Samuel

Samuel Norman Schulz

4.15.10

9:56 am

7lb 6oz

21in

See that mama in the photo? She did AMAZING! A real. life. superhero. And hers is a beautiful story of labor....

Last Wednesday, Kelly learned she'd go to the hospital that evening for an induction. Although disappointed to not start labor at home, at 41 weeks she was ready to get the ball rolling. All along we planned that I'd fly to North Carolina when she went into labor and hopefully (fingers crossed) make it on time. An induction made that possible. I flew down and arrived around midnight. Kel had Cervidil (a cervix softener) inserted earlier in the evening, and they'd planned to start Pitocin (synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin, used to start and intensify contractions) the following morning. She never even needed the Pitocin. The Cervidil alone kick-started her labor. By 2am she was having intense contractions and by 3am her water broke on its own. I'd gone to Kelly's house after I arrived in NC, and planned to head to the hospital in the morning. We didn't think her labor would start until they got the Pitocin flowing. Wrong! She called me when her water broke and I headed over.

When I walked in Kelly's room and saw her, it was a total deja vu' to my own labor with Theodore nearly 2 years ago. She was in agony. Lying on her side in the bed, gripping the rail. Upon thinking about my role in the delivery room prior to arrival, I had lots of things planned to say, ways to help her cope with the pain....but when I saw her face scrunched in that all too familiar, completely encompassing pain, my mind went blank. All I could do was rub her forehead. Thank goodness, right after I arrived so did her doula. She was a Godsend!

From that point forward, Kelly and Doris Ann (her doula) worked as a wonderful team. Doris Ann immediately got Kel out of bed and on the birthing ball. She spent the early morning rotating between ball and squats. Kyle and I spent the time on ice chip duty. We kept a constant flow from cup to mama's mouth. ; )

She did wonderful. Truly, truly amazing. She had incredible control throughout the transitional phase...quiet, posed, and breathing. When the time came to push she was focused and ready.....and about 40 minutes later little Samuel was born. What a miracle! It was such an awesome, indescribable moment to see him born! And he was SO CUTE from the beginning. If there were any dry eyes, I didn't see them.....mine were blurry with tears.

Sammy modeling the shirt and quilt I made him. :)

Thank you, Kelly and Kyle for inviting me to be a part of such a miraculous day! You are a beautiful family. Baby boy is so very blessed.