Joseph's Birth Story

Well, here it is almost one entire month after our little Joseph's birth and I've finally found a moment to sit down and write about his exciting arrival. Who knew that becoming parents would give us an entirely new appreciation of free time. Yeah right . . . what's that again?!? As I'm typing this, the little one is actually attempting to nap on my lap, so we'll see how long this lasts! Hopefully I'll be able to complete this story before he turns one year old!!

Anyways, as many of you know, I went into labor on the morning of my due date. Not bad for a first-timer! I labored throughout the day, but the contractions didn't really become regular until the later part of the afternoon. After calling my doctor's office, they told me to sit tight and labor a bit more at home before coming into the hospital. We waited it out and tried to distract ourselves with some Monday night football. Brad was even lucky enough to catch a quick nap! Now, before you say anything, I did tell him that it was perfectly okay for him to take a snooze. Little did I know that he would actually be able to sleep. I swear, my husband can sleep through anything! Regardless, it wasn't long that he was able to enjoy his peaceful slumber. Approximately 45 minutes had passed and my contractions were at least one minute long and averaging 2-3 minutes apart. Based on the increasing pain, I decided it was time to go. I alerted Brad and I swear that I have never seen him move so fast out of deep sleep as he lept into action. He ran upstairs to get our bags and we hustled out the door. He was so focused on making it in record time to the hospital I began to wonder if we were going to make it there in one piece! Of course, Brad came through and I was speedily and safely dropped off at Spectrum Hospital emergency.

When we arrived, I was wheeled up to triage and monitored for a while. Then I was shown to the birthing room which was a corner room with a beautiful view of the city. Unfortunately, I was in too much pain at this point to truly enjoy it, but I took comfort in the great treatment that I was receiving from the hospital staff as well as the wonderful support that my loving husband and coach was lending me. I didn't opt for pain relief right away -- rather I decided to give the whirlpool a whirl to see if it could help to alleviate my pain. It did for about a half an hour and then, as I got out of the tub, my water officially broke and . . . holy contractions! They aren't kidding when they say labor is hard work! A three minute contraction later and I was ready for them to bring on the epidural. After the lovely anesthesiologist administered the pain relief, I wanted to hug her and secretly thanked God for the individual who invented the epidural. Sweet relief! I didn't even feel the next contraction and was able to relax through the remainder of the night. Once 7:30 a.m. rolled around and the sun began to rise, it was about time for me to push. I was nervous, anxious, excited, along with about 1000 other emotions were racing through me, but I didn't care. Before long, I knew that I was going to be able to finally to meet my baby. Ten months of hard work was about to pay off and I was ready to do whatever was necessary to get down this final stretch.

Up to this point, the nurse kept saying how my labor was "textbook". Being the overachiever that I am, I felt so proud and thought maybe I'd even get a gold star when this was all said and done. Little did I know that when I began pushing was exactly when my labor became anything but textbook. During the 3 hour process, we discovered that our little one was tranverse (i.e., facing sideways) and my pubic bone was unusually low for the baby to travel through. Not impossible, but the doctor said that it would present some unique challenges.

I pushed "perfectly" as the nurse described and she gave me a true glimmer of hope at the two hour mark when the big light lowered down from the ceiling and she told me that this was the beginning of the end. Before I would know it, she reassured me, I'd be holding my baby. A few more pushes later, the doctor walked in and completely deflated all of my hopes when he informed us that the baby hadn't made any progress in a while because he was stuck. Let me tell you, after 40 weeks of waiting and close to 3 hours of pushing, that's the last thing you want to hear! Regardless, I was willing to do anything to deliver a healthy baby, so I informed the doctor that I could push for 3 more hours if he needed me to. One look in his eyes and I knew that was not going to be an option.

