Forever Changed

Nearly 3 weeks ago our lives were forever changed. Nathan Luke Stevenson was born on May 1 at 11:50pm. Since the first time that we saw him, our capacity to love was enlarged beyond our own understanding.
At 3am on May 1st my water broke. The doctor advised me to wait it out to see how things progress in the next 6 hours. I was having very mild contractions, so Luke and I went walking around 8am in an effort to speed things along. We then packed things up and went to Kohls and Chick-fil-a before heading to the doctor's office. After seeing the doctor, she sent us on over to the hospital. This was it, we walked into the hospital that day still a little naive about how life was going to change for us in the next 24 hrs. After getting settled into the hospital, the doctor wanted to start me on pitocin to jump start the labor a little since I wasn't progressing as quickly as they would have liked. I really didn't want the pitocin yet because I didn't want to be hooked up the monitors and an IV, so we asked if it could wait. Over the next couple of hours, I progressed some, but seemed to be stuck at being dialated 6cm. They wanted to start the pitocin, but once again we asked for more time. Luke and I became power walkers around the hospital halls. I have no idea how many times we walked the loop around the maternity ward, but it had to be over 100. The contractions started coming closer together, and I could feel them more, but I still wasn't experiencing any pain. After not seeing much progress, we started the pitocin. About an hour after getting the pitocin, the contractions started to become stronger. Luckily, they were able to give me battery operated monitor so that I could still be up out of bed and walk around if I wanted to. That was so helpful. I hated the uncomfortable beds! Around 7 the contractions started becoming painful. Over the time that I went from 8-10 cm Luke was such a great help in making me comfortable through the contractions. I eventually got back into the bed and the next thing I knew, the nurse told me we would begin pushing. So, at 11:00 I began pushing and at 11:50, I was holding Nathan in my arms. The feelings I had when holding him for the first time can't be put into words. It was surreal and wonderful. While the day was long, it all seemed to happen so fast. I'm so thankful for the way God watched over us to help us have a great delivery and a healthy baby.
Now that we're home, it is so nice to feel a bit more settled into life with our son. Nothing can fully prepare you for the joy of being a parent for the first time. While it is great, and you learn to love in a new way, it is hard. I can't even imagine having twins! One of the greatest joys has been seeing Luke take on his role as a father. He is amazing. I love seeing him interact and hold Nathan. I'm so excited to be in this new phase of our life together and praising God for my family.