The Baby is Finally Here!!

We welcomed Thomas Patrick Kane into our lives on June 29th at 10:58pm at Irwin Army Community Hospital, Fort Riley, KS. He weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and was 20in long.

I went into labor at 2am and fought to get Danny out of bed to take me to the hospital. After getting checked out the Doctor confirmed that I was in labor but was not far enough along to be admitted. After getting back home I focused on dealing with the contractions while Danny got some more sleep. Around 9am the contractions had gotten painful and close together and I was pretty sure my water had broke so we went back to the hospital. This time they were more than ready to admit me. I was in a lot of pain at this point and immediately began asking for an epidural. Two doctors, a med school student and multiple attempts later the epidural was finally in and the pain started to subside. I spent most of the day relaxing and getting some sleep as I waited for the right time to start pushing.

The epidural was so good that I could not feel any of the contractions or the pressure of the baby making his way out. The doctors had to turn off the meds so that I could feel what was going on and push with the contractons. This didn't sit very well with me but on the other hand I was ready to do whatever it took to get this baby out of me.

At this point I need to send a huge thanks out to our two nurses during this whole ordeal. CPT Noelle Dove and CPT Angela Mike were incredible. I don't know if I could have made it through this med free without all their help and encouragement. Thank You!!!!!

Once I started getting serious about the pushing the baby came very quickly. Labor and Delivery was super busy that night and combined with how fast he was coming, Danny and the nurse almost got to deliver the baby by themselves. The doctor and other nurses rushed into the room as the head was starting to appear. So much for Danny standing behind the bed and just holding my hand. He never thought he would have been an active participant in delivering the baby.

We were blessed with a healthy happy baby boy. We could not have asked for a better experience. Thank you to everybody who kept us in your prayers and for your love and encouragement.

Now we are on to learning about sleep deprivation and raising a baby. We are always up for visitors so feel free to come by. We should also be back in VA over Labor Day weekend to introduce Tommy to all our Family and Friends out there.