He's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My due date was August 4th. Shelby was right on time, Taylor was induced a week early, and Payden was about 10 days early. I thought for sure he would come by his due date, but no . . . he had other plans in mind; apparently I needed to experience a little of each. On Sunday the 3rd my mom flew in to help with the baby for a week. On Monday, she insisted I take castor oil (which is absolutely disgusting and has very fun side effects). Nothing happened. On Wednesday, my doctor stripped my membranes, so we waited and hoped. 3 am Thursday morning I woke with contractions 3-5 minutes apart. In my other pregnancies, if I'm having contractions, then I'm going to have a baby that day. Again, he had other plans in mind. My contractions lasted 5 - 5 1/2 hours and then stopped, coming about once an hour for most of the day. Tom had figured I was going to have the baby that day, so he'd not gone in to school. All day he'd ask, "Having a contraction?" Only to hear a disappointing, "No." We were so used to the past where when the contractions started, they didn't stop until a baby came. All day we waited and waited for them to increase, but nothing. It was a LONG and FRUSTRATING day!!!

About 10 that night, they started coming fairly consistently every 10 minutes and they were a little more painful than they'd been before, so we got hopeful that something would happen soon. We went to bed to get a little sleep. Although I woke here and there with a contraction, I was actually able to get some sleep, so again . . . nothing was happening!!!! At 5, Payden woke up. I brought her in our bed because I was tired and too lazy to rock her a bit. Well, as soon as I got her in to our bed, the contractions started coming every 10 minutes and were more painful than ever before. By 6 I decided we'd just go to the hospital and see if they'd admit me. Fortunately, the contractions were staying pretty consistent, I was dilated to a 4, and my doctor wanted me to have the baby as badly as I wanted, so I was admitted!!!

I was going to see if I could last, but eventually decided to go ahead and get an epidural. I've done the all-natural thing (not by choice), and, if there's no need to suffer, why do it. Once the epidural came, we waited and waited and waited. I had to get some antibiotics in me because of a bacteria I carry that could pass on to the baby. The doctor wanted 2 doses, so we had to wait 4 hours in between doses. Of course that meant there was no speeding things along, so we waited and waited. My epidural started to wear off, and I felt like I could feel the baby coming. The nurse checked and sure enough I was ready, but we had to wait for the doctor. So again we waited and waited. Finally, about 1:30ish, she came. Once she came it took no time at all. Finally at 1:56 pm, he arrived. I guess maybe the lesson to learn from all of this is patience!!!

So here he is . . . 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches long (my biggest baby - I do feel lucky about that). In Chinese, 8 is the luckiest number, standing for prosperity, so his birthday is the luckiest day in the Chinese year - 08.08.08 . . . and a really cool day to have a birthday.





He has a nice pathetic little cry that we love and has been a really good baby so far. Saturday morning Tom, the girls, and Nana and Papa (my parents) came to visit. Tom picked out the outfits and the bracelets and the ribbons and did Shelby and Taylor's hair while Nana did Payden's. He has some skills when he tries (about every 2 years . . . when I have a baby).



Of course the girls were soooooooo eager to see their new brother and to hold him. I was worried about how Payden would handle things, but she has done really well. My mom said that while Tom and I were at the hospital, she heard Payden talking to her bears, saying, "Mama. Baby. Hospital." I've asked her a few times where the baby is and if it's in my tummy anymore, and she's not fooled at all and will immediately point to the baby.











Everyone got their turn holding the baby. He's definitely a well-loved baby. He has been caressed and patted and kissed and loved thoroughly by his big sisters. It's too cute.



I know I'm mean, but I thought I'd make you wait to find out his name. Tom and I have gone over names again and again. If I liked a name, he didn't, and vice versa. There was a name that he really liked that I was okay with. I wasn't 100% about it, but then again there was nothing that I was 100% about. There were names I liked, but of course he didn't like them, but there was never an A-HA moment where I knew that was the name. I decided since this was Tom's only boy and I was okay with this particular name he liked (there have been MANY that I have absolutely vetoed) that I would let him choose the name (of course it didn't help that he's been feeding the name to the girls . . . tricky guy), so finally our baby boy has a name . . .



Declan Thomas Orme
(Declan is pronounced DECK-lan. It's an Irish name, meaning full of goodness. We first heard the name from a Scottish guy in our ward here a few years back whose son was named Declan.)

We are soooooooo excited to have him in our family and glad that he is FINALLY here!!!!!!