A Bit About Baby Tait: 2011

Tait Gordon Patterson’s Birth Story 6/24/2011 6.40AM Weight: 6lbs 15oz Length: 20 in. long

Dear Baby Tait (AKA “Teeny Little Super Guy” or "Itty Bitty" ... that is the nickname Mommy has already coined for you) -
Well, wow, where do I begin!? i suppose the beginning is as good a place as any. We knew we wanted a sibling for your big sister, (23 month old) Quinn. Mommy & Daddy also knew we wanted you to be close in age. Fortunately, God blessed us with exactly that. You were born one day after your big sister turned 23 months! You were also born ON your due date! And what a birth it was! You arrived fast, furious, & in a hurry just to be the most chill & easy going baby we could imagine!

Mommy had always planned to work right up until your birth & that is exactly what your mumma did. I had an important client meeting Thursday afternoon (you were born on a Friday). After that was out of the way, I felt like I could sort of relax because all of the things I HAD to get done for work were finished. Daddy & I made sure we went to bed on time Thursday night, mostly because we both had lots we wanted to get done in the office on Friday, so being well-rested was essential. For some reason we were both operating under the notion that you would be late, born sometime early to mid-week the week after your due date. I guess we assumed this because Quinn was a week late. She came naturally the day we would have been induced. This was NOT to be the case with you!
Mommy woke up at 4:09AM to my water breaking. Once I realized this had happened, I got up for a few minutes, but then thought I would go back to bed until labor started, actually resetting the alarm for 5:30AM! (I know, I know, who does that, right??!). Because I had been in labor with your sister for a full day, I assumed I had LOTS of time before we needed to go to the hospital & before you arrived. Realizing I was now wide awake, what with the prospect of you being born & all, I got up & made a bee-line for the iPad, where I immediately went to BabyCenter.com to research what to do & when after your water breaks. Not finding anything terribly definitive about when to go to the hospital, I went back to the bedroom to tell Daddy I was going to call the doctor. See, I knew that once your water breaks, you must have the baby within 24 hours or risk infection. What I didn't know was when you needed to go to the hospital. I was waiting for contractions to be a minute long & five minutes apart. Mummy's doctor said take a shower & get ready, then head to the hospital (& to call when we were on our way .... This detail becomes important later.).
I called our moms, your grandmas, to let them know what was happening. At this time I'd had a few contractions but I was still joking around & feeling good. Grammy Patterson pretty much jumped in the car & came out to our house (it is a 40ish minute drive from her house in Canton to our house in Royal Oak). Grandma Deuby had a much longer ride (Jenison is 2.5 hours from Royal Oak). By the time Grammy Patterson arrived, I was having intense & painful contractions less than 3 mins apart & lasting about 30 to 45 seconds. See, they were still not the requisite rule-of-thumb five mins apart & lasting a minute. Based on how your sister’s birth went (much longer labor & lots of time at the hospital before it was time to push), I thought I had time, despite the fast & furious contractions! Grammy took one look at me & said GO! (to the hospital). It was go-time without a doubt! Lucky for us, the hospital is just a couple miles away.
To spare you the gory details, we arrived at the hospital & Daddy let the man at registration know that we needed to move … & fast!! We got to triage & I told the nurse I felt like I needed to push. She said Don’t do that! She checked me out & I was right. It WAS time. You were ready to be born & there was no stopping you. By now it was shortly after 6AM. Less than two hours had passed since Mommy’s water broke. They took us immediately to Labor & Delivery. Forty minutes after arriving at the hospigal & NO drugs later, you arrived. The sound of your cry literally brought tears to our eyes. We were so happy you had arrived. 6.40AM Tait Gordon Patterson was born weighing 6 lbs 15 oz & 20 inches long. We loved you immediately! The first thing they told us was that you have red hair! Red hair?! Sure enough, you have red hair. It’s so cute. You were so chill from the very start. You cried initially but just hung out on the warmer as they worked to get your body temperature up.
So back to the detail about about calling the doctor. Everything happened so fast that Mommy never even remembered to call our doctor back to let her know we were headed to the hospital. Dr. Kaiser-Blase arrived shortly after your birth. The attending had to deliver you! The nurses & docs were all so wonderful during your very speedy delivery. I remembered saying to the nurses & docs Just tell me what to do & I will do it!! Everything happened much faster than we anticipated. I was not able to get any drugs. It was FAR too late for an epidural.
Baby Tait, you made quite the unforgettable entry to the world! We love you more than we can express. It will be such a joy to watch you grow & interact with Quinn.
All my love for always,
Mommy