Broderick-Kartye Family: His Story

The day before I went into labor.

Wow! I can't believe that our little guy is 1 year old! The past 8 months have gone by so fast for me. I'm not going to lie, the first few months were brutal. He was definitely a different baby than we got used to with Nora. So, the months, nights, and days seemed to drag from October to February. But here is HIS birth story. It wasn't nearly as dramatic or traumatic as Nora's, thankfully. But he definitely came on his own time, despite my scheduled c-section.

I was scheduled to have a c-section on Monday, October 22nd. It seemed so odd to call the hospital to set that date up. I almost felt as if I was robbing him of his grand entrance to the world, giving him no choice in the matter, and just forcing him to come out despite how comfortable he was. I however, was quite uncomfortable. I think I became uncomfortable, oh around 5 months.

My last doctor appointment was Tuesday, October 16th, which was also my last day of work. I remember telling my doctor that I doubted I was going to make it to my scheduled c-section. He was going to NY that weekend and I remember being so concerned that he wouldn't be at the c-section if I were to go into labor sooner. I was feeling so much pressure and was positive that this little guy wasn't go to stay in much longer. I also remember being so excited that I would have the next 5 days off until Beckham's arrival to spend quality time with Nora and to hopefully relax. Boy was I wrong!

That night I went to my Bible study and had some Braxtin Hicks and was still quite uncomfortable but isn't that happening for every pregnant woman the closer they get to their due date? I didn't think much of it.

I went to bed that night and woke up at 12:30 a.m. for my nightly bathroom break. As I crawled back in bed I had a pretty intense Braxtin Hicks/Contraction. I fell asleep and woke up to another one and noticed that it was exactly 7 minutes from the first one. I still didn't think anything of it and thought it was random and that they wouldn't be consistent. I fell back asleep again and the same thing happened, only this time 5 minutes had passed. They continued every 5 minutes until about 2:00 a.m. Kevin and I kept questioning whether we should go in or not. I definitely didn't want any false alarms. But my body has proven to me that I physically can't push a baby out, and I didn't want to be at the house if things were closer than we thought. Around 3:30 we finally called our family and I texted my doctor asking if I should head to the hospital or not. No word from my doctor, but my family and Kevin's family were on their way up and a good friend was coming over to stay with Nora until family arrived. As we were leaving for the hospital, the contractions were every 2-3 minutes. This was no joke. He was definitely on his way.

We got to the hospital. This time, Kevin was more than prepared and had things packed and ready to go. Phew! We checked in and I was 4 cm. and 90% effaced. Wow! All I wanted was 5 days with Nora till he arrived. I remember being so emotional over this. As well as being nervous for the c-section and delivery. Nora's birth was 2 1/2 years prior and it was still very, very fresh in my mind. All I knew when it came to babies and deliveries, was trauma, and I feared that happening again.

They called my doctor and couldn't get a hold of him. He finally called my phone at 5 a.m. and said that he was on his way, if I was willing to wait. Of course! He checked in with the nurse to make sure all was safe to have me wait until he got to Salem from Portland. They called off the surgery and we were waiting for no more than 10 minutes when the head nurse came in and said he wouldn't be making it after all. I was like "Excuse me, I just spoke with him on my phone and he said that he is on his way." Well, he was, but then there was a big semi-truck with fish in it that got in an accident on I5 and traffic was backed up for 4 hours. I was definitely not going to wait 4 more hours. So, the doctor on duty that morning delivered Beckham. He arrived at 6:29 a.m., healthy as could be. My doctor still drove down and showed up in the recovery room and hung out with us for a couple of hours. I think he was just as thrilled to see that we had a safe, healthy delivery.

Meeting him for the first time.

One of the first pics of Beckham.

Those first 24 hours with Beckham were so precious. I remember being pregnant with him and feeling kind of "bleh" about having a boy. He has captured my heart in a way I can't describe. We are all so obsessed with him and his goofy personality.

My favorite pic! Holding him-only a few hours old.

Another favorite! Nora holding, kissing and meeting him for the first time.

First family of 4 pic.

He loves:

to bite.
to roll around on the couch and dive face first into the pillows.
his dad.
Nora.
his binky.
to splash in the toilet when I am not looking.
to give kisses with his mouth wide open, slobber and all.
to crawl around and make us giggle by shaking his head from side to side.
to nurse.
to go down the slide and play outside.
to give hugs when someone is crying or seems sad.

Happy Birthday Beckham! I thought we laughed a lot already, and then you came along and added so much more laughter to our home. We all love you so much Buj! (Nora's nickname for him that has stuck. Think French when pronouncing the "j").You are such a happy, smiley little boy that has captured all our hearts. xoxo