Toa Thomas Laulu 10-1-10

The 3 weeks before our little man came were SOOO stressful on me! Alofa had gone back to Samoa three weeks before the due date of 10-8-10 so I was home all alone for the last couple of weeks of this pregnancy. That was hard. I thought that I would be fine since I was 28 years old and had spent 27 of those years single. I was wrong! Very wrong! I guess in the past year of being married I actually started to become dependent on my husband :) I felt like I could not live without him while he was gone and wondered how I ever did it before he came. Right before he left he gave me a blessing and I just sobbed! He has so much faith and knew that everything would be just fine. My faith wavered at times. I wasn't so sure and I was super scared. Faith and fear can not abide in the same heart at the same time. Alofa's heart was full of faith, my heart was full of fear. Good thing I married such a faithful man! I needed his faith more than ever then! After the blessing I had to go to work and it took everything i had not to cry the whole day! To make things worse, I had an ultrasound the day before Alofa left because the Dr. was afraid that the baby was going to be really big. She called me while at work, after Alofa had left and said that according to the ultrasound, the baby was measuring REALLY big and she wasn't going to let me go clear to my due date. When she said that I started bawling because Alofa was clear across the world and wouldn't be back until

9-28-10. I knew there was NO WAY that I could have this baby alone! I needed him!! I talked to Alofa every night while he was in Samoa and tried not to cry too much because I didn't want him to feel bad. It worked some nights and other nights I cried like a baby to him. I told him about what he Dr. had said and he remained faithful, saying that everything would work out just fine! I went to the Dr. on 9-27-10, the day before Alofa was to come home, and I was dilated to a 2 so she stripped my membranes! I panicked! I was worried Alofa would miss the birth of his son. But he didn't! He got home late Tuesday night and everything was just fine! Thank Heavens for my husband's faith and for tender mercies from above. I think Heavenly Father knew that I couldn't have this baby alone!The night before we were scheduled to go to the hospital we decided to go on one last date as non-parents :) We had a great time and LOVED being in each other's company as we PATIENTLY waited for the next day when we would welcome our son into the world!

Friday, 10-1-10

Alofa driving us to the hospital and super excited about what was going to happen this day!

5:30 a.m. on 10-1-10 on our way to the hospital to have our little man!
When we got to the hospital I was dilated to a 4 and having mild contractions every minute. I didn't even know that I was having contractions because they were so mild. Our little man was well on his way. They started the IVs and hooked me up to all of the monitors.
Alofa giving me a kiss right before it was time to deliver! We were both so excited to meet our son!

Alofa waiting. He was soo funny! I think this was the hardest part for him. He kept saying that if our son was not here soon then he was going to take matters into his own hands... I don't know what he meant by that :)

I got a epidural when I was dilated to a 7. Thank goodness for epidurals!! Heaven sent!

Then it came time to push! I pushed for an hour and 40 mins with NO PROGRESS! I was soo discouraged and wasn't sure I was going to be able to deliver this baby. The Dr. thought it was because he was sooo big, like the ultrasound said he was, and couldn't fit. They were getting me ready to go in for a C-Section when a specialist came in, did an ultrasound and saw that his face wasn't facing the right way. They turned him and not even 10 mins later our little man was here! He had the cord wrapped around his neck two times pretty tightly but everything else was perfect and he was healthy, safe and just fine! What a relief! I did NOT want a C-Section.

When he came out and we saw that he was just a little man we were all shocked!! According the ultrasound he was supposed to be a 10lb baby. But he wasn't :) he was a healthy 7 lbs. 8 oz. 21 inches long baby boy born at 7:40 p.m. on 10-1-10

Alofa got to cut the cord and he started crying, the most glorious sound I have ever heard!! They laid him on my tummy, he looked at me and I looked at him. He yawned and then stopped crying and I started!!! I can not even put into words the feelings and thoughts of this experience!

AMAZING!

So proud of my little Toa

Toa with Dr. Christensen, our Dr. She is wonderful!

Here he is!

Getting all inked up for his footprints

I can not even tell you how happy I was to hold our little man! He is PERFECT and so handsome!! This was the most spiritual experience I have ever had in my life thus far! I could not stop crying after I saw him and held him for the first time!

The very first picture of our little family

Alofa is such a GREAT daddy!! He wanted to hold his son all night! Sooo sweet!

Me and my little man!! I can not even express how much I love him!

The proud daddy and his son