Welcome, little one!

My friend Mary has a reputation of going into labor without realizing it. And it's a well-earned reputation. Her first baby was a week overdue - when she arrived at the hospital to have him induced, the doctor was surprised to discover that she was already dilated to 6 cm., without having had any noticeable contractions. They simply broke her water and soon afterward, Matthew made his entrance - a healthy, 7 pound 11 ounce baby boy. Who just turned 11 years old in December.

After that experience, Mary and her husband were slightly nervous about the birth of their second child, especially given that the hospital was a 30-minute drive from their home. As her due date approached, she had a strong feeling that the baby would arrive on March 3rd (3/3/03). Which is possibly one reason that she didn't pay attention to the fact that the somewhat crampy feelings she was getting on March 2nd (her due date) were coming on a regular basis. I wasn't surprised to get a phone call that day as Mary was on her way to the hospital. I was very astonished to find out that baby Emma was in the car with them, having made an unscheduled, almost unannounced entrance at home. When Mary had realized that she was indeed in labor and that the baby was coming imminently, she sent Matthew (6 years old at the time) to get a neighbor and called her husband and 911. Dave arrived before the ambulance crew, just in time to deliver his 6 pound 1 ounce daughter.

So for the past 8 1/2 months, Mary's family and friends have been telling her that we don't trust her to know when she goes into labor with her 3rd baby. Her doctor planned to induce a week or two early, to be on the safe side. And Dave took a month-long leave from work, starting right after the new year (due date being January 21st), so that he could stick close to home, just in case.

I talked to Mary on Sunday night - she was dilated to 3 cm. but no immediate signs of labor and her doctor was planning to induce around the 15th if nothing happened before then.

But apparently this baby didn't want to be cooperative. Yesterday morning, Mary and Dave went in for her weekly ob visit and discovered that the baby had turned breech. After an unsuccessful attempt to turn him, they faced the decision of either heading back home to wait things out and see if the baby would cooperate and turn on his own, or to go ahead and deliver by c-section right then. Given Mary's history, the 30-minute drive to the hospital coupled with the fact that she was already dilated between 4 and 5 cm. yesterday, and that Dave did not want any chances of a repeat performance as 'baby catcher' - particularly with the definite possibility of a breech baby, they opted for the c-section.

Baby #3 made his grand entrance last night at 7:44pm, a healthy baby boy weighing 7 pounds 1 ounce, and 19 inches long. I talked to Mary around 10:00 pm and she was doing well, although she hadn't been able to see the baby much as he'd been taken to the nursery soon after birth due to having fluid in his lungs. It sounded like the doctors were just being cautious though since his color had been good when he was born. Mary and Dave have a first choice for his name but were wanting to wait until they got to see and hold him more before deciding for sure. I talked to her again briefly tonight and baby was doing well, although Mary's still in quite a lot of pain between the soreness from attempting to turn the baby as well as the c-section. They still haven't 'officially' decided on baby's name yet.

So to little whatever-his-name-will-be (I know what it probably is but am just not telling until I know for sure) - welcome to the world and I can't wait to meet you! And Abby, Hannah and Becca can't wait until we can come down to visit and play.

Congratulations to Mary, Dave, Matthew and Emma! :)