{Connor Rayburn} 03.05.15 Birth Story... red bluff, ca. birth photographer

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Hello everyone, this blog has been a long time coming. Little Connor is going to be turning 1 month old tomorrow. Boy does time fly. So...lets jump right into what we are all here for...the birth story.

I have said it once and I will say it again, his birth couldn't have been more perfectly executed. Everything down to the actual delivery seemed to go down text book style. And I have to admit I was pretty jealous, LOL.

The night before the actual birth I received a text from the couple alerting me that Jessica had finally started having contractions. As time went on they got significantly closer. Me, being the worry wart that I am, couldn't wait around any longer at home. The couple lives 45 mins away, and it being her first one with nothing prior to compare it to, I didn't want to chance the time lapse. Everything prior to this had been going pretty quickly and she had already dilated to 3cm. Within a few hours her contractions went from 10min to 3min apart. So I made plans to stay with a relative of mine, who lives in their town, so that I could be only a few minutes away. As babies usually do, little Connor had his own plans in mind and decided he would wait it out one more night cozy in his mommy's belly.

As luck would have it, contractions slowed and didn't pick back up until the next morning. Bright and early they were admitted to the hospital where I arrived shortly after. When I got there Jessica, her husband and her mom where sitting pretty going through each contraction with ease. As the day progressed, friends and family trickled in and everyone was so excited for Connor to make his debut.

She was dilating and contractions were coming with more frequency with every hour that passed. So Jessica decided she would like to have an epidural. Once the epidural was administered, however, progress seemed to slow. At this point the doctor's decided it would be a good idea to introduce some Pitocin to get the contractions moving again. All the while you would never have known she was in full blown labor at this point and almost fully dilated.

Before we knew it, it was time to pop her water bag. Things quickly went from smooth and calm to more painful and urgent. She had fully dilated but still needed to clear a small bit of cervix to allow the baby to come down. To help with this process the doctors used what is called a peanut and had her lay in different positions to help the process along. In a short period of time the cervix had fully thinned. The baby was on his way and it was time to push.

While the pain seemed to be intense for Jessica at this time, she didn't give up. Her husband and mom made great coaches pushing her to give it her all, and within the hour baby Connor was out and lying on mommy's tummy greeting the world. It was a beautiful entry and one I was tremendously grateful to be witness to.

Connor was born on March 5th, 2015 at 3:59pm., weighing in at 7lbs. 10oz. and measuring 20 1/2in. long.

Just a little side note. If you pay special attention to the photo at the end, you will see that it's a photo from the day Jessica was born. She is surrounded by her family and grandfather. As fate would have it Connor was born on his great grandfather's birthday. Now how perfect is that?

Jessica and Jason, congrats on your little bundle of joy and thanks again so much for having me.

*Note: Please click the full view icon and check settings to view at full quality, Or view via Youtube by hitting the Youtube icon. You may also click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKb5qGTKGgU&feature=youtu.be