Allison Faith Gilliam

On August 5, 2009 Sara & I were woke up to the surprise of her water breaking at 2:00 AM. We weren't convinced it was officially her water so we cleaned everything up & went back to bed. At 2:20 AM we were woke up again to more water & then contractions follwed shortly after. We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 AM & Sara was in very active labor. She went from 3 centimeters dialated to 10 centimeters dialated in 4 1/2 hours. At 9:30 Sara started to push & it appeared this labor process was going to go extremely fast. However, our little girl had some plans of her own. Our Doctor found that Allison was "sunny-side up". Every push that Sara gave was moving Allison to the brink of delivery & then she would get sucked back inside. It was an unbelievable 3 1/2 hours of pushing. The most amazing thing is that Sara did all of this with no medication whatsoever. No IV, no pitocin, no epideral, etc. She really wanted to give her best shot at having this baby natural & amazingly she did! Sara by far amazed me in this whole process. She was brave, strong, & took everything in stride that was thrown her way. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Sara was my hero that day. I was so incredibly proud of her & the effort that she gave.

After 3 1/2 hours of pushing our Doctor realized that Sara wasn't going to be able to get this baby out. Little Allison was lodged in Sara's birth canal & had decided not to move anymore. Everyone decided (including Sara & I) that in the best interest of the baby it was time to get her out. The whole C-section process was a fantastic success & Sara did a great job in surgery. I actually had the privelage of cleaning Allison off and showing her to her Mama for the first time. Allison was stuck in the canal since week 36 & all the pushing for 3 1/2 hours caused Allison to have what one nurse said "the worst cone head she had seen in 33 years of delivering babies." It added a good 2 inches to her heighth. The above picture shows it a little bit, but really doesn't due it justice as to how big it really was.

Sara & Allison did such a fantastic job. Allison was born at 1:01 PM. She was 7 lbs 01 ounce & 20 inches long. Every Nurse & Doctor in the birthing center praised Sara & the effort that she gave for the 3 days we were there. Our Doctor was in awe at how great Sara did, especially considering the lack of medication. She made me so proud that day & I am so blessed to have the wife & mother of my child that I do. Both Sara & Allison have been doing great. Allison has been only waking up once every night & hardly cries. She is such a fantastic baby & is by far the cutest baby I have ever seen! Of course I'm just a little biased.

I'm as proud of a Dad as I could ever be & have two fantastic & beautiful women in my life. God has blessed our family & we are so excited to see Allison Faith grow! She has changed so much in the past 6 days & everyday we are amazed at the blessing she is to us.