We are holding our son in our arms!!!

We welcomed our son into the outside world at 10:46 pm on August 26th after 19 hours of labor and delivery. We haven't finalized his name yet but here are his stats; 8 lbs 14 oz, 22 inches long, 14 inch head circumference and chest circumference.

I'm going to write up a full birth story as soon as I can see straight but here's the day in a nut shell. I woke up at 4am and believed my water had broken. I started getting ready to go to the birth center and paying attention to my contractions pattern. My Mom came over at 8 to walk around the block with me and help get me into a regular contraction pattern. I called the birth center at 9:30 and reported my stats at the time. We left shortly after for the birth center. I was glad to find out when I got there that my water had not broken but I was indeed in early labor. Since we live kind of far from the birth center we decided to stay down there to kill some time as I progressed some more. I'm lucky enough to have had many support persons there. My Mom, Marc, Ginger, Stephanie and Ken's parents were all there. So we all piled into a couple cars and drove to Ihop for breakfast. This was fitting as the last meal I ate prior to going to the hospital to deliver Gwendolyn was Ihop. LOL After Ihop we drove over to Costco to walk around. It's kind of funny to walk around in Costco while in labor. We were continually asked by several different employees, if I was ok or needed them to call someone. I'm pretty sure they couldn't wait for me to leave. LOL When we got back to the birth center, they set me up in one of the birthing suites. It was a VERY busy day at the birth center so we did some rotating. When another mother was through with one of the bigger rooms, we were able to move into that birthing suite. That was really great because it had a jucuzzi tub, which I couldn't wait to get into. Once I was in the tub I stayed there for many hours until I had to get out for other complications. Labor progressed textbook normal through transition. At delivery it got pretty crazy for us. I had some complications to work through which I could only do because Ken was an amazing coach and I had excellent midwives.

After he was finally out, it was complete bliss and euphoria. Everyone stayed for a little while, which I thought was amazing considering the very long day and how late it was already when he was born. We couldn't wait to go home so, as soon as baby and I were stable, we left for home at 4am. It was a pretty crazy 24 hours for us. There was very little to no sleep so, we are trying to catch up now. How lucky are we to have so much family and friends near by to help us!!

More pictures to follow and a more detailed birth story when I can. We will have a name for sure by Friday when we go back to the birth center for our first check up appointment.