Stryder Don Kendrick

Well I'm a little late in getting Stryder's birth story posted but it's better later than never!

On September 20th just after 3:00AM I woke up to a strong kick and a gush of water. I actually heard the pop of the water breaking, it was the weirdest thing. I woke Kevin up and called my Aunt Red and we headed to the hospital. I was 2 weeks 1 day early so I knew that baby was definitely on his way, they wouldn't make me wait any longer this was finally the real thing.

They got me set up in a room and hooked up to the monitors. I wasn't contracting horribly bad and they weren't too close together. I was only at 3cm, which is what I was at my appointment a few days earlier, so the doctor ordered pitocin shortly after I arrived. Holy crap, that stuff works! All of a sudden the contractions were right on top of each other and incredibly intense. I was trying to hold off on drugs for as long as I could but I wasn't making progress after a few hours and I was in so much pain. I finally let them give me an epidural around 10am. WOW, epidurals are awesome - I could feel all the pressure but no pain. It kind of freaked me out feeling the pressure and no pain but it was definitely better. There was one spot that never did numb but I didn't think anything of it. Things were still not progressing, by 4PM I was still at 3 cm and the baby was starting to show stress with every contraction. The doctor ordered a c-section and the nurse told me it was going to be quick. I was devastated, I really wanted a natural birth. But, more than that I wanted a healthy baby so off we went.

The anesthesiologist gave me a big dose of medicine before taking me to the OR, I had that spot that wouldn't go numb and was able to lift myself up off the bed. When we got to the OR they started prepping me and the stubborn spot on my stomach happened to be the incision site - it was still not numb. The anesthesiologist had to redo the epidural with a spinal block. After over a dozen pokes (my husband counted 18 puncture marks in my back) he finally got it in right and they were able to deliver the baby.

Stryder Don Kendrick was born at 4:48PM. He weighed 7lb 1oz and was 21.5 inches long. He wouldn't cry much and though breathing on his own wasn't taking deep breaths nor was he getting enough oxygen. They took him to the nursery and tried to work with him while I was in recovery.

When I got back to my room they still thought he'd get to come room with me at night. I couldn't wait to see him so was trying to build up my strength to get to the nursery. I got the nurses to agree to let me go if I could get myself from the bed to a wheelchair. By 10PM I thought I could do it and was sooo ready to see Stryder. I called the nurse to help me, Kevin was in the nursery and was able to make it to the wheelchair. As I was heading out of the room Kevin came back to tell me Stryder had to be moved to NICU that he still wasn't breathing deep enough on his own. We couldn't go to the NICU so it wouldn't be until morning that I was able to see him. Kevin was so good and took lots of video and pictures for me to see. We were finally able to see him in the morning and though we couldn't take him out of the incubator we were able to put our hands in and touch him - I also got to change his diaper. He looked so perfect and made so many teeny little expressions, he was a million personalities in one tiny little man. We were in love!!! On day 3 he made it out of the level 3 NICU and was moved to level 2 where we could hold him and cuddle him all we wanted. He developed jaundice and had to get light therapy but finally 24 hours later he was completely healthy and we were able to bring him home. Wow, what a surreal moment, we were actual parents and completely responsible for this tiny perfect little human.

The past 10 weeks have been magical! Kevin was able to stay home with me the first 3 weeks and for the most part it was just the three of us. Stryder is such a mature spirit. He has a million expressions still and is our little Bejamin Button. The past week he's started smiling and trying to talk and laugh. He has so much head control and even from a couple weeks old was able to lift his head up and do tummy time.

Maliek is so excited to have a little brother. When Stryder cries he'll tear up sometimes wondering how he can help him.

Nine years of trying, nine months of waiting and we finally have our precious miracle. What a blessing!!!

Below are a bunch of pictures, I think they're pretty awesome! :)