Welcome to our new little bundle of joy!

Thursday, March 20, 2008 dawned bright and early for Chris and I. My doctor had called on Wednesday afternoon and said that he wanted us to be at the hospital by 4:00 AM for an induction. I had already dilated 4 cm and effaced quite a bit, so he said he just wanted to induce us since I was so ready to have this baby. So we called the grandparents. Chris' parents came down that night so they could keep Grant for us, and my parents made arrangements to leave the following Monday so they could stay with us and help at home for a few days. Wednesday night was quite the night - Grant got up 5 times between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. I wonder if he knew something was about to change. So I didn't sleep much that night. We got to the hospital at 4:00, got hooked up to all the machines, monitors, etc, and they checked to see if I had made any more progress. I had already dilated to 5 cm and was completely effaced. I had been feeling quite a few contractions on my own on Wednesday night and they were registering on the monitor at the hospital as well. They weren't sure they wanted to give me Cytotech (SP?), so they called the doctor on call, and he said to go ahead and give me the pill (although they only gave me 1/2 a pill) to help the body go into labor. They brought me the pill at 5:30 AM. We watched "I Love Lucy," and about an hour after they gave me the medication, I asked for the epidural. I waited too long with Grant and was in a lot of pain, so though I wasn't in much pain yet, I wanted to get it before I felt a lot of pain. So they called the anesthesiologist and I asked to use the restroom before he came and I couldn't walk any more. It was 7:00. The nurse said that she expected me to have this baby by 8:00. I laughed at her and told her that wasn't very far off. As soon as I stood up, to use restroom, however, the extra pressure threw me into full labor, and the pains sky rocketed. By the time I got back to my bed, I was miserable. The doctor came and gave me the epidural, and the whole time I was shaking uncontrollably and kept throwing up. By this time it was 7:30. The medication kicked in a little bit and I no longer felt the contractions in my tummy, but the pressure I was feeling was excruciating, and I thought that perhaps the nurse's prediction was correct. My OB doc came in and checked things out and said, "You're complete! The baby's right here. Are you ready to have a baby?" He looked at Chris and told him to go put on some scrubs, so Chris ran out of the room and I began pushing. Chris came back in, and after 2 hours and 20 minutes of labor, I pushed for 10-15 minutes, little Mason Alexander was born at 7:57 am on March 20, 2008. He was 7 pounds 15.5 ounces and 21 inches long, which was the same length as Grant, but nearly 1/2 a pound bigger than Grant. We were both surprised by that, because he seemed so very tiny. We thought for sure he was 1/2 the size that Grant was. He has the Beutler nose, and his daddy's long spindly fingers and toes. He is so sweet, and you hardly ever hear a peep out of him. His daddy got to deliver him, which was very special to us all. Welcome to this world, little man! We're so glad that you're here!