Leo Burnett Sabey: The Full Story

So, here's how it all went down:

It all started on my birthday. We were driving to Atlanta to pick up Mom Burnett from the airport and we were about 30 minutes away when Cameo said, "Umm...I feel a little wet...(long pause)....WHOA, THAT'S A LOT OF WATER!" We immediately turned around to head back to Auburn (about an hour away) and called our amazing friends to pick Mom up from the airport. I drove pretty fast and even had to outwit a sheriff on the way back. We gathered all of our stuff quickly and drove another 40 minutes (probably less since I was speeding...) to the hospital in Columbus Georgia. (For those who didn't know, we wanted to have a midwife and midwives are illegal in Alabama so we have been driving 40 minutes to Georgia for everything with Sabey Baby.) We got all settled in and Cameo started doing her thing.

We wanted to do natural childbirth and we did for about 10 hours. There was some small complications that made it so Cameo wasn't completely dilated and the baby's head just wouldn't fit! Our midwife said that Cameo and Leo were getting too tired to continue safely (the baby's heartbeat would slow significantly during the contractions and pushing (which is normal) but would stay slowed for a few minutes afterwards (which was the dangerous part). So Cameo received an epidural. She then rested/slept for about an hour. The baby was supposed to then continue to come down naturally and then Cameo would just need to push at the end. Unfortunately, Leo's head was a bit too large and wouldn't move down to fit inside the pelvic (I think that detail is accurate...). The midwife tried a few things but nothing seemed to help and so suggested a cesarean. We of course took her professional medical advice for the safety and sake of baby and mom. Everything went perfectly during the c section and I was able to be in the room to announce the arrival of our little baby boy!

Leo Burnett Sabey (named after my maternal grandfather and Cameo's maiden name) was born at 1:32pm on November 24, 2010. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is perfect! We are so happy and love him so much (of course)!

Now for a few side comments:

The midwife told us that if everything were normal, Cameo would have done it all on her own! She is amazing!! It was extremely hard for her (and hard for me to see her like that (I cried like a baby a few times when seeing her in such pain)) but she did so incredible and was so strong and did everything that was asked or required of her. She is going to obviously be an amazing mother. As unnecessary but further evidence of this, Cameo's favorite question is "Is it normal for..." She asks about just about everything in this way to several people and I love it. She is so concerned about Leo.

We both cried when Leo was born. I was filled with joy and could barely tell Cameo that it was a boy. I've never felt such love for Cameo before. I love Leo so much.

Finally, I gave Cameo a blessing right after we arrived at the hospital, right before the epidural, and right before the c section. I gave little Leo a blessing at least two times (I don't remember when). I probably prayed at least 30 times on my own throughout the night and morning from 10:30pm to 1:30. I know that Cameo, Leo, and I received so much help and strength from God. There were several times when Cameo felt like giving up on natural childbirth. There were so many times I didn't think I could stay awake for another 5 minutes. There were so many times that both Cameo and I were worried sick about Sabey Baby. I was in pain because Cameo was in pain. We each cried several times (out of pain or worry). But we did it. I truly felt that Heavenly Father sent angels to watch over us and strengthen us. I know that none of us (Cameo, me, or Leo) could have done anything close to this on our own. We know that this was a miracle and we truly thank God for it all.

Here are just a few pictures. We forgot our cord for our camera so more photos and some video will be up later today or early tomorrow!