The Burgin Bunch: Micah is Here!

Micah Stephen Burgin was born on July 22, 2014 at 10:33 pm, about an hour and a half before his daddy met him for the first time. What a birth story! My due date was August 6th, and with both of the girls being induced almost a week after their due dates, we were not the least bit worried when Stephen took Leah to Iowa for her annual check up with her ophthalmologists. My mom came to be with me, just in case something happened, but we were planning on a fun girls weekend: making freezer meals, doing some last minute shopping, watching movies, etc. Everything went according to plan until Tuesday morning (2 weeks before my due date!), sometime very early, when I started having contractions. After a couple of hours of somewhat painful contractions (and a couple of other signs of labor), I went to wake mom. As soon as I told her I was having contractions, they stopped. A few hours later, while shopping, the contractions started again. I called Stephen to tell him and he told me to go home and lay down. I did, hoping that would stall labor. These contractions were different from the ones I had before both of my girls' labors, and very similar to the ones I had during both of their labors. After laying on the couch for a few hours, continuing to have contractions that were getting closer and closer and stronger and stronger, I finally admitted I was in labor and decided we needed to have a plan. I called my babysitter to make sure she could come and be with Rebekah, called my dad to tell him to start looking at flights, and called Stephen to tell him to hurry up because I was going to have a baby! I called the doctor, who let me come in, despite the fact that my contractions were only 7 minutes apart, not consistently for an hour yet. I explained to her that I had been laying down for about 5 hours straight and was still progressing and that during my last labor, once my contractions were to about this level, Rebekah had been born within a couple of hours. She agreed that it was a good idea for me to go. Once we made the decision to go in, we kicked it into high gear, packing bags, getting stuff ready for Rebekah and a babysitter, and working on flights to get Stephen in as soon as possible. And, along with all of that activity, my contractions got increasingly more frequent and painful. We made it to the hospital, checked in at about 6:45, and started really laboring. My mom was a great coach. I'm so thankful that we made sure to have her come that weekend! She was comforting and encouraging to me and one of the first people to meet Micah. She even got to cut the cord! I think she will always have a special bond with Micah. And Stephen made it after an adventure of his own! We got them on a flight into Baltimore (to get in earlier) and our brother-in-law, Dustin picked them up and drove them to Reagan National airport, where their car was parked, before they drove home to Norfolk. We'll share their adventure in another blog post. And, now, some pics of baby Micah.