Holden at 8 days old

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

February 17th

So, Victoria started feeling contractions early this morning around 5:30. I started logging them each time she had one so we could watch their pattern. They got to 6 - 7 minutes apart and stayed there for hours. It was about 11:00am before they got to about 5 minutes. That's when we called the doctor. She had us come in to the hospital. After a quick stop at the Wendy's drive-thru for soon-to-be dad, we got to the hospital around 11:40am.
They did whatever exams they do, and then her water broke at 12:20pm. The doc started her on a pitosin drip to try to speed things along, as well as the epidural to dull the pain of the contractions. I looked away when the ansathesiologist administered the epidural. Not interested, thank you.
Mostly it was a whole bunch of waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Stubborn 'lil dude.

Arond 9:30pm the doc told Victoria to start pushing. Fortunately, due to the epidural, the contractions weren't painful for Victoria. Mostly, she said, it just felt like pressure. There was no yelling, screaming, or cursing. In fact, the delivery room (Two doctors, two nurses, Victoria, and myself) was very quiet. Every two to three minurtes we would offer Victoria some moral support to push harder, but it was otherwise calm.

About 45 minutes later, at 10:18pm, on February 17, 2008. Holden came into our lives. He was put directly onto Victoria's chest while the nurses cleaned him off. I cut the cord, he did his first little cry, and we had a family. We stayed in the deliver room for about an hour while the doctors attended to Victoria and the baby. Then I followed the nurse and the baby into the nursey for him to be weighed and measured. Holden was 6 lbs, 3 oz, and 20 inches. And healthy. Thank God.