Cael Edward Daniel is here...

Well, as most of you already know... Baby has arrived! Cael Edward Daniel was born Monday, May 21, 2007 at 2:53 pm. He weighed 10 lbs. 6 oz. and was 22 inches long. (Waaaaayyyy down at the bottom, I'll put a short birth story. Those of you who are easily creeped out or just don't want that much info can skip it. I'll warn you well in advance!)







Here's Amber, Amy and I just hanging out- waiting for baby to arrive... It's hard for some to understand why I'd have friends present (as well as hubby) present at the birth. My mom was there when Rhys was born. Barb (my mother-in-law) was there with Kjersten and Brennen. Their presence was special and my modesty was overcome by wanting them to be a part of their grandchildrens' entrances. Well, by the fourth child, one no longer has any modesty and a ringside seat can be had by anybody! Not really...



I have been fortunate to see a handful of births (besides my own children) and cannot adequately describe the wonder. Sounds earthy. Sounds odd. But there is something about seeing something so close to God come into this world. It is indescribable and it is different than birthing your own. So, I had a few friends interested in being there. Jason was okay with that (he was able to nap and I still had someone to visit with).



Turns out Amy missed the birth (had to pick up some kiddos from school) by minutes. Nicole, on the other hand, took her place and provided play-by-play and some great photos.


Thank you for all of your prayers. We are still amazed at God's hand in this whole event. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful this whole birth experience was and how very blessed we feel to have avoided a c-section! I know God's timing is perfect~ but it sure helped to have so many of you remind me of that!







He looks a lot like all our babies. He really looks like Rhys did. It's a bit unnerving.







We're all home and getting back into the swing of things. Rhys is thrilled to have another brother. Kjersten really just wanted a baby, so she's not disappointed in the least that its not a sister. Brennen keeps calling him "Jack" and can't believe we get to keep him. Jason and I are still shocked he's here... so soon!




**** Birth Story below *** (not graphic but still too much info for some...)

Previous posts talk about our issues with baby and his refusal to do what we thought he should! With polyhydramnios and his refusal to “drop” at all, we were looking at a c-section. (No one could feel a presenting part and the risk of cord prolapse is quite high when baby won’t engage.) I have never gone into labor on my own. We were supposed to go on Tuesday for another OB check and an ultrasound for size. I am very grateful we didn't have to do that. There is no way they would have let me go on my own if they knew how big he was.

Well, Sunday at midnight my water broke (actually a small tear) and that allowed us to avoid having to plan what to do. I didn't realize it was a tear as I was leaking everywhere. I got to wake up Jason with the "honey... it's time..." that I've always dreamed about. I called Labor & Delivery who agreed that I was not peeing and I needed to come right in. We called grandma, who had given up on us ever having baby. She was over within minutes. She crawled into my nice warm bed and we took off.

At the hospital, we checked in and watched the monitor to see that we really were in labor. It's a bit different that coming in at an assigned time and waiting for pitocin to start contractions. Amber came up around 2:00 am and kept me company while Jason catnapped. With the not-so-small leak, I dilated some on my own (to 5 cm) and got to experience a bit of “normal” labor. We ended up using pitocin to encourage productive contractions. Despite the looming threat of a section, my very conservative OB allowed me to labor in hopes that baby would descend. He told me later that he was very nervous, but my nurse practitioner encouraged him to relax and give us some more time. The epidural (I agreed early on due to the likelihood of a section) helped with pain but I was so nauseated that I don't think I was good company to anyone. No matter- I had other things to worry about. Baby did nothing for hours and then with one roll onto my side (a last ditch effort before c-section plans), I was complete, engaged, and pushing within minutes. Big head and stuck shoulders still only took 6 pushes. No tearing for me. No "cone head" for Cael. No broken collar bone to get him out!

Good thing he's the last baby (that we're planning). I know that my OB won't let that happen again. Big floaty baby and not being inducible doesn't leave a lot of options. So, our last birth experience was the "normal" beginning I had hoped for and the miraculous ending I prayed for!