Trey's birth day began on Tuesday July 8th at 1:00am when mild contractions woke me up that were lasting about a minute and were 10-15 minutes apart. I hadn't had contractions I was able to feel before so I immediately thought it might be "the day". At 4:00am Alan woke up as I was getting back into bed after a trip to the bathroom and asked if I was ok. I told him I had been having contractions for a couple hours and he immediately got up with a start. I told him the contractions were about 7 minutes apart at this point but that I was trying to rest in between them if I could. Alan wasn't able to go back to sleep so he got up and went downstairs and began getting things together and cleaning up a bit. At 5:30am my contractions were getting stronger so I decided to take a shower and get ready for the day (not knowing when my next shower might be!) and Alan and I ate a small breakfast at 7:30am. At 8:30am my contractions were 4 minutes apart so I called my doctor who advised we go to the hospital and check in to triage. Below is a picture of me timing my contractions using an app on my phone (clearly this is in-between them because at this point they were starting to get intense!) and notice the blanket I'm sitting on just in case my water breaks, haha!
We chose to deliver at UT Medical Center. It was important to me to have Trey at a hospital that had a NICU (just in case), I really like my doctor who practices there, and naturally Alan likes all things UT so it was the perfect place!
Labor & Delivery is on the third floor and just underwent a major remodel so we were very pleased with the amenities and all the hospital had to offer.
We arrived at triage at 9:00am and I got set up for monitoring. One monitor measured Trey's heartbeat and another measured my contractions. At about 10:00am the nurse thought my contractions might have been a false alarm (the monitor was measuring them at 7 minutes apart) and was about to send us home, but she then noticed that my blood pressure was up and told us to stay while they do blood work just to be safe. It took about an hour to get my results back from the lab and while we were waiting the nurse realized my contractions really were 4 minutes apart (and that the monitor had been set up incorrectly) so she told us to hang tight while she called my doctor.
At 11:30am, the nurse checked me and I was 5cm dilated and my contractions were getting more intense and after another phone call to my doctor, we were told we were going to be admitted to labor & delivery (which meant we were having a baby today!)
Alan went back to the car to get our bags and at noon we were moved to our labor and delivery room which was LDR 3 (I couldn't think of a better number for Trey!) My L&D nurses, LeeAnne and Kayla, were awesome, I didn't realize at the time how important it would be that I have great nurses to support us during this important day.
When I got settled in, I started a saline and penicillin IV. At 1:00pm my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and super painful (and lasting 2 and a half minutes!) so I requested an epidural, what an incredible relief! I was really thankful for the epidural because it allowed me to not focus so acutely on pain management and really enjoy the moment with Alan as we prepared for Trey's birth.
LeeAnne checked me at 1:30pm and I was 8.5cm dilated! I was thankful my body was getting ready but my doctor didn't want break my water at this point because she wanted me to get the 2 full doses of antibiotics before delivery. So we just waited.
While we were waiting, nurses also began getting things ready for Trey, like the security tag that would go on his umbilical cord immediately following delivery and the tags that would go on his arm and leg. 
At 1:45pm Susan and Mitchell came to visit but I was kind of out-of-it since my epidural hadn't fully kicked in at this point. It started to completely work about 2:00pm. Alan ate lunch at 2:30pm and I had a slushy (I was starving!) but that had to do for now. At 2:45pm my mom, Maggie, Christa, and Annie came to visit. We chatted for a while and then I tried to rest a bit. At one point the monitor moved and couldn't pick up Trey's heartbeat and within minutes about 5 nurses were in our room checking to ensure our baby boy was just fine (which he was) and it made me feel so good knowing we were being cared for so well.
At 4:45pm LeeAnne gave me my second dose of penicillin, by 5:00pm a lot of pressure was building up, and at 5:36pm Dr. Zite broke my water. At that point, I could feel even more pressure (Trey was at 0 station) and they sat me almost straight up in bed because my doctor wanted him to drop a little more before I began to push. 
I began pushing at 6:13pm and a little over an our later, at 7:16pm, our son, Mitchell Alan Moore, III was born! What a miracle! I get teary just writing this out, it was amazing! Alan was able to cut the cord which was something special he will always remember.
I requested we do skin-to-skin right after birth so the nurses quickly dried him off with a towel and promptly placed him on my chest. The feeling of him in my arms for the first time was indescribable. It took my breath away and I think I was crying as much as he was. Tears of joy for this precious life.
Our first picture as a family of three!
Trey weighed in at a healthy 7lbs 2 oz
first footprints, such tiny perfect feet :)
Alan holding Trey for the first time, amazed by the amount of love captured here
After skin-to-skin and a few moments of Alan and I just absorbing parenthood, I tried nursing Trey. A lactation consultant came in to help me and before long, Trey was doing great. We are both still learning of course, but I was very thankful it went so well for the first time!
Can't imagine life without him!
Already fast asleep, being born is such hard work!
At 9:45pm we were moved from our L&D room to a postpartum Mother/Baby suite.
At 10:00pm Trey got to meet his extended family!
my mom (grandmother name TBD, we're pretty sure it will be Nana)
Alan's mom (grandmother name TBD)
my dad (grandfather name TBD)
Alan's dad (Grandfather name TBD)
Maggie
Ben
Christa
Annie
Colin (skyping in from Japan!)
Katie
Trey's first toast! Praise the Lord for this precious life, cheers!
At 11:40pm, Trey had his first bath!
Poor little guy cried the whole time :(
All clean after his bath. I could have snuggled with him the whole night but at this point I had been up for over 25 hours so we sent him to the nursery and Alan and I got some much needed sleep.
We spent the day Wednesday getting to know our little guy and introducing him to a steady stream of visitors. On Thursday, Trey was circumcised and then we were able to go home! Trey did not really enjoy being undressed and put in his "going home outfit" poor thing!
Once we were done, he settled down. We already love this sweet face so much!
there are no words...
Putting Trey in his carseat
All strapped in and ready to go!
He fell asleep within seconds!
Thank you, UT Medical! You've been good to us!
Home Sweet Home!
