Jude David Leatham

Wednesday December 23rd was the best day of our lives! We welcomed Jude into our family! After being induced at 2 pm the previous day Dan and I sat in the hospital amazed that we were going to have our little guy here soon. It was a precious time for us as we awaited Jude's arrival. We were so excited to meet him! When we arrived I was given a pill that would help get things going and a little bit later given pitocin. My contractions came on really fast and hurt so bad. I held out as long as I could to get the epidural and finally I said, "Give me the drugs!" After getting the epidural I was in heaven and felt sooooo much better. At about 12 AM I had my water broken and was dilated to a 3. Things were moving slow. The doctor said that the baby would most likely come in the afternoon. So, Dan and I hung out, in and out of sleep. At 3:15 AM the nurse checked me and I was at 5 cm dilated. She still thought Jude would be delivered later in the day. Lying in bed I kept feeling a ton of pressure and I could see on the screen that was monitoring my contractions that they were going crazy. Then at 3:45 AM another nurse came in to check that she had the baby's heartrate and not mine because she wasn't getting a good reading with the monitor on my stomach. She then decided she needed to attach a monitor to the baby's head to get a more accurate reading. While she was doing that she discovered I was dilated to an 8. So in 30 minutes I had dilated 3 cm and Jude was on his way. Dan called our mom's and they raced to the hospital to be our support. I was so glad to have them there! Thank you mom, Shelly, and my love for all of your help! I couldn't have done it without you! At about 6:20 I began pushing. Then at around 7:15ish the nurse asked me to stop pushing because the doctor was almost there. Jude's head was crowning when she asked me to do that and I could've cared less who delivered me at that point. The pressure was unbelievable! Finally the doctor arrived and after about 3 pushes Jude was born. He came into the world at 7:45 AM on Wednesday Decemeber 23, 2009. He was 7 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long. I can't even express the emotions I felt as my sweet little guy was laid across my chest. He was beautiful! I have never felt so much love flow through me in my entire life!!! It was amazing! Dan and I have loved having Jude in our lives and feel so blessed to have him for our son! Welcome sweet baby Jude! We love you!