Introducing Tyler Christopher Davidson

The latest addition to our family is Tyler Christopher Davidson. He was born this past Wednesday, September 9th (9/9/09) at 9pm. We didn't plan that - just got lucky. I started having contractions about 2:30 in the afternoon or so that were about 5 minutes apart. The intensity kept growing stronger and finally we went to the hospital at 5:30. We skipped triage and went straight to a delivery room to get started. After what seemed like a quite a while of having painful contractions, the anesthesiologist started the epidural which gave fairly immediate relief. I have to say that the process of actually getting the epidural started and in the right place was less than pleasant this time around, but it was worth it for the sense of relief that came afterwards.

Pretty soon after the epidural, Tyler's heart rate started to deccelerate and was staying low for five or six minutes. The nurse called for help because nothing she could do would make the heart rate go back up. The nurse called the doctor, requested c-section meds, and pretty much told me that I would have to have a c-section in the next few minutes because the baby's heart rate was too low and he wasn't in any position to be delivered. I'm sure my eyes were as wide as could be, but I tried to remain calm....there wasn't too much I could do at that point. The charge nurse came and checked me and said I was fully dialated and we needed to have the doctor come to deliver the baby, not to do a c-section. Apparently the reason for the deccelerated heart rate had more to do with my body changing and preparing for the birth so quickly more than any thing else. What a relief!! Sure enough, the doctor came a couple minutes later and I started pushing and shortly after we had a baby. He had the cord wrapped around his neck (just like Parker), but everything else went smoothly and we had a healthy, crying, 8 lb baby boy.

In terms of the baby's name, I really wanted to honor my dad. However, my dad didn't like his own name at all and would have cringed at the idea of passing it on to another child. I remembered a couple months ago that he told me what I would have been named if I had been a boy...Tyler Christopher. So, Tyler Christopher it is in honor of my dad. At least I know he has a shining seal of approval on that name. Hopefully Tyler can be like in grandpa in many ways!