You were due to arrive on October 20th, 2008, on Daddy’s birthday. Mommy was convinced that you were going to be late, but Daddy just knew that you were going to arrive on his birthday. I was doing everything possible to get you out of my belly. I couldn’t wait to finally meet you. The day before you were due, I walked all three floors of the Galleria with Mrs Sue. Then I made Daddy go eat dinner at Chili’s, because Mexican food is supposed to help start labor. After we returned home, Mommy was watching TV on the couch and Daddy was upstairs watching TV. About 7:45, Mommy felt a little pop and a gush of water. She ran to the bathroom and changed her underwear and more water came out. She just knew her water had broken. She screamed upstairs to Daddy, “My water just broke”. Daddy came running down stairs to see what was going on. At this time we were both surprisingly calm. We called the hospital, and they told us to come in to get checked out. I knew I was going be admitted and we were going to be having you on Daddy’s Birthday. This was Daddy’s dream since he found out I was pregnant.
After we gathered all of our belongings and everything we needed for your arrival, we headed to the
hospital. The drive was surprisingly calm. I can’t believe how calm both Daddy and I both were. Once we got to the hospital, they had me change into a gown and they tested me to see if my water did in fact break. The test came back negative, but they could tell by looking in there that my bag of waters did rupture. At this point I was only dilated to about 1cm and I didn’t think I was having contractions. We were told that I was going to be given some sleeping medicine and they would start with the induction in the morning bright and early. Daddy decided to go home to take care of Sammy and Bailey for the night. Mommy tried to get some sleep but how could I sleep when I was so excited about you. Plus, her bag of waters kept leaking all night and they had to change the sheets several times. I think I might have gotten about 3 hours of sleep all night.
At about 6:30 in the morning, the nurses came into start the induction. The nurse said I was having contractions all night but I didn’t feel any of them. They inserted the IV and hooked up the bag of pitocin. 
Daddy arrived at the hospital around 7am. Not long after they started the pitocin, I really started to feel the contractions. Daddy tried to make Mommy do all the breathing techniques that they taught us in the birthing class, but that did not work out so well. Mommy was hurting so bad and the only thing that made her feel better was rocking in a rocking chair. One of the nurses came in around 9:30am to check me for progress. I was measuring 2-3 cm. I don’t know what this nurse did to me but after she checked me, my contractions started to really hurt. Mommy’s doctor was in training all day, so he couldn’t be there during this time. About 10am the on call doctor came in to check me out. At this time I was around 3cm. She could see that I was in so much pain that she ordered the epidural and got me a new nurse. I was so thankful I did not like the one that I had.
Waiting for the epidural was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I was in so much pain. The 
anesthesiologist arrived about 11am. I was really scared of the epidural. An epidural is when they stick a long needle in your spine to administer pain medicine. Within about 20 minutes of getting the epidural, all the pain went away. It was the best feeling in the world. I could finally relax a little. The nurse told Daddy and I to try to take a nap because we were going to have BIG afternoon ahead of us. Of course we laid there and tried to rest but how could we. We were way too excited about meeting our little man. At about 2pm the nurse came in and checked me again. This time I was at 6cm. She told us you would be coming any time; boy was she wrong.
At about 4pm my doctor, Dr Cowen, got out of his training and came to the hospital to check on me. I was 
still at 6cm. You were in the correct position in the birth canal but your face was facing the wrong way and it was causing me to stop progressing. Dr Cowen tried to turn you around in the birth canal, but you didn’t want to cooperate. He decided to give it a little more time. Around 5pm, I started to feel all the contractions again. This time the pain was all in my left hip. Boy did it hurt. They ordered me another epidural and told me to remember to push the button to release more medicine this time. After I got it, all the pain was gone once again. The second epidural made me really nauseas; I had to get a shot of medicine to stop the nausea.
At about 6pm Dr Cowen came back and checked on me. I was still at 6cm but you had slid further down in the birth canal. They could see your bright red hair!!! Dr Cowen used his fingers to stretch me out; he managed to get me to 9cm. It was almost time to push. About 30 min later, the nurse came in a checked me again. She said the magical words, “Its time to push!” I got so nervous and so excited at the same time. When I started to push it was around 6:45pm. If I only knew what I was about to go through, it’s a good thing you are so very worth it.
I pushed for the next hour and a half with Dr Cowen coming back to check on me periodically. You were 
stubborn; you did not want to come out. Daddy did a great job holding my leg and encouraging me to keep going. They had to put me on an oxygen mask in between pushes, to make sure you were getting enough air. At about 8pm Dr Cowen came back in to stay this time. He decided to use the vacuum on you. It’s a suction cup that attaches to your head, to help pull you out. Some how you managed to break the vacuum. You really didn’t want to come out. Before you broke the vacuum, he was able to pull you out a little bit more. During this time Mommy was getting really nauseous again, and they had to give her another shot of medicine. Another 45 minutes of pushing and every one wondering if you were ever going to come out. You finally made your grand entrance into the world.
With bright red hair and big blue eyes, you arrived on October 20th, 2008, at 8:45pm. You weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces and were 20.5 inches. You were my big boy. Your first few minutes in the world were a little scary as you were not breathing properly. Your nose kept flaring like you were struggling for air. The nurses were able to get you breathing good for a few minutes, and I got to hold you. Then your nose started to flare again, so they had to take you to NICU.
They got Mommy all cleaned up and it was time for me to move to the recovery room. On my way back to the recovery room, they took me by NICU to see you. You were strapped to all kinds of machines so they could monitor you. The nurses in there said you were doing great and they would be releasing you in a couple of hours. When I got to my recovery room, Daddy left to go get me dinner. I hadn’t eaten since the previous day. After Daddy delivered my food, he sat with me for a few minutes and then went home to get some sleep and check on Sammy and Bailey.
Around 1 am you were released from NICU and they brought you to my room, so I could try feeding you. I had decided that I was going to try breastfeeding. At this time, you did not want to eat. I had to have one of the nurses come and help me. You ate for a few minutes but then you were ready to go back to sleep. They brought you to the nursery, so I could get some sleep.
The next morning, Daddy arrived at the hospital with breakfast. They brought you back to my room. At this point, you still did not have a name. Mommy and Daddy were undecided between Tyler and Jacob. The nurses told us we needed to decide now because they had to fill out all your paper work before we could be released. We decided on Tyler Jackson. Daddy wanted
That day we hung out in the room and got to know you. During the day you had several visitors: Mrs. Olga and Mr. Jason, Mrs. Cherrisa, Mrs. Dana and Mr. Rodney, Miss Amber and Mr. Steve. We had to spend one more night in the hospital before we were able to go home. You were doing okay with breastfeeding, I was praying that it would get easier. It finally did.
About 1pm the next day, you were finally on your way home. You were greeted by your two dogs Sammy and Bailey.
That sounds a lot like Colton's birth story. He took his own sweet time coming too.
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