When It’s Time, It’s Time: The Birth of Coley Lucille

Saint Patrick’s Day is typically a day in which people go out, party, and celebrate, right? For me, it was going to be a day full of watching NCAA wrestling while relaxing and anticipating the nearing birth of our daughter. What it wound up being was a day I will always remember that lead into a morning that I will never forget.

It all began whenever Skylar texted me and told me she was having contractions while I was watching NCAA wrestling with friends. She came home later and let me know that the contractions were not very intense yet and that we would wake up in the morning and go to Columbia. I packed a bag before I went to sleep and we woke up the next day and left around 10:00 a.m.

This is right before we left for Columbia.

Like with Van’s birth story, we decided to do some interesting things in order to move the process along while also trying to keep her mind off of the pain as much as possible. Once we got to Columbia, we looked at some vehicles and even test drove one just for the fun of it. Next, we went to the mall and met Skylar’s mom, Kay. We ate and walked around as much as possible in order for the contractions to pick up in frequency. Around 5:00 p.m. we finally decided to head to Women’s and Children’s Hospital to get her checked out… This is where it gets interesting.

Van wasn’t thrilled about pictures.

Once we got to the hospital, they checked Skylar and she was dilated to a “two.” Skylar was having painful contractions, fairly close together and they hooked her up to a contraction monitor, but it was showing nothing. We got the vibe that they were going to send her home which was discouraging, but thankfully we got a new nurse, after a shift change, that found out the monitor was flipped upside down on Sky’s stomach. Once the monitor was attached properly, they noticed that the contractions were strong, lasting quite awhile, and coming frequently. So, two hours after our initial check-in, they checked Sky and she was dilated to a “four” and we got moved to the “low intervention” room for her to work towards having our baby girl.

Things began to progress very quickly and it was exciting knowing that our little girl would be here very soon and that all of this was not a false alarm. Like always, I was impressed by my wife’s resilience and grit during times like these. Once the doctor realized it was time for our baby girl to make her appearance, things went so fast that you couldn’t blink or you would miss something. She called a team of doctors in and before they could get their gloves on, Coley Lucille had made her presence on earth!

A few minutes after she was born.

At 1:41 a.m. on 3/18/18, our hearts were stolen by our beautiful little girl. 21 months ago when Van was born, I felt so much joy and this time was the same. Obviously, with a little girl, there is something even more protective in me that became a major part of my personality from the time we were told we were having a girl. Earth gained another angel when our little girl was born.

To Coley: You will always be “Daddy’s Little Girl” and I will go to the ends of the earth to keep you safe from harm. You, your brother, and your mom make me the luckiest man alive. I couldn’t be more proud of you!