Calum Brooks Stringer

Photo Credit: Julie Livermore Photography

Calum Brooks Stringer

Born: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 5:09am

7 Ib 7 oz

20 inches 

Birth Story: On Monday, March 10th, my mom and sister decided to go ahead and come up to visit in hopes I would have the baby within a few days. I was SO excited to have them in town. They arrived late on Monday night. On Tuesday, we all went to my 38 week doctors appointment. I found out I was dilated to 4cm and 60% effaced. After my appointment, we went to Walmart and Target to walk this baby out. I was having mild contractions all day but nothing consistent and I was super uncomfortable. 

I woke up Wednesday morning at 3am having horrible contractions so what did I do? Made sure everything was packed and ready to go and while I was putting a little makeup on, my mom walks in and tells me to GO TO THE HOSPITAL! ha! Her babies came fast so she was worried I would have a fast delivery, too. My mom and sister stayed behind at the house until Ava woke up while Bryce took me to the hospital. My mom ended up coming to the hospital shortly after we arrived. 

I got into my lovely hospital gown and they got me all hooked up to the monitors. Then, it was time for them to put in the IV... I was stuck 8 times by 5 different nurses before they were finally able to get it in. It took almost an hour. That was by far the worst experience EVER with needles! By the time they got the IV in, I was ready to push. The doctor came in to check me and I was complete. I pushed 3 times and the baby was born! It all happened SO fast!!!! I was in shock but totally grateful for a healthy and fast/drug free delivery. Next time, I might opt for a home delivery though.  

Calum (pronounced with a short vowel "a" like Calvin) came out with a head full of dark hair. He is the sweetest baby and loves to snuggle. Right after he was born, my sister brought Ava up to the hospital to see the baby. It was really early in the morning so Ava didn't show much emotion but I think she was excited to see Calum. My mother-in-law arrived at around 5pm. We stayed in the hospital 24 hours so we went home on the 13th around noon.