Caleb’s Birth Story

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

I can’t believe Caleb is already a month old and I haven’t shared his birth story yet. Sorry! My hands have been full, literally. It is hard to type with a baby in my arms:) So without further adieu, here is how baby Caleb entered the world.

On Monday, September 26th, I started having contractions around 2:00 p.m. They were somewhat painful, but I was managing. I went on a lot of walks around the neighborhood and tried to stay busy to keep my mind off of them. The contractions got stronger and were every 3-5 minutes apart. Josh was timing them on his iPhone app:) Finally, around 7:00 p.m. we gathered our bags and went into the hospital.

They checked us in and hooked me up to a machine to measure my contractions. They were still every 3-5 minutes apart. The nurse checked me out and told me I was not even dilated yet. She also told me I probably wouldn’t have the baby for another week or two, even though I was 3 days overdue. I think she needed to read my chart:) We told her I was overdue and then she said, oh, well they will probably induce you on Friday then. I was crushed. I was ready to have the baby! I didn’t want to wait until Friday. The pain kept getting worse while we were there, so they gave me a morphine/phenegran shot to help me relax. I was very disappointed, but Josh was optimistic. He kept saying, we are having this baby tonight!

So we went home and tried to relax. The shot helped a little, but I was still in pain. We turned on Friday Night Lights, but even Tim Riggins couldn’t calm me down:)  My contractions were getting stronger and stronger. I tried walking around the house, lying down, and even rolling on the floor. Josh was getting worried so he called the hospital again. They told us to come in since I was in such pain. At 1:00 a.m. we went back to the hospital. They checked me out as soon as we arrived. I was now dilated to a 5.5. Yahoo! I knew I wan’t making up the pain:)

I didn’t go to the hospital with a set birth plan, but I knew I wanted an epidural from the very beginning. I don’t deal with pain all that well and knew I would need the extra help. As soon as they put the epidural in, life was good.  As soon as I calmed down, Josh said he needed to sit down and asked if they had any crackers. He was all worked up and started to feel nauseous:) Luckily, we both were able to relax. Our midwife kept checking on us and said things were progressing nicely. Around 3:45 a.m. they said it was time to push. I was ready to have this baby!

I couldn’t feel anything, so I wasn’t sure if I was pushing hard enough, but our midwife kept reassuring me that I was doing a good job. I almost fell asleep in between pushes, I think the shot from earlier in the night made me drowsy. I had to tell myself to keep my eyes open:) My contractions were lasting 10-11 minutes long, which isn’t normal so they were watching the baby’s heart rate closely. Luckily, everything was ok. I pushed for about 40 minutes and at 4:26 a.m. I heard the most beautiful baby cry. Our sweet baby Caleb made it safely. Josh cut the cord and they let me hold our little angel for the first time. He had a full head of dark hair and was as precious as can be. He weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He was absolutely perfect.

They took us to our room and we stayed in the hospital for two days. Caleb had a little jaundice, so he had to be under the bili lights for a day, but it cleared up in no time. He was a good eater and sleeper, right from the start. We couldn’t take our eyes off of our little guy and all of the nurses were smitten by our handsome baby boy:)

We’ve been home from the hospital for over a month now and we are loving our new lives as parents. Sure, we are tired and probably too paranoid, since we are first time parents, but we are taking one day at a time. Josh is a wonderful father and such a good husband. We make a great team and enjoy spending every second with our sweet little pea. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful baby boy. Life really is amazing.

Get the best of the best!
4 Recipes Guaranteed to be New Favorites

Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
Read More

On the Side Little Pea

Other recipes you may like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

Leave a comment

  1. Ah, I love him!! He is such a cutie. So glad that I got to hear your birth story. You will be so happy that you have it documented and written down. Miss you!! xoxo

  2. While i was reading your story I remembered mine. I was overdue too and they had to induce me since there were no contractions :((
    Glad to hear you all made it safe and Caleb is a sweet baby! I could eat him up!

  3. So sweet and such a blessing. Congratulations to you and Josh! I will look forward to hearing about whether or not Caleb is an Oreo shake fan like his daddy (in a few years of course…).

  4. I had to laugh out loud mid way through because I’m pretty sure Tim Riggins doesn’t calm anyone down. Which is why I love him so much! 🙂

  5. oh you poor thing! I can’t believe they sent you home in that much pain, 3 days late!

    Thanks for sharing your story and that beautiful baby!!

  6. you’re glowing through your blog post! So happy for you two and I can hardly wait to meet this little guy!

  7. He is absolutely precious…what a blessing. Thanks for sharing your story! Looking forward to hearing lots more about Caleb!

  8. What a sweet birth story. the best ones are always the ones where you hve no set plans or expectations. I’m so glad everything turned out well and you have your sweet ending with you 🙂

  9. Congrats. You never forget the day your kids are born… such sweet special memories. And many more to come!

  10. Maria, you will be so glad to have this down in writing. And you will be telling this story over and over again throughout your life. Congratulations. I’m glad the birth was relatively uneventful. (PS: I have a friend whose husband had to be admitted to the hospital while she was in labor because he kept vomiting and got dehydrated. She and the baby left before he did! 🙂 )

  11. Beautiful story. one you will never forget-my “kids” are 33 and 29 and I remember reach birth like it was yesterday..

