Meet Our Baby Boy!
We never knew how it would feel to become parents. Now, three weeks in and we can't imagine life without our son. Over the years, our expectations of what fulfillment looked like has changed. Not that long ago, we were grasping for the next big career step and jetting off to different places around the US and the world seeking the next big adventure.
But now, we are home in North East Florida, telling a different kind of story about becoming
parents. After two years of not conceiving and miscarrying, becoming parents seemed like an impossible task for us, until one day on a beautiful September afternoon the Clear Blue pregnancy test showed positive.
Babies Arrival
You can try and plan for everything during those 9 months of pregnancy, but it will never prepare you for everything. Nothing could have prepared us for the adventure we had brining our sweet little one into this world.
Throughout our entire pregnancy we had never really settled on a birth plan, we kept an open mind and knew at any stage anything could change, but one thing we had hoped for was a natural birth. We had done our research, bought all the items for postpartum care and read many natural birth stories that were encouraging and peaceful. Let's just say that all of the above went out the window!
This is the birth story of our baby boy, Chase Atlas Piastuck.
For eight months we had a text book pregnancy, everything was smooth sailing and all the boxes were being checked off week-by-week. Our due date assigned by our OBGYN was June 5th. At 36 weeks they noticed Chase's abdominal growth had stopped and had gone from being in the 65 percentile to the 1 percentile which caused concern. His body was growing, but his stomach had stopped developing. That week we were sent to a specialist team that made the decision that Chase would need to be brought into the world no later than the last day of week 37, and that there was a possibility that once he was born he would be taken straight to the NICU. As you can imagine, this is when our fear set in and our intuition had never been louder as a couple - the baby needed to come immediately. After an extensive chat with our OBGYN we all agreed on a scheduled C-section for that coming Sunday. Know one felt that an induction was necessary because it could potentially have put more unnecessary stress on the baby, only to lead to an emergency C-Section. We had given our power and confidence over to those who had far greater experience than us and trust that they were right!
C-Section Day
We had two day's to prepare ourselves that a C-section was in store, so we quickly changed-up a few things around the house to make recovery as smooth as possible. Friday and Saturday seemed to pass in a blink of an eye and Sunday morning rolled in quickly. We left the house around 8:30am to take a stroll on the beach; It was a misty morning that helped bring calmness and peace to our minds.
At 11:30am we arrived at the hospital. We were both anxious and nervous as to what was about to come. Everything was completely out of our control, but we knew we just had to channel positivity and remind ourselves that we had an exceptional OB that wouldn't steer us wrong.
Between the hours of 11:45am and 1:00pm we had nurses, our OB and
anesthesiologists in-and-out of our room preparing us for what the next steps would be; Their calmness and bed side manor really helped the two of us feel confident.
Once the spinal was given, it was go time! Within 20 minutes of lying on the operating table surrounded by an abundance of medical staff we heard the sweet cry of our baby boy and our OB dropped down the drape and said "He looks just like Daddy!"
There is nothing more relieving to a parents ears than hearing that newborn cry as your baby takes its first breath in the world and you witness the miracle that has been growing inside you for 9 months. Baby Chase was born 6 pounds 6 ounces and was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck; Another sign that brining him into the world a few weeks early was the right thing to do!
Once we arrived back in our birthing suite along with the order of events that followed is still such a blur to us. A C-Section recovery is painful and brutal on the body, then add a new born baby into the mix and it's fight or flight.
Going Home!
On a beautiful, Tuesday morning we were told we were going to be released. In some way we were excited to get home and be in our own space, and in another way we were anxious and nervous that now we were heading home with a two day old baby.
We are incredibly grateful to all of the doctors, specialists and nurses that took care of us over the course of nine months and those two days in hospital. We are beyond grateful to live in a country that provides the outstanding medical care we received.
There are so many factors, so many variables to consider as we decide how to bring our children into the world and how to best raise them. As parents, we do believe, it is our responsibility to simply make the best decisions we can in the moment, with what we know and what we feel to be right. Every birth story has their own beauty, much of that beauty coming in the form of the strength these early challenges have given to us as Mothers and Fathers. We are foolish to think we can control how our lives, and the moments that make up our lives unfold. All we can ever control is how we choose to respond in any given moment. Right now, we are choosing love, gratitude and presence with our baby boy.
A short message to our baby boy...
Dear, Chase Atlast Piastuck
You are such a blessing to our life and we already love watching you grow! You are more perfect than we could have ever dreamed.
As you grow, there are a few fundamental things we want you to cling to. Use them as your guidebook, especially when life gets tough.
1. Be brave and courageous
2. Spread kindness like wildfire
3. Be respectful to people, animals, nature
4. Always put your family first
5. Always choose to do the right thing no matter the temptation.
We will always be here to help you with making the right choice as you adventure through life, carving your own path. We will be here to help you get through whatever may come from your choice. We know that you will probably make mistakes here and there, but we want you to remember that a mistake is just a vehicle for learning an important lesson. And we will be here to help you through that, too.
Love, your parents
>Watch Our Birth Vlog<
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