Micah's Birth Story

 I want to remember this day forever. When I am a grandma to his little ones. I want to retell the story to them so they can imagine their daddy being born on October 12, 2011. This day has changed our world forever because God has been merciful to us and blessed us with another healthy, beautiful blessing.
  His name Micah means "who is like God'. His middle name Shepherd is a family name from Sean's side but we also want him to know that Jesus is his true shepherd in whom he can always trust. We are so in love with this little guy already.
  Wednesday the 12th, I had a doctor's appointment. I was hooked up to the NST machine to monitor the baby, to check for movement and contractions.  When the contractions started showing up regularly on the machine, along with a very crampy feeling, I knew labor was beginning.  My doctor checked me and at that point I was 3cm.  She was reluctant to send me home but Anna Grace was with me and Sean was at home with the kids, so I really couldn't go straight to the hospital (not to mention that our older kids were in the weekly classes that day).  She made me promise to return by 4 that afternoon to be checked again.  I picked Hunter and Peyton up on the way home while having contractions about every 5 minutes.  Hunter offered to drive me home at which I had to laugh that my oldest son was going to drive me home while I'm in labor with our youngest son. 
Sean and I got the kids squared away and I headed back to the doctor with my contractions now running about every 3 minutes.   She checked me and I was at 4cm and the baby's head had dropped some since that morning.  SO, off to the hospital we went.  Yay, I made it to 36 weeks and 3 days, an almost record and miracle since my last two were born at 35 weeks.
We made it to the hospital and checked into Room 5 by 5:45 pm.  We had the sweetest nurse, Becky, who actually helped me in the hospital with Eden 19 months ago.  She again was a great help which is always good when a woman is in labor.  Dr. Devine was the doctor on call in the practice I go to and she was super sweet as well.
She broke my water around 6:30 and then it was on!  I got a few meds and started to relax for a little bit  (really the first time in a few weeks).  I had cholestasis of pregnancy again which had kept me up itching for the last four weeks with little relief.  I entered this labor completely worn out already, so the Nubain that they gave me helped me rest for a little while and my body relax.  When that wore off, the Doctor wanted to start a tiny bit of Pitocin, at which point I started to panic and for the first birth since my first son, I got an epidural.  Yay for an epidural during labor, but as for after labor it stinks.  It wasn't 45 minutes after I had the epidural that I started feeling the pressure of his coming down the birth canal.  I had never really felt this because with natural labor, you feel so much of the pain that you don't really feel the head moving down.  So that part of the epidural was really a blessing that I was able to feel him come out and enjoy the moment.  Just before he was born, Sean called home and put the phone by the bed so that Hunter and Peyton could hear the birth of their baby brother.  Afterward, Peyton was surprised that I made very little noise during labor, to which she said that "Mom makes more noise when she stubbs her toe."

So Micah Shepherd Hardwick made his official entrance into this world at:
                10:12 pm on 10/12/2011.

Wild that he is the 10th child born to our 12 member family.  He is one of our smallest babies at 6lbs 8 oz and 18 inches long.  He is red with smut black hair, and he is absolutely scrumptious.  Oh how I LOVE a newborn.  I feel like I have to fight with our children because I don't want to give him up for a minute, even in the middle of the night.   He is our first child without jaundice, who is nursing well and is already ROTTEN! :)
He is only four days old and I want time to slow down so I can cherish this new gift from God.  He is a treasure, a blessing and I look forward to seeing what God does with this new life.  May he love Jesus with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength!