Welcome Max Hudson

Sleepless nights, loads and loads of laundry, hospital bills, midnight feedings, and we still can't help but feel so enamored and filled with love and joy for our new little cuddle bud. Max Hudson Hall was born June 25th, weighing in at 6 pounds 5 ounces. My water broke at 11 pm on the 24th after going to the bathroom-it was a big gush just like in the movies. lol. I took a nice warm shower and did some last minute packing, while my mom stood right outside our bedroom excitedly waiting to hear the news. Luckily, my contractions were very manageable, so we took our time getting to the hospital and then waited for the contractions to kick in. By 2 am or so, I was still only dilated to a 2, but decided to get an epidural since the contractions were starting to make me extremely nauseated. Epidural=heaven. My mom and my niece Esther stayed at our house to sleep throughout the night, but since my mother in law, Marilyn, was alone that night, she decided to come and sleep at the hospital with us. It was one big sleepover! I slept a little, but I was so anxious and excited to meet baby that it was difficult to sleep.
 By around 10 am I started to push, and my mom, mother in law, and Adam were all in the room to cheer me on. However, after a couple of hours of passive decent and pushing, the baby's heart rate went down as he was essentially stuck in the birth canal. So before we knew what was happening, we were rushed into the O.R. to pry him out using foreceps. I bawled as I was wheeled into the O.R., feeling so disappointed I couldn't deliver him naturally. Unfortunately baby's heart rate went down even more, so the doctor ultimately had to perform emergency cesarean. There were a few seconds where we all thought we might lose him, but his little cry made all my fears dissipate.
I was pretty devastated about having a c section at first, but we were so grateful for skilled doctors and nurses that were able to safely deliver and revive him. We stayed in the hospital until Friday, mainly because Max ended up getting jaundice and the doctor wanted to keep him under the billy lights. I admit it was one of the hardest weeks of my life with the lack of sleep while trying to recover from major surgery. But it has all been completely worth it.
 Although things didn't go the way we originally planned, we are so thankful he is here and that we have the privilege to raise such a precious little boy. We love you, Max!