Announcing Rohan Amit Patel

On November 25, 2010 (Thanksgiving Day), I began having contractions at about 1:00 in the afternoon that were coming every 10 minutes, but they were weak. I walked around the gas station and drank loads of bottled water to make sure they were real. That afternoon, at 3:30 p.m., Tim took me to Ryan's to eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal. When I got home, I went upstairs to rest. I ended up falling asleep around 5:00 until 7:30ish. Tim, David, and Baljit went to Walmart at 11:00 p.m. to purchase the Black Friday deals that I wanted for my Christmas presents. At 12:30, I called Tim telling him it was time to head to the hospital. My contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes.

We arrived at the hospital at 1:00 a.m. False Alarm. My contractions were coming regularly, but the weren't hard enough to dilate or efface me. (On Friday, Nov. 19, I was 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced.) At the hospital, I was 1.5 cm dilated and 90% effaced, but the nurse said she expected me to have the baby before the weekend was up. I had the option to stay at the hospital and walk or go home. I choose home. The doctor offered me a muscle relaxant to allow me to sleep, but I figured I had slept with contractions earlier. It shouldn't bother me. I really didn't want any medicine.

Bad Choice. We made it home at about 2:15 a.m. Tim went to sleep, in case we needed to rush back to the hospital. I laid down beside him, but couldn't get comfortable. That's when they really began. At 4:00 a.m. in the morning I really felt them. I couldn't talk during the contractions or walk. I watched Psych and Save by the Bell: The College Years. At 5 in the morning, I got in the bath tub. That helped a little. After my shower, I went downstairs and watched more TV. At 8:00 in the morning, I went upstairs and woke up Tim. We arrived at the hospital again at 9:00 in the morning.

This was the time. I was dilated to 4 cm and 100% effaced. The doctor had me admitted. Every hour, the nurse would come in to check me. At 10:00 a.m., I was dilated to 6 cm. The at 11:00 a.m. I was dilated to 8 cm. Finally at 12:45 a.m., I was ready to push. I only pushed for 20 minutes and my beautiful little boy was born.

Rohan Amit Patel made his entrance into the world on November 26, 2010. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. He is the love of his Mommy and Daddy's life. He is doing well and gaining weight.