several times and I was progressing but VERY slowly. Dr. Grider told me that if at any time I went 6 hours without progression we would have to do a c-section. I did not want a c-section and we all prayed together that it would not come to that. Around 9pm I had indeed gone 6 hours with no progression. Surprisingly to me I had a complete peace about it. We had prayed and God had heard, and a c-section, being our only option, was his plan, of that we were sure. Dr. Grider was so wonderful and allowed me time to ask her any question I had and to visit with my family one last time before we went to the O.R. They gave me more medication for the c-section and began to test to see if it had numbed me appropriately. When Dr. Grider tested my legs felt nothing, but when she tested the area for my incision I could still feel pain - not just pressure, but pain. They gave me more medication, still no affect, and more, still nothing. They wanted to put me under, but I did not want that at all. I wanted to see my little boy when the Lord brought him into this world! At this point I had so much medication my whole body was shaking, but I was so excited to meet my little man I was in very good spirits. Jon said I kept telling the Doctors and nurses what a good job they were doing - haha! I could feel every move Dr. Grider made, but was still elated at the fact I was soon to meet our sweet baby boy. He was born at 10:26 pm and Jon got to see them pull him out into the cold bright room. They brought him around to let me get a glance and then whisked him away to be weighed and measured and "cleaned". I don't really remember hearing him cry or actually seeing him - I just know I did. They brought him to lay him on my chest but I was too weak to hold him myself. Jon had to support him on my until I informed him that "You have to take him because I'm falling asleep". I could not longer hold my eyes open. Jon took him up to be examined and bathed, and my whole family got to see him. I remember being sad that I couldn't be there for their very first introduction. When they took me to the recovery room I had a total melt down. I had remained so jovial through the entire day, but the emotions of what I had just been through, the medication, the fact that I missed my families first reaction to our son, and the realization that I could not even, just a few minutes later, remember what he looked like all sank in at once and I was overcome with tears. I cried and cried, I couldn't stop even though I wanted to. Jon quickly joined me in the recovery room - he was so concerned and loving and patient. Because of the severity of the pain my body experienced, and the fact that I was aware of it the entire time my blood pressure had risen to the 190's over 120's so I had to wait in recovery much longer than normal. By the time I was able to go back to the postpartum room it was nearly 1am. My mom, brother, sister and brother-in-law were all still waiting for me! They brought Anderson in and everyone got to hold him. They were all so sweet and it was a blessing to see the love they had for our little guy! Everyone congratulated us and headed home leaving Jon, myself and my mom. At this point I needed to feed Anderson for the very first time. I was still so weak and groggy I could not hold him myself. My mom and Jon had to support him as he ate. By God's incredible mercy Anderson ate like a pro! I said completely ridiculous things to my my and Jon during this time. Among them I stated that "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there", and asked Jon to please check and see if that red coat was still on the rack at TJ Maxx. We all had a good laugh at my being so out of it. The nurses came and took Anderson to the baby room, mom left, and I completely passed out - not remembering much at all. BUT at 4am when the nurses placed my baby in my arms for his feeding, and I was alone with him for the very first time my heart melted. He was perfect and lovely. I undressed him and checked all his fingers and toes. I fed him and talked to him and kissed his sweet face. That moment I will never forget!

And there you have it, the birth story of Anderson James Malko, the most beautiful baby boy that has every graced my presence - though I may be a little partial. His daddy and I love him more and more every day and are completely humbled that the Lord placed him in our care. Here are a few pictures...

My first time holding Anderson...