May 28th, 2015, at 12:39 pm, was the most amazing day of my life as Ryan and I welcomed Gavin Alexander into the world at 6lbs, 11oz. This little peanut has changed our lives in so many ways and we are so in love. The moment I saw Gavin when the nurse handed him to me, was a surreal feeling that I could never put into words. After what seemed like a lifelong pregnancy, to finally meet my little guy and see him look into my eyes, was a moment I will never forget!

Gavin was quite punctual, arriving exactly 1 day before his due date. Even though he was “right on time,” it did come as quite a surprise to me. I was so convinced I was going to go overdue because I felt fine and had no real signs of labor. I worked until 5pm the night before and started laboring at 2am the next day, so things progressed pretty quickly! At around 130am on Thursday, the 28th, I woke up feeling crampy and wasn’t sure if the pain was contractions or just cramps. After about a half hour of these cramps, I took out my phone and started to time the contractions with my Babycenter app, which was very helpful because it made me realize that the contractions were very consistent, but 7 minutes apart. My Dr. told me to go in once they were 5 minutes apart so I figured I’d keep timing them.
After about another hour, the contractions got more intense but they were still about 7 minutes apart. The pain started to become very intense, however, so I woke up Ryan and let him know we should probably go in because I thought it was the “real deal.”
I already had my bag packed but needed to pack my everyday use items so I did that quickly and we hopped into the car. My contractions were getting more and more painful and Ryan felt helpless because there was nothing he could do.

By the time, we got the hospital, it was show time! They wheeled me in from the ER to Labor and Delivery. I was already 6cm dilated and was admitted at around 6am. The nurse kept asking me, “On a scale of 1-10 how bad is the pain?” I wanted to say 10, but I thought, it will probably get worse, so I said 9. Soon after that, I was screeching, “12”! The pain was unbearable for me and I had been having contractions for several hours so I decided to get the epidural, which was the best decision I made. The anesthesiologist was my best friend at that point because once I had those drugs in me, I literally thanked God. The pain started to numb and I felt more relaxed.
To speed things up, the Dr. decided to break my water and things progressed from there. Since I hadn’t eaten since the night before, I snacked on popsicles, which were delicious and satisfying at the time. I was so nervous and anxious to meet Gavin but Ryan kept me company, I chatted with my mom on the phone to pass time, and I tried to stay calm.
Once my Dr. came in, I knew it was time. I was so excited at this point that I had my game face on. Everything is a blur from this moment. There were Dr.’s, nurses, and students running in and our; at one point I think there was about 10 medical professionals in there and I could care less. They were all coaching me during the delivery and once I heard Gavin crying and felt him against my skin, it was just me and him in the room; everyone else blurred out. All I saw were these beautiful wide eyes, looking right at me, like he recognized me after all those months of being cozy in the womb. He was so beautiful.  Love at first sight.