After a few minutes of considering a forceps delivery, he decided that the baby was not in the correct position to do so safely. The decision had been made for me . . . we had no choice but to deliver by a Caesarean secion. As upset as I was, the doctor and nurses were very reassuring as what seemed like half of the hospital staff frantically rushed around to get me into emergency surgery. Before I even knew what was happening, I was wheeled into the O.R. and they began working on me. Thankfully once I saw Brad's face -- or at least the small part of his face that wasn't covered by medical gear -- I felt like everything was going to be okay. I tried to stay focused on the fact that I would soon be able to meet our little one.

I said a prayer of thanks, once again, for the wonder of the epidural as they worked away at me. I didn't feel any pain, but there was quite a bit of pressure from all of the tugging that ensued from trying to get him out. I could feel the entire table shaking because his head had gotten stuck, but I finally felt a great release from the pressure and heard a good, solid cry. Misty-eyed, Brad finally was able to get out the words that I'd been waiting to hear, "It's a boy". At the same time, I heard various murmers through the O.R. proclaiming what a big boy he was and how surprised they were at his size. The doctors and nurses that had worked so closely with me throughout this process had predicted that the baby would be somewhere between 7 and 8 lbs. However, one look over at the warming table that they had placed him in and it was confirmed . . . he was indeed one Big Boy!! While trying to take in all of his features, I absolutely could not get over the size of his hands and feet (see below for the true to size image of his footprints)! Brad immediately kicked into father mode and held his son's hand and got many great photos of his first moments of life. It was truly a magical moment! Once they were finished checking him out to ensure that he was healthy, they were finally able to bring him over to me and rest him on my chest. That first thought that I had was similar to the one I feel every time I look into his little face . . . Thank God for this miracle and for allowing us this little piece of heaven. Happy Birthday, Joseph Bradley Hunter!

Waiting No More

The time finally came like it has for so many first time parents to leave excitedly for the hospital as Karen and I did Monday night. But before I go any further, I have to brief with this description, I'm expected back at the hospital shortly. I'll claim the role of a stereotypical male in my birth description, so that Karen can fill in all wonderful details Friday when she arrives home.
Our son, Joseph Bradley Hunter was born at 11:08 Tuesday morning October 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Karen and Brad Hunter. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 2 ounces. As many who saw Karen in person can attest, she carried every ounce of the baby very well--he was much bigger than anyone thought he would be. His cry is a not-so menacing, pseudo-angry kind of whimper, really. We only once have heard him really belt it out. The lactation consultants have been great. And so far Joe has eaten well from mom, as they both figure out the complex process of feeding for the first time. What else...what else....oh he has a little dark hair mostly in the back. He has more of my features like hands and feet, while his face is strikingly, almost scarily Karen's resemblance. Which as all of you know, is a good thing! Gotta run for now, go to Flickr to see the rest of the pics. We're just a wee bit proud right now. Thanks for visiting. Cheers!

The Waiting Game

. . . Or should I call it the "weight-ing" game instead?!? Sorry, bad joke. I just find it hard to imagine my belly getting any bigger! I know, I'm exagerrating a bit. The doctor says that I'm measuring as "average" size, but nothing about this feels average to me. Literally, I feel as if I am stretched out to maximum capacity and at any moment the baby may come bursting out of my belly button. An image reminiscent of that horrific scene out of the movie "Alien" keeps playing through my mind, so let's sincerely hope that's not the case!

As you can imagine, time seems to be moving at a snail's pace for us. We are really trying to not count the minutes until this baby will decide to arrive and rather are just trying to live our lives as normally as possible. Easier said than done, but last night was a nice break from the monotony when Brad decided to take me out on a date to a very nice local restaurant. Minus the Braxton Hicks experienced during the first half of dinner, we had a very enjoyable evening. We got a good laugh out of that because we thought maybe the baby wasn't going to let us have our last hurrah. However, he or she decided to "quiet down" and let us enjoy what felt like our last supper. Below is a picture from the evening that will give you a glimpse at our new family vehicle (the Ford Edge) as well as what I look like at almost 40 full weeks of pregnancy. Enjoy!

