The Ekk Family memories: Samuel James is here!

What joy it is that our sweet Samuel James finally made his debut! I say finally because the little stinker lasted inside me longer than his brother and sister and I was so so ready for him to come out! I felt like I was in labor for the whole last week. I was pregnant with Samuel the longest at 39 weeks and 3 days. Here's his lovely birth story:

I had been having contractions for about a week. Actually, a week before he was born I had had contractions all day that were about 15-20 minutes apart. I had thought that labor was starting, so my sister in law Heidi came to stay with the kids. Jason and I went to L&D that night and was only at a 3 and contractions stopped. :( Heidi was awesome though and stayed 2 days and nights with us just in case. Nothing happened, but it was fun to spend some time with her and my charming little nephew Nathaniel.

After some days of not having any contractions at all, I had decided that he wasn't ever going to come. :)We had Darrin come and spend a few nights with us, and then when he wasn't coming, I got so tired of every day trying to make plans for if he was going to come. So, it wasn't until my OB appt on Wednesday October 1. The Dr checked me and there was quite a bit of blood, but he said I was still very high and the baby needed to drop. I was pretty sore after he checked me and kept spotting more. That night at 12:30 am, I was awoken by a contraction. This had happened before, so I wasn't too concerned. But, then more started coming and I couldn't fall back asleep. I started to time them and they were 10 minutes apart. I didn't want to head to the hospital until I knew for sure I was in real labor. I got up for a while, went on FB and just continued to time them. Around 3 am my back was really hurting, so I decided to take a bath. That was wonderful!! I totally understand why people have water births. I completely relaxed in the bath. The contractions kept coming, but it was so nice in the bath, I stayed in there for an hour. Plus, the contractions just stayed at 10 minutes apart. Jason woke up and checked on me, but then went back to bed. ;) I got out and tried to rest/go to sleep, but I couldn't sleep. At 6 am I told Jason that he probably should stay home and that we should find someone to take the kids. I asked our good friend Katie Jenan and she was willing to have the kids. Jason's parents had also just arrived on the 1st and so we also asked them to make plans to come and get the kids. I still stayed at home because my contractions stayed 10 minutes apart. They would get closer when I was up/walking...but I still wasn't sure. After the kids went to Katie's house, I stayed home and just tried to rest. I was thinking this might be a marathon labor and I needed my energy. Around 10 am I went outside and did some yard work. The contractions were starting to stop me and get stronger. At 11 am I told Jason to eat some lunch and then I had a contraction where I felt the baby's head start to push down. It was then that I decided it was time to go to the hospital. I was nervous that I wasn't really in labor since I had had 2 other times of thinking I was in labor just to be sent home. But, in triage they checked me and I was at a 6 and 100% effaced. I was so stoked that the baby was actually coming!

Once we got into the delivery room, the Dr. came in and broke my water. I had an amazing nurse and she had a feeling that I would deliver pretty quickly. She stayed with us the whole time. I didn't have close contractions, and they really weren't too bad. After only about 45 minutes, I was at a 9 and the nurse called the Dr. in. Once the Dr. walked in, I had the urge to push and then 5 minutes and 2 pushes later, Samuel was out!! After the first push, Jason said he has hair and then I was determined to get the baby out and in the next push, he came out. The last few minutes were obviously the most difficult, but I was happy with how the labor went. And, I am proud of the fact that I have had 3 natural, no drug births. Once he was out, I was so relieved and happy and in shock of having a baby. It was wonderful. What a gift our perfect little man is and overall, I had a wonderful birth experience of our little Samuel James.

FINALLY!

so nice to meet you!

happy Daddy!

So fun to have Aunt Heidi come!

our first visitor: Uncle D

sweet sleepy boy

meeting Grandpa and Grandma!

I love the hospital stay...I just get to sit and snuggle my newborn...such a special time!

and then getting ready to go home

The hospital wouldn't allow the kids to come in (I was so so disappointed!), so we were a bit anxious to get home and have the kids meet their little brother. They were excited, but maybe a bit more excited about the gifts they got from the baby. :)