He Has Arrived!

Finally, he has arrived!  Adam Carl Swenson was born on November 26, at 8:02 PM.  He weighed 8 lbs on the nose and was 21.4 inches long.  Phil and I both really like the name Adam, and Carl was my grandpa's name.  Here are a few pictures and a short story for those of you curious about Adam's birthday:

Hi, I weigh eight pounds, and I can prove it!

I'm so glad daddy was with me right after I was born.  It is cold out here!

He had a little bit of a conehead when he came out, but it went away quickly  :)

Meeting mommy.  Such an amazing experience after carrying him for nine months.

Here is a short story of his birth.  I'll keep it brief and PG...for those interested, we can talk on the phone :)

Because of my high blood pressure, I was scheduled to be induced.  So, on November 25, Phil and I went to the hospital at about 7:30 PM.  Although they wouldn't actually start my labor until the next morning, they wanted me to come in the night before and spend the night so they could monitor how dialated I was and make sure I was ready to go in the morning.  At this point, I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect, but Phil and I were also very excited and couldn't believe that it was finally time.  We had talked about this for so long!

In the morning, around 7 the nurses and Dr. came in to see how things were going and start my IV.  Then, around 9 they started the Pitocin, which is the drug that begins contractions...it worked.  The beginning wasn't too bad, though, and I was breathing through contractions and Phil and I walked through the hallways.  

Around 12:30, labor was progressing well and the Dr. broke my water.  Holy cow!  Without that cushion in there contractions came much faster and harder immediately!  I knew it would happen, but I thought it would be a little more gradual.  The good news is that the show was definitely on the road!

I waited as long as I could to get the epidural, since I didn't want labor to stop or slow.  But, with contractions coming hard, and right on top of each other, I decided to get the epidural so that I could rest and be ready to push when the time came.  It took them a while to get the epidural started, so I had a pretty rough time until 2:30, when they finally finished.  Phil and my nurse were amazing during this time helping me get through it.  

I was able to rest and let my body do the work until Dr. came in and told me I was ready to push - probably around 7:30.  At this point, I was very focused on what I had to do.  The Dr. called the pediatrician and told her that I was ready to push and she should come to my room in about an hour for the birth.  He had me do a practice push, and was amazed to see the baby right away!  Dr. was back on the phone telling the pediatrician that she actually should come now :)  Fifteen minutes later, Adam was born!  

Pushing was an amazing experience for me.  Phil watched the whole time as he held my leg and counted for me, and his amazement at the whole thing and his words between pushes were incredibly empowering for me.  

We are so excited to have our son!  I am slowly recovering and we are adjusting to the lack of sleep and days that revolve around Adam, but we can already tell that this is going to be the best thing we have ever done.