Calvin Dennis Ratliff was born June 17th 2011 at 5:51am, 7 lbs 7 oz 19 inches long. It all started late Thursday night; around midnight Sam woke up shaking really bad and feeling contractions. I being the attentive husband that I am slept soundly. Around 1:15 AM Sam went to get another blanket and almost didnt make it due to the shaking. Her getting into bed woke me up. She then said to me "I don't think this shaking is normal."
After looking in that all knowing book "what to expect..." we found nothing about shaking or shivering. So I rudely texted Amy and she said she was shaking after they broke her water. Sam in the meantime was talking to the doctor and he said that shaking was a sign that she was in labor and recommended that we wait till she couldn't talk through the contractions anymore. So Sam laid down as I packed a few things for the hospital.
While laying there at about 2:30 AM Sam looked at me and said "Either I just wet the bed or my water broke. Its only a little trickle so I don't know." She then sat up and water came gushing out. As she ran to the bathroom she was amazed at how much water there was. After she got out of the bathroom she said "We're going to the hospital now!" So we left.
We were at the hospital at 2:45-3:00 AM. They examined Sam and called the doctor because Sam had a temperature and the baby's heart rate was really high. The doctor got there and checked things and Sam was all ready for the epidural. The doctor was concerned about the baby and there was talk of doing a c-section if Sam's temperature and the baby's heart rate didn't go down. But with an IV and some tylenol things calmed down a bit.
We moved Sam to the delivery room and we were waiting for the lady that was coming to do the epidural. The Doctor came in and said she was here and we got Sam sitting up and ready for it. Doctor Harling left then came back in and said that the fever was because of an infection and they were concerned that they might spread it to her nervous system if they giver her an epidural so she'd have to do it naturally.
Sam was not too happy with this idea and got kinda whiny but she powered through it and at 5:51 AM Calvin joined us. They had all sorts of people there just in case the infection had effected Calvin. So after they rested him on Sam's chest for like 2 seconds they whisked him off to the NICU. They ran all sorts o tests and checked all his vitals and once things were stable they brought me in. They had him attached to lots of things like oxygen, a heart monitor, a respiration monitor and a blood oxygen level monitor. I stayed with him for a while and made him cry with my cold hands.
I went back to Sam and waited with her till she could get up and see our son. They brought her breakfast and a wheelchair and got her recovery room ready. As we were getting ready to leave they told us we couldn't go see Calvin because there was a c-section going on and we weren't allowed in there. Sam had to wait till about 10 AM before she got to see him and really hold him. She was getting real grumpy, but she finally got to see him.
Calvin had to be in the NICU for 48 hours for the antibiotics so we kept going back and forth from Sam's room to the NICU. They did take him off the oxygen finally and let us try to feed him.
We did some burping too. I liked his face. But as we were burping, he kept sneezing, so I took a picture.
Today they let Calvin out of the NICU and into Sam's room. He's no longer attached to anything and as long as we can get him to eat good then he'll be coming home with us tomorrow. These are some pictures in the room with Calvin. 
This was my happy first Father's Day!! A tie and a son, very exciting presents.
While laying there at about 2:30 AM Sam looked at me and said "Either I just wet the bed or my water broke. Its only a little trickle so I don't know." She then sat up and water came gushing out. As she ran to the bathroom she was amazed at how much water there was. After she got out of the bathroom she said "We're going to the hospital now!" So we left.
We were at the hospital at 2:45-3:00 AM. They examined Sam and called the doctor because Sam had a temperature and the baby's heart rate was really high. The doctor got there and checked things and Sam was all ready for the epidural. The doctor was concerned about the baby and there was talk of doing a c-section if Sam's temperature and the baby's heart rate didn't go down. But with an IV and some tylenol things calmed down a bit.
We moved Sam to the delivery room and we were waiting for the lady that was coming to do the epidural. The Doctor came in and said she was here and we got Sam sitting up and ready for it. Doctor Harling left then came back in and said that the fever was because of an infection and they were concerned that they might spread it to her nervous system if they giver her an epidural so she'd have to do it naturally.
Sam was not too happy with this idea and got kinda whiny but she powered through it and at 5:51 AM Calvin joined us. They had all sorts of people there just in case the infection had effected Calvin. So after they rested him on Sam's chest for like 2 seconds they whisked him off to the NICU. They ran all sorts o tests and checked all his vitals and once things were stable they brought me in. They had him attached to lots of things like oxygen, a heart monitor, a respiration monitor and a blood oxygen level monitor. I stayed with him for a while and made him cry with my cold hands.
I went back to Sam and waited with her till she could get up and see our son. They brought her breakfast and a wheelchair and got her recovery room ready. As we were getting ready to leave they told us we couldn't go see Calvin because there was a c-section going on and we weren't allowed in there. Sam had to wait till about 10 AM before she got to see him and really hold him. She was getting real grumpy, but she finally got to see him.
Calvin had to be in the NICU for 48 hours for the antibiotics so we kept going back and forth from Sam's room to the NICU. They did take him off the oxygen finally and let us try to feed him.
We did some burping too. I liked his face. But as we were burping, he kept sneezing, so I took a picture.This was my happy first Father's Day!! A tie and a son, very exciting presents.