    He is beautiful. Enjoy him..it goes by so fast!

  12. Welcome Caleb! He is precious, Maria and Josh. Enjoy every second of this special time. I know everyone says it goes by so fast, but it really is true. I miss the sweet scent of babies!

  13. Thank you for sharing your story! Caleb is so precious…glad his entrance into the world was a smooth one. Reading this puts me at ease a little, as I’ll be delivering at the end of December.

    On a side note, I’ve made a few of your freezer meals like the stacked enchiladas, and they are awesome! Guess I now have to go back and make another batch since my husband and I ate the first one already. 🙂

  14. Beautiful story!! Caleb is unbelievably precious! My daughter (almost 4 weeks now) had to be under a bili blanket for a day also – I said she was getting her tan on haha. Thanks for sharing your story!

  15. Oh, Maria – he is so precious. I’m so glad everything worked out so famously and you had a fairly uncomplicated delivery. 🙂

  16. Thanks for sharing your story and it’s great you documented this. The more time that passes, the fuzzier the details get..I wish I had documented mine quicker 🙂

    Caleb is beautiful!! 🙂

  17. Babies are such miracles! I am so glad everything turned out alright with those long contractions! Congratulations on your sweet little pea (I just love all that dark hair – you have some beautiful photographs!)

  18. So glad you didn’t have to wait the extra days like the nurse said you would. And I know I probably shouldn’t say a boy is beautiful, but he so totally is! Love that dark hair and those gorgeous eyes!

  19. What a beautiful baby! Congratulations! May he continue to give you as much joy as he grows up as he gives you now. 🙂

    -Miriam

  20. Aww, thanks so much for sharing your story, Maria. He is most definitely a gorgeous and precious little boy with a real light in his eyes. Congratulations again on your new life with baby Caleb. xo

  21. I had my little Ingrid just a few days before Caleb was born and still haven’t made it to a birth story, so kudos to you! 🙂 I had to laugh at your comment about falling asleep between contractions – I was the same way, even without an epidural, so it must be some kind of funny anomaly.. “Hmm.. I know I’m supposed to be pushing, but I could seriously go for a little snooze right about now!” 🙂 Congratulations again, those nurses weren’t smitten for nothing – he’s beautiful!

  22. Thank you so much for sharing that. He is absolutely beautiful and very perfect. Enjoy every single second. It goes so fast!

  23. What a beautiful story and baby. You are truly blessed. May your lives always be as wonderful as it is today with good health and good fortune.

  24. Oh Maria, what a beautiful baby! Truly, he is gorgeous. I wouldn’t stop looking at him even for a second, if I were you!

  25. I’m a labor & delivery nurse, so I LOVE reading birth stories, thanks for sharing! Glad you had a great epidural. 🙂 Caleb is so, so beautiful. Congratulations to you and Josh!

  26. Congrats! I am a new follower of your blog (which is fabulous btw) and I know exactly what you mean about being tired and paranoid. The first couple of months after my son was born was somewhat of a blur. It’s like a nuclear bomb goes off and changes everything about your life – but in the best way possible. Enjoy him – he is a doll!

  27. Congrats again! So glad everything went well and you’re home enjoying your little guy 🙂

  28. Thank you for sharing Caleb’s birth story with us, Maria! He is so beautiful and I can’t get over his beautiful eyes and that full head of silky baby hair. Hope I can meet your little pea someday. Congratulations again!

  29. I am a second mom to twin boys. I was there at the hospital and fell in love at the incubator. They were 3 and 4 pounds plus a little. You are in for such a glorious experience. Boys are so much fun! And, they like to hang out in the kitchen and cook.

  30. Oh, I forgot to add, your baby is just sooooo beautiful. And, just think in one year, he’ll be walking and able to wear a Halloween costume.

  31. Congrats and thanks for sharing your beautiful story. Every birth is as unique as the child it brings to the world. And I have to say that one of the greatest parts of marriage is watching your husband become a father, makes you fall in love all over!

  32. I was wondering if you would post more about the birth! What a great way to remember when Caleb showed up 🙂

  33. congrats! what a wonderful story! i am due with my first in 2 weeks. yesterday after my doctor examined me, she said she was very sure my baby would come within 2 days. we’ll see!!!

  34. maria– i didn’t even know this area of your blog existed! my bad. i was wondering where all the baby pics were. ha!
    just finished reading this and still can’t believe you had a baby. thrilled over the moon for you and josh AND so happy for you both.
    seems just like yesterday you were saying “i’m pregnant!”
    🙂

    1. I created an On the Side page for non-food posts:) The time did fly by! We are so glad our little pea is here. Thanks Dawn!

  35. Finally had a chance to read this – beautiful story!! Caleb is so lucky to have such amazing parents 🙂

  36. i love your story of your sweet baby boy.. my little angel just turned one.. she was a week over due and still only was a 5lb 12 oz. bundle 🙂 made me remember so many little things just reading your story. I think it’s time to write mine for the baby book . better late than never. thanks for sharing

  37. Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if
    you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  38. Congrats, what a wonderful story – Mama’s KNOW when it’s time even when all the signs might not yet be lining up. Enjoy every moment – he is adorable