The Home Stretch

Now that Summer is winding down and Fall is officially upon us, we can count down the days until our new little addition arrives! The last few months have been incredibly busy with numerous travels, crazy work schedules and even a career change thrown into the mix. Although we have barely had a moment to catch our breath, we are so grateful for the time that we have been able to share with family and friends as we prepare for this major life change. Trips to Phoenix, the Outer Banks, New York, Ann Arbor and Detroit have allowed us to spend some much cherished time with our loved ones and even meet some of the newer additions that have arrived over the past few months. Be sure to check out our Flickr page for the latest pictures -- they also provide a great visual for how my belly has grown. Who knew that the human body could stretch to such capacities!?!

According to my doctor's appointment a few weeks ago, my body is doing everything it needs to prepare for our baby's arrival. The baby has dropped, the head is down and I am 1 centimeter dilated. Hey, that means only 9 more to go, right? This should be a piece of cake! We keep trying to give the baby a pep talk and let him or her know that the world is a good place and it's okay to come out now! However, for some reason the baby isn't quite ready to make its grand appearance. Perhaps the recent performance of the UM football team has been somewhat of a deterrent -- can't really argue with that one. As our anticipation builds and we wonder what this baby will be like, we remind ourselves that he or she will come in good time when the moment is just right. After all, patience is a virtue!

We want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of us during this special time and feel truly blessed to be extending our little family very soon. Feel free to post comments on our blog and even let us know if you have any predictions as to when Baby Hunter's birthday will actually be! We'll be sure to update with pictures and the birth story as soon as possible, so wish us a healthy and smooth delivery.

Birthdays, anniversaries and other surprises . . .

What a month this has been! Apart from most recent exciting trip that we returned from, we've had so much to celebrate in this month of June. First, we received another report on the continued healthy development of our baby. During our 21 week ultrasound, we could see Baby Hunter kicking away feverishly inside mama's belly. What a sight! I've been feeling little kicks and jabs for a while now, but we truly couldn't believe how active this baby was from the images on our screen. Even the doctor commented on how active the baby was as well as how challenging it was making it for her to take all of her necessary measurements. At that point in time, the baby was measuring right on target in the 50 perentile of weight -- approximately 10 and 1/2 to 12 inches long and not even one full pound yet! I don't even want to think about what these little "karate chops" are going to feel like towards the end of nine months!
Below are some updated pictures of Baby Hunter taken during the ultrasound. I have to admit that the last one is my favorite!






Check out the legs on this baby! Dad couldn't stop commenting on them. Also, it appears that he or she has inherited Daddy's feet - notice the big toe is a bit shorter than the second . . . something I noticed right away. Brad couldn't be more proud!

Now, onto the big 30th birthday party! Yes, I have hit another landmark in my life and have decided to wholeheartedly embrace my 30's. After all, aren't the thirties the new twenties anyways? I have to say that my 30th birthday couldn't have started better - I received not one but three different gift deliveries that day, including a balloon and floral bouquet from Orla, a cookie bouquet (yum!) from the Murphy's, and a personal delivery of a dozen roses my husband. In that moment I decided that this was the result of one of two things: (1) People truly loved me, or (2) People felt sorry for me that I was turning 30. I opted to believe the first and went on with my day which included a lovely evening out with my husband. The birthday celebration continued with a quick visit from Christy, Chris and Kylie that following Saturday. We truly enjoyed our time together, and it's important to note that I received yet another bouquet of flowers. Once again, I was reminded of my recent feeling of being loved and a little concerned that I was running out of vases! Little did I know that the birthday fun was still not over . . . my friends were all accomplices to Brad's grand plan to get me downtown for a surprise birthday party. Thanks to the help of our friend and neighbor, Kristen, I unsuspectingly thought that I was simply meeting a few girlfriends out for dinner. When I reached the top floor of Gardella's Tavern, I soon saw many familiar faces and a few odd outfits which was later explained by Brad's choice of a totally 90's themed party. Yes, imagine pegged pants and the one shoulder overalls look. What were we thinking back then anyways? I digress. The best surprise of the entire night was walking in and seeing my Michael and Kelly's smiling faces . . . all the way from Florida! I couldn't believe that they made the trip up to Grand Rapids for the big event and was grateful to have some time with them for a few days. It was a wonderful evening and I feel especially blessed to have a husband who put that much time and effort into planning the party and making sure that my special birthday was marked with many special memories.

