Jim and I had a new kind of adventure this holiday season! In the middle of November, we packed up and "moved" to Germany to "Storknest". Storknesting is what the military calls it when you are assigned to a remote location and must travel to a US hospital to deliver your baby. For us the closest location was Landstuhl, Germany.
Once we arrived in Germany, we set up our home which was a temporary living facility with one bedroom, a kitchenette and small living room. It was conveniently located a three minute walk from the hospital and we made it feel more like home by decorating for the holidays. We even got a little Christmas tree! During our time waiting for the baby, we had the opportunity to meet up with several friends and make some new ones.
We balanced our time between appointments with doctors and getting out to explore the surrounding area. Two weeks before my due date we found out that the baby was still breech and I went in for a procedure to manually flip the baby from the outside. This procedure generally has only a 50% success rate and even then it usually takes several attempts before the baby turns. Fortunately, "Scooter" turned on the doctor's first attempt, surprising everyone in the OR!
Since "Scooter" was in the right position, we spent the days prior to my due date (December 24th) taking long walks, all around the base. On the 23rd, we had to move our walk to the local IKEA because the weather was rainy and cold. About 3:00 in the morning on Christmas Eve, I started to feel some pretty strong contractions and knew I was in labor! At about 10, we walked across the parking lot and into the hospital. Once in Labor and Delivery, they told me that I wasn't far enough along yet and I needed to go back to the room and wait a little longer. That is not what I wanted to hear!
Once we got back to the room I didn't last long! We came back over to the hospital at around two. I made it all the way to 4:30 pm laboring naturally before I got an epidural. After that, things progressed quickly until it was time to push. I pushed from 10:30 pm until 2:03 am before our precious son finally came. He was being very stubborn! We hope that's not a sign of what is to come! All was worth it once we held that beautiful boy in our arms. Jim was an amazing coach, support and partner throughout the entire pregnancy, labor and delivery. I couldn't have done it without him!
We would like you to meet our son, Keith Andrew Armstrong! Keith was born at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany on Christmas Day at 2:03am. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.
Keith was named after his late paternal great-grandfather, Keith Armstrong, and his maternal great-grandfather, Loftus Andrew Morrissey. Jim and I felt really special about honoring our grandfathers in this way. They are both very important men in our lives!
We can't wait for you all to meet our little guy! We think he's pretty great!
Here's to all new adventures as a family of three!
The Adventuring Armstrongs
