maximilian james turri!!!

maximilian james turri. 7 pounds 5.5 ounces, 21 inches.

on march 5, 2012 at 9:30 pm, we received the sweetest, most precious gift. there is no doubt our max was sent straight from heaven. to say that we are completely head over heels in love doesn't seem to do justice to what we're feeling. you try to imagine what your life will be like once this precious little person makes your two a family of three, but nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming feelings of love and joy.

be warned... there are a few labor details, so don't read if you're not in to that sort of thing ;o).

i woke up on monday morning at 6:20, and was pretty sure i was having contractions. we were so glad that we already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 8:00 am, so we could see what the doc had to say.  we found out that i was 3cm dilated, and completely effaced. we had a strong feeling that today would be the day we met our sweet one. our doc told us to head back when the contractions were 5 minutes apart or i was in too much pain.

we headed home and got to spend the rest of the morning and afternoon with my mom and sis. ry and i went on a walk, and i could feel the pain ramping up some. after coming home and being unsuccessful at trying to get more comfortable, we decided to head to the hospital. the timing was going to work out perfect for my mom and sis to pick up ry's parents at the airport, and head to the hospital.

we checked in to the hospital around 3:30 pm to find out that my labor had not progressed much. we decided to stay anyway, we just knew it was happening soon. as i laid in the bed in triage, i could feel the contractions getting more intense. by the time we were moved into our room, they were a steady 5 minutes apart. being hooked up to so many machines, ry noticed that every time i had a contraction, the baby's heart rate sounded different. he asked the nurse and she said his heart rate was dropping with each contraction, but it was fine for now, just something we had to watch.

by the time my doc came to check on me, i was dilated to 6cm. this was in a matter of about an hour. things were progressing quickly and we just knew this labor was going to go the way we had dreamed about. she decided to break my water, even though i pleaded for her to wait until i decided to get my epidural. she said the pain would not increase immediately and that it would be fine (side note- she was wrong ;o)). once she broke my water, she noticed there was meconium. something had our little one stressed in the womb. this combined with the decreased heart rate during contractions could be cause for concern, so everyone was just paying very close attention to mr. max.

soon, i was in lots of pain. i called go time for the epidural. the time waiting for it were some of the longest minutes of my life. they were coming fast a furious and it was all i could do not to let out some tears. finally... sweet relief- thank you dr. kim! by my next check, i was at 8 cm! things still seemed to be moving along, and all the nurses were shocked that this was my first baby.

by 7:00 it was time to push. i pushed for an hour and a half. it was hard. after so long pushing without much change, the doc realized that max was in transverse arrest. his little head was wedged in sideways, so when i was pushing, some skin from his head was coming out, but none of his skull. his head was too wide to come out in that position. this combined with the dropping heart rate and the meconium was now becoming a serious issue.

the next time our doctor came to check on us, she said to me- "at this point, i am concerned for your baby's safety and for your safety." there was no question in our minds, we would do whatever we had to do to safely bring our baby into this world. the doctor said we needed to do an emergency c-section. i cried. a lot. i had worked so hard pushing, and felt like it was all for nothing. i was worried about max. this was not the birth story we dreamed of, or for that matter, had ever crossed our minds. we rested in the fact that this was god's plan for max, and headed into surgery.

the nurses wheeled me into the room- it was stark, white, and uncomfortable. my body was shaking uncontrollably- a side effect of the epidural. ry couldn't come back with me right away, so every person that walked through the door i prayed it was him. when i saw him walk through the door, a calmness came over me. everything got started and i asked ry just to pray with me. he prayed and before we knew it, we heard max's sweet cry. they showed him to us before he had to get checked out by the NICU unit because of the meconium. they said that everything looked great and we had a healthy baby boy.

all of the pain, the tears, the work, was worth it. our perfect birth story didn't happen, but our perfect baby did. we will forever be thankful that our max is healthy and happy, no matter what it took to get him here.

our new family of three :o).

max hearing his first song outside of the womb- asper kourt of course ;o).

i could just eat up his baby feet!! side note- the docs said they thought max might have been late because his little skin was so dry. 

i thought my heart might burst watching these two together. i knew ry would be a great dad, but i had no idea just how amazing. max's first night was a rough one, he swallowed lots of yucky stuff during delivery and couldn't keep down any food. ry had to take care of him while he got all the yuckies sucked out with a tube. he stayed so strong and took care of everything while i was bedridden and out of it for 24 hours. me and max are so lucky to have him!!

being able to get out of bed and hold max was one of the sweetest moments of my life. can't believe he's ours to keep, we are so blessed!!!