Mommy, Daddy & Baby Ben about 20 minutes after delivery!!

8lbs, 3oz, 21 inches long!!

Cleaning him off.

Nanny Janny would NOT keep still long enough for me to take her picture- silly woman!!

Daddy waiting patiently to meet his sweet boy!!

Just minutes before popping Ben out!! Hahaha

Baby Ben has arrived!!!

Nathan and I went to the hospital because I thought my water broke on November 30th around 4pm. I know what you're thinking..... you "thought" your water broke???? Well, it was during a pee break... so I wasn't entirely sure.

We got to the hospital around 5ish, and was seen by the nurse right away. She did some quick tests on me to prove that no- my water did not break... However my blood pressure was pretty high so the doctor wanted me to stay a bit longer for monitoring...

At 8pm... shift change... the nurse asked me to go for an hour long walk to see if I was going to dilate anymore. (I was already 2-3 as of the 24th of November) When we returned shortly after 9 the new nurse checked me and I was 4cms dilated and fully thinned out!!! So things started to roll quickly... the doctor on call came and met me, and told me that the nurses were going to admitt me and once I got settled into my room he would come and break my water- this time for real!!

By about 11 I was settled into my room, and they gave me my first dose of oxytocin. I was having the time of my life- until the dr broke my water. I then proceeded to gain the most incredible pain I have ever felt. But- it only lasted an hour because the epidural kicked in and I was laughing again!!

By 2pm, I had been sick to my stomach twice already, and the nurse came in to check me again. She said sometimes throwing up is an indication that things have progressed. SO- she was right... I was 10cms and at a 2+stage. So they sat me up, and we waited for the doctor....

After waiting about a half an hour, the nurses encouraged me to push while waiting for the doctor to arrive. I pushed so well that they ended up telling me to stop because our sweet boy was going to arrive before the doctor did!!! Dr. Pollsky finally arrived and delivered our baby in the nick of time- 3:32am on December 1st, 2008.

He scored 9.9 on the Apgar scale, and weighed in at 8lbs, 3oz. He measured 21 inches long- and was absoloutely perfect!!!

We are now home, after two more readmitt's to the hospital... he had to go back in on the 4th of december for phototherapy, because his jaundice was really bad. And... he wasn't gaining weight fast enough for the doctors. Were doing fine in those areas... just in time to be readmitted again on January the 3rd because of a super bad cold. We ended up staying in for 3 days this time, as they checked him all over to rule out ANY viruses he may have caught. Better to be safe than sorry!!

Now, we are awaiting the arrival of my folks on Saturday the 17th!!! I remember when they booked their tickets... it was the beginning of another countdown- 133 days. Now we are at only 5 days to go, and we couldn't be more excited!!!

Thats all for now. I'm not to good at this blogging thing... but I guess I will have to be better at it now that my pregnancy blog is over :)