Which brings me to the last portion of our June celebrations . . . our 2 year wedding anniversary! Brad, we've been through so many exciting changes this year and I can't wait to see what's on the horizon. Thanks for making every day special and for being such a wonderful husband! Here's to 60 more . . .

The Hunter's European Vacation (cont'd) . . .

The following is Brad's addendum to our trip, inspired on our flight back to Chicago . . .

"I guess I didn't realize . . .

• how lavish and ornate London is and
• how cool Howth, Ireland is,
• what my baby kicking felt like,
• how bad the air in London is,
• how much worse GWB (“W”) sounds when you’re overseas,
• how much better the Irish accent sounds,
• what 900 A.D. really feels like,
• what Guinness smells like over 10 city blocks,
• how afraid of heights I am,
• the importance of walks in the park,
• how big 800 Karats really is,
• what it really feels like to run aground,
• what Traverse City, MI looks like from 10,000 feet
• how hard traveling 8 hrs east can be

The Hunter's European Vacation

Well, folks, we made it back safely! No, we didn't decide to extend our stay in Ireland a few more weeks. Life has just been so completely crazy since we have returned -- the month of June has just flown by! Anyways, more on that later. For now, I want to focus this entry on providing a brief recap of our wonderful European adventure, so here goes . . .

After our long transatlantic journey from Chicago, we safely landed in beautiful (but sligthly chilly) Dublin. There we were greeted by our wonderful hosts, Toni and Harry Gallagher (i.e., Mama & Papa G) as well as the rest of the Phoenix crew. As my blurry eyes tried to adjust to the whole concept of driving on the other side of the road, I said a few silent prayers for our safety over the next several days. Let's just say that there's no such thing as defensive driving in that neck of the woods! Anyways, once we arrived to the Gallagher residence we were immediately introduced to their beautiful neighborhood and surrounding area of Howth(rhymes with both), a fishing and yachting port that also serves as a popular suburban resort just outside of Dublin. We went hiking along Howth Head and it was everything we would have pictured Ireland to be - gorgeous cliffs, lots of greenery and a mixed bag of weather. As we took in the views of Dublin Bay, we were also privileged enough to get our own personal tour of the attractions, courtesy of Orla Gallagher. As much as we love her, we soon learned that Orla might not be the best candidate to give us proper history on what we were seeing. For instance, she told us that Lambay Island was once used as a lookout point for the Vikings. Papa G then chimed in and informed us that it was actually designed as a lookout for Napolean. Same difference, right?!? We continued exploring this quaint community throughout the day and enjoyed our first Guinness break at The Abbey Tavern, an infamous 16th century pub completely furnished with all the trimmings you would expect -- a blazing fire, original stone walls, sawdusted floors, and friendly faces. Advised by many to "push through" the jet lag, we had no choice but to continue our evening in the Temple Bar area of downtown Dublin. During our evening out, we had a true sampling of what Irish folks are all about. The places we visited were jam packed with Guinness-drinking, foot-stomping, and the occasional arse-bearing patrons. Even when we were in transit from one place to the next, many a folks could be found actually dancing in the street. I couldn't believe my eyes -- it was honestly like a scene out of a movie!! It was a proud moment for me as well. As the one pregnant lady in the group, I pushed through my fatigue and lasted until about 1 a.m. If you knew what my bedtime has been lately, you would be proud of me too!

The next day involved us taking advantage of our first full day in Ireland and touring downtown Dublin. Be sure to check out our pictures on our Flickr website because there's quite a few great shots. Highlights from this tour included seeing St. Stephen's Garden, Christ Church Cathedral and The Guinness Storehouse. Not surprisingly, we continued our evening in Dublin with dinner and drinks (stillwater for me) and had a wonderful time. Surprisingly, I was not the one to let the lingering affects of jetlag take over and actually fall asleep while we were out. Another proud moment for me, not so much for our friend Kristene!

