We are overjoyed to announce the birth of Henry Allen Coffman, born September 8th, 2017 at 3:19 pm, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. He is the perfect addition to our family and it’s hard to imagine what life was like before he was here!
As you all know, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with both, William and Henry. Because William was a bigger baby (8 pounds 11 ounces), my OB suggested scheduling an induction date on my due date to avoid any delivery complications. I have to say that I was not very excited about knowing the day I was going to have a baby. It’s a very surreal moment pulling into the hospital, not being in labor, but knowing we would be meeting our baby that day! As much as I had hesitations, the whole induction process went much smoother than I was anticipating!
My mom showed up at our house at 7:15 on Friday morning, so William could keep sleeping. Caleb and I headed straight for the hospital and got checked in right away. After getting settled into our labor and delivery room, I got hooked up to the baby monitor and had an IV placed. At about 8:30 am, the nurses started me on pitocin to kickstart labor. My OB came by at 8:45 to check on me and ended up breaking my water to get things going. The actual breaking my water didn’t hurt in the least, but that, along with pitocin really sped up contractions and the pain! I was dying to see William before baby, so my parents brought him up around 10:30. He was SO excited to become a big brother and was showing off for all the nurses. We got some good snuggles and then he went out to eat with my family before heading back to their house for a nap.
After they left, I started to be in a lot of pain. I wasn’t trying to have an unmedicated birth, but I also wanted to labor for as long as I could before getting an epidural. At about 1:45 we decided to go ahead and get an epidural. At that point, I was just dilated to 5-6 cm and we were expecting to check again at 3:30 to see how I progressed after the epidural. I felt some much needed relief around 2:00 and Caleb and I were enjoying a few relaxing minutes – wondering what life would be like with two, was our baby a boy or girl, how will William react? At 2:45, I started to have horrible pains on my left side. It wasn’t as bad as contractions before the epidural, but it was pretty close. I decided to call the nurse to see if I could get more pain relief from the epidural. When she came in she decided to check me and I was 8-9 cm dilated. I was in shock that it had gone that fast. We figured we would check again at 3:30, but then Henry’s heart rate started to drop – which was terrifying. I ended up moving positions to help him and they also had me on oxygen. At 3:03, I was fully dilated, the nurse called my OB, who arrived at 3:10 She scrubbed in and after one push, our precious Henry Allen Coffman was born!
Were we surprised about another boy? Yes and no. I had such mixed feelings about if we were having a boy or girl. My thoughts swayed every day – I was so sick at the beginning, but I am carrying the exact same way I carried William, etc. At the end of my pregnancy, I felt stronger that we were going to have a boy. When I delivered Henry and we saw that he was a boy – it all made perfect sense. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have two precious boys, close in age. I pray that they will become the best of friends and develop a bond unlike anything else. And, I can’t wait for all the monogrammed matching outfits – I have to get away with it while they are young and they let me!
Henry, we can’t imagine our family without you in it. You are an absolute doll – so patient and sweet – and you have a family that loves you more than anything! Thank you God for this precious gift.
on stia: velvet dress|white flats
on caleb: windowpane dress shirt|jeans|shoes
on henry and william: bow swaddle|diaper cover|colorblock jon jon
Cheers,
Stia, Jean and Katherine
Photography: Jennifer Yarbro
