Lynns & Tots

While this post is being written to chronicle the events of Miss Tatum’s emergence into this world, I have been sworn to secrecy (apparently one of the articles of marriage, ranks right up there with the rule about getting pre-approval for any photograph before said photo can be posted online) about many of the details, and unless any of you are really interested in studying the birthing process, I’m pretty sure you won’t mind that the details have been left out for the most part. And I’m pretty sure Tatum will not want to read them when she grows up (unless, of course, she wants to be an obstetrician, then those details I have left out may very well be appealing to her).

The story begins with Castor oil, a once-upon-a-time cure all that cured many an ailment without even being taken (it seems the threat of being given the stuff scared the sick right out of you). The stuff has been used for many ailments, but has traditionally been used as a method to induce labor. What sometimes gets overlooked is that Castor oil is also a take at your own risk laxative. It seems the laxative qualities and the results there of are somehow related to the birthing process and can jump start your labor. Heading into week 41 with barely a sign that things were progressing, we decided that taking yesteryear’s wonder drug was worth a shot, and while enjoying dinner at Sauce with Daireth’s parents, we got the results we were looking for. Contractions. Finally.

We decided to head home from Sauce in order to time the contractions and change activities to see if things stayed the same. For the first two hours, we watched a few episodes of Dirty Jobs. There was a marathon going on at the time, and we watched as goats were castrated and pigs were bred. Both images were very disturbing, but we couldn’t seem to find anything better to watch (one would think there would be something better to watch given the method by which goats are castrated…lets just say it has something to do with the term “bite me”, and the pig breeding wasn’t much better). After the second hour of timing the contractions, we decided it was time to head to the hospital.   

When we got there, we were quickly ushered to the triage room where they decide to keep you or send you home. After two hours of waiting, they finally admitted us, and we were on our way for the long wait. Admitted at 2 am, delivery at 3:04 pm. All told, labor lasted about 18 hours. Not much more to report on that. An epidural was given, granted, it took the guy 7 pokes before he got it right, and the epidural wore off at the end, which was not good during the hour of pushing. We got a little bit of sleep that night. About four hours (epidurals are awesome). When it came time to push, there was lots of 10 counts (they said I was a great coach), but Daireth was the star. Tatum arrived an hour after we started. She weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz, and she measured 20 inches in length. 

We had the iPod on shuffle throughout labor, and she was born to the tune “We love you Jesus” by Shane Bernard and Shane Everett, off their Pages album. Thought it was a nice little coincidence. She could have been born to any number of songs by artists as random as Dave Matthews to The Classic Crime, but that was the one on shuffle at the right time. 

There you have it. Tatum arrived on 12/27/2008, exactly on her due date (which I’ve heard doesn’t happen very often). I’ve left out many of the details, but this wasn’t an episode of Dirty Jobs where there are more details then many of us are comfortable with. This is simply a story on how Tatum got here. We’ve been blessed once more. Tatum Elizabeth is an angel if ever a human could be called one.