The next three days began our lovely boat adventure from up the River Shannon which we learned was the longest river in both Ireland and Britain. We were excited to take in the scenic countryside views and enjoyed our relaxing cruise until we ran into our first slight glitch on the trip. After only one hour from our Banagher departure, we managed to, as seasoned sailors like to refer, "run aground". Unfortunately, Brad happened to be at the helm when it happened. He was slowly cruising along, smack in the middle of the river where he should have been, with Harry by his side. He began to notice the depth gauge was dramatically dropping to alarmingly low levels and alerted Harry. Harry, with a typical laid-back Irish attitude, confirmed that it was okay and that the river had been a bit low recently. Before another word could be uttered, the boat shook with a violent lurch and we heard sounds from the bottom of the boat that no one should ever hear (imagine the underwater scene from Titanic when you can see the iceberg actually scraping the side of the boat). After painstaking silence from the crew and futile efforts to get "unstuck", we were fortunate enough to be rescued by some German pirates. Yep, you heard me correctly. A boat of Germans flying the pirate flag actually towed us to safety -- apparently they were pros at this since they already had to do it three times prior that week! We then ported at the next stop of The Shannon Bridge to make sure that there was no damage. After another slight incident with German boaters involving the exchange of registration numbers -- Capt. Harry assured us that the strong wind was the culprit -- we safely docked and confirmed that the boat was clear for continued travel. We were so inspired by the news, that we were almost compelled to re-enact another Titanic moment -- Jack and Rose flying toward the sunset on the bow of the boat. Thankfully, we ignored those urges and kept things on the somewhat normal side. Apart from witnessing more nakedness from a overly-friendly stranger on his balcony (what is it with these Europeans?) the rest of the trip was relaxing and uneventful. Our first stop was Athlone, a quaint little port, where we were able to appreciate the Athlone Castle and Sean's Pub, the oldest pub in Ireland. The next day we cruised up to Lough Ree Lake and then turned back around to port our second evening at The Shannon Bridge. We enjoyed our evening and the rest of our boating excursion as we took in more countryside, when I determined that Irish cows have got it made with all of the lush green pastures available for grazing! On our drive back toward Dublin, we stopped off at Locke's Distillery in Kilbeggan where they are infamous for their strong Irish whiskey. Based on the smells emanating throughout the tour as well as the look on everyone's faces during their whiskey samples, the Irish don't mess around when it comes to their whiskey!

Part three of our European vacation brought Brad and I to the London portion of our trip. Accompanied by my friend and colleague, Mary, and her pretty German companion, Wolfgang, we took in London like there was no tomorrow. We were centrally located in the city and had wisely invested in the London Pass, which made it easy to take many of the sites. We were able to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The Eye of London, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Wellington Arch, Hyde Park, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Britain at War exhibit, St. Paul's Cathedral, Picadilly Square, and The London Dungeon. As comfortable as my shoes were, my feet were still on fire after all of this sight-seeing. Part of that may have to do with traversing 530 in one stop alone! Believe it or not, I actually got my pregnant body all the way to the very top Golden Gallery of St. Paul's where we were able to take in the most breath-taking views of the city. It was entirely worth it, although I'm not sure that Brad would agree after the lengthy foot rub he had to give me later in the evening. Oh well, I promised myself that a little extra "baby baggage" wouldn't slow me down at all on my trip. It didn't and the baby even got to take the experience in utero!

Our return to Dublin for our final evening brought us to the close of our trip. I have to say that as our plane slowly descended over Ireland, it felt like we were coming home. As much as we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of London, we truly connected more with the laid-back pace and gorgeous scenery that Ireland had to offer. We were sad to end such an unforgettable trip, but new that our gracious hosts would welcome us back at any time. Who knows, with his/hers first taste of Ireland, maybe Baby Hunter would be curious for more someday!