Welcome Peter Joseph!!

Well, we did it again.  Last night I was induced to bring our newest son, Peter Joseph outside the womb, at about 9:30pm.  

Peter weighed in at 7lbs 13oz and shares a birthday with my father and my oldest nephew.  Rebekah joined me for the labor and was my photographer.  I told her she could take pictures of anything and boy she did.  I'm thankful for her capturing the moments as I was "a little busy."  

Rebekah and Peter Joseph

Random funny side-note: We live 30 minutes from the hospital I delivered at.  As we pulled into the parking lot Rebekah informed us that she had forgotten to put on shoes.  I was afraid they would not let her in!!  Fortunately, no one seemed to notice or care.  Only my daughter. . . 

A special thanks to my dear husband who was amazingly helpful and supportive literally - as I leaned on him to push the little man out while squatting at the end.  Normally my babies only take a push or two.  This little guy was wedged in a little crooked, so it was a couple minutes of pushing - nothing really for me to complain about, but I found out later it was a bit of a physical challenge for my hubby to hold me steady while squatting with me!  I am so blessed to have him, my goofball of a husband, to brighten the day and be my rock.

Here I believe Gordie is making fun of my breathing through a contraction, tell me to focus or some such.  I'm pretty sure I snuck in an extra breath to tell him to shut up.

Things were getting serious here.  Gordie was so good at counter-pressure during contractions.  He made this labor so much more bearable than my past ones.

Rebekah took the pictures, but there is a sort of "accidental?" creativity to this one I think.  I was pushing at this point.

Random fun note from this delivery. . .

*At one point I was kneeling by the bed - my favorite position and the doc wanted me to lie down so she could check me.  I remember asking, "Can I just lie on the floor?"  Because I am a big floor person nowadays - honestly I sit on our wood floor at home several times a day.  Anyhow, that question got a good chuckle out of everyone and then it dawned on me that I really was in charge of this labor and could do whatever the heck I wanted, so I laid myself right on the floor for the next couple contractions.  Doc checked me and then I decided I did not like that position to so I was up on my knees again soon, but I'm pretty sure they were a bit shocked by my craziness.

This is not the best picture obviously, but the black shirt is one of my nurses, the scrubs are my doc, Gordie is in the back and my head is to the side.  These poor people had to put up with my labor insanity circling up around me on the floor.  They were so good to me.

*Rebekah took some of the most random pictures.  But I am so glad she was able to document things.  These are totally out of order, by the way, but I'm limited on time and ability to organize them better at the moment, so you get what you get.

Doc in "the booties" - guess we were getting close to delivery at this point!

They had a plethora of ball choices.  This was my first time to sit on a "peanut" ball, but it was surprisingly comfortable!

Monitors and cords everywhere when you have to be on pitocin, but hey, it gets that baby out!

More belts and cords, I think I was posing for this one.

Rebekah was fascinated with my IV.  And I must say, my nurse did an excellent job!  She got it in on the first try and made it super-secure so there was no worry of pulling it out.

This was pretty early on.  I think it was the first time I realized the bed could be made into a "throne" like this - super comfy!!

A bit blurry, but this is my doctor, sitting here in my room, chatting it up with me while I'm in labor.  I am so blessed to have her delivering my babies!  And yes, she is pretty-much this happy and cheerful all the time.

Enjoying one of the peanut balls.  This was still early-on, I'm pretty sure I was watching a movie still here, waiting for things to get "serious."

I am guessing this was taken right as baby was born (as I think his "official time" was 9:24 pm).  I am impressed with Rebekah's thoughtfulness to capture the time.