Levi's birth story

A couple days after Levi was born I sat in the NICU staring at my young son and wrote out his birth story. Monday October 24th, 2011

Eric awoke at 5 am and drove to Oklahoma to complete a drilling job. Kate and I ran to the store to get some newborn diapers so we would be ready when Levi was born in 6 weeks. I did not know that he would be making an appearance later that night. Around 6pm I started feeling contractions. I called Eric in oklahoma and told him. He suggested I call the doctor. I continued to have contractions about 6 minutes apart so I called the doctor on call. I told her my husband was out of town and asked what I could do to slow or stop the contractions. I did not want to have to go to the hospital. She suggested I take a warm bath and drink lots of water, which i did, but my contractions stayed consistent and actually got closer together. I called Eric again and he suggested i have a plan in place in case I needed to go to the hospital. I was reluctant to call anyone because i was determined not to have Levi yet. My wonderful husband called our friends, the bortnems and lucas rogers, and asked them to keep an eye on me. Brandi bortnem offered to come watch the rangers game with me and while talking to her I decided I should probably just let her take me to the hospital. Thankfully, Eric started driving back from Oklahoma even before I made it to the hospital. When I checked in at labor and delivery I dont think they believed I was in labor because I was so calm. They checked my dilation and I was already at an 8 and they could feel the bag of waters and babies head. When they told me I responded, "no". I did not want to have Levi without Eric. Brandi called to see where Eric was and he had just been pulled over for a speeding ticket and was still 2 hours away. God was so good and allowed me to stay calm through all the contractions. I was in shock the entire time and could not believe I was having Levi 6 weeks early. God provided two great friends, Brandi and Carrie who encouraged me and stayed with me until Eric arrived. Eric arrived 8 minutes before Levi was born. I had been waiting to push and as soon as he walked in the door we got the show on the road. I pushed 5 hard times and Levi Michael DeShan was born at 11:12pm. They rushed him away to check his breathing but let us look at him first all swaddled up with only his little face peeking out. He was 6 lbs 6 oz. Praise the Lord he was so big for being so early. He spent almost 3 weeks in the NICU. It was so hard to leave him there everyday but I knew they were taking great care of my son. On 11-11-11 we brought Levi home for the first time to meet his big sister Kate. :-)