This blog is a more personal one for me. I want to get better about writing memories down before the details escape me. One of these days I will go back and write Nash and LeeAnn’s birth story... maybe before they go to college. In the meantime, I’ll start with the story of how our newest addition to the Burchett family came to be.
William was one of the greatest blessings and surprises that we had no idea that we needed. We didn’t know I was pregnant until I was about 8 weeks along. The benefit to this is that we didn’t have to wait long before going to the doctor for our first ultrasound. We saw our little peanut on the black and white screen and just couldn’t believe it! The next question was whether or not we wanted to find out the gender early or wait and be surprised. Since we already had a boy and a girl, I was fine with waiting but Nathan wanted to know ASAP. We took a blood test that came back indicating we were going to have another little boy! We were thrilled but still a little hesitant to get too excited because apparently false boy results were common. Fast forward a couple of weeks and the world changed when COVID-19 came to the U.S. No ultrasound was allowed until 20 weeks - but it confirmed that the blood test was right and we had a little man on the way!
Picking a name for William was not nearly as difficult as it was for LeeAnn. I have always liked the name William but we decided it was a no-brainer once we thought of Nathan’s grandfather, William who had passed when Nathan was younger. The middle name took longer for us to decide on and Nathan left this one totally up to me. We decided on Tate - a family name on my grandmother’s side. We love that William’s full name is so special and honors family on both sides.
This pregnancy went much like my others - boring and uneventful (the best kind of pregnancy there is). Covid made things a little different with some appointments being on the phone instead of in person and if I was in person, I had to be alone with the doctor and without Nathan. It was also strange being out of work and “quarantined” for 6 of the 9 months. I hadn’t seen some of my family and friends since right around the time when I found out I was pregnant. The time flew by and now here he is!
Nash and LeeAnn were both induced so the doctor was on board for another induction with William. This makes things easy as I am a big planner and was able to work things out ahead of time (like childcare). Prior to the induction, I felt like this baby could have fallen out of me at any time. I just KNEW he would come early and on his own. I was wrong. He still had to be evicted. ;)
August 17th finally arrived - a Monday. I had done this twice before but I still didn’t sleep the night before as anxiousness and nerves settled in. Nash’s birth was nothing short of traumatic (I promise I’ll write that blog one day) and LeeAnn’s was a BREEZE… I had done it both ways, but which one would happen this time?
We arrived at the hospital - face masks and all. It was just Nathan and I. Our previous births had my mom and Nathan’s mom with us. This was the first time it was just us. The day started off very calm and how I expected. There were several students on the unit that day and were asked if they could be with me during labor and birth. As a teacher myself, I had no problem with this at all! We all have to learn somehow.
My amazing doctor came to break my water around 8:00 A.M. Due to the issues with Nash’s birth, I got the epidural soon thereafter. I was a little nervous as they had a difficult time getting it into my back and the doctor didn’t seem too confident…(YIKES!) Thankfully, it began to work. I had one hot spot on my left side that could feel everything but it was quickly adjusted. I was progressing very quickly and we just knew that he would be here by lunch time. My body was ready but little did I know that William was taking his sweet time.
After delivering two other babies, I could tell when it was getting close. About 3:00 P.M. I knew he would be here soon. They made the call to my doctor around 3:30 and then the entire crowd arrived. This included several nurses, nursing students, and the doctor - it was a party! My labor up to this point was totally manageable but pushing was another story. Delivering this boy was HARD!! Thankfully it did not last very long but I was SO thankful when he finally arrived at 3:56 P.M. He was perfect. Our big guy was here, all 9 pounds and 14 ounces of him.
For the next few days, Nathan and I got some quality time alone with William. I will admit it was a little boring in the hospital with no visitors and I was missing my other babies but I was so excited when we left and got to introduce William to his brother and sister. He is the most perfect addition to our family. What started as a surprise has now made me ask myself “What on Earth did we do without him?”
