Welcome to the world, Brendan!!

Sam and I found out we were pregnant March 8th, 2008. What a great birthday present that was for me. We told our immediate family mid-April. They were all very excited for us!

June 13th (My dad's birthday) we had our first ultrasound. We made sure to let the technician know that we absolutely did not want to know the gender of our baby. Lucky for us Brendan was a modest little boy and didn't accidentally give us the money shot. After the ultrasound they moved our due date from November 11th to October 30th. So we were very nervous about the baby arriving on Halloween.

I got very big very fast and carried the baby right out in front. Most of the pregnancy I looked like I had just stuck a basketball in my shirt. Strangers were always asking when i was due and were very surprised to here it was still a couple months away.

Sam and I both thought it was going to be a boy and nearly everyone agreed. Even prefect strangers would tell me that they could tell I was going to have a boy. My aunt Robin made a funny comment, she told me I was carrying a boy because I was carrying it way out front and girl's are "a pain in the butt" and therefore carried further back.

The last month of my pregnancy I was huge. My feet swelled up to the point that I couldn't wear anything but sandals (the last 2 weeks it was flip flops only). I was pretty miserable and everyone (especially me!) hoped that the baby would come early to end the misery.

Sadly October 30th came and went with no sign of the baby coming anytime soon. October 31st I had a doctor's appointment and was told that if I had not gone into labor by Tuesday to call the hospital and they would have me come in to be induced. Great news! though I really hoped he would come before then.

November 2nd was Brendan's cousin Lindsey's baby blessing day and I REALLY hoped I would be unable to go because I was in the hospital...but sadly, and of course happily, I was there.

Monday the 3rd I went to work for 8 hours and felt nothing at all. It looked like the 4th was going to be the day. That evening I started having contractions. I was doubled over on the ground in pain every 5 minutes, but telling Sam that it wasn't time and we didn't need to go to the hospital. Sam didn't believe a word I said and packed up the rest of the hospital bag and let me labor for another hour before he told me it was time to leave. So we loaded up in the car around 11:00pm and headed to the hospital. (Picture was taken as we were heading out the door to the hospital.)

I was finally settled into a room around midnight and they checked on me for 2 hours. After no progress and a call to the doctor I was sent home with a shot of morphine and told to call in the morning to find out what time to come in to be induced.

We arrived home around 3:00am and tried to get some sleep still having contractions all night long. We woke up the next morning and called around 6:30am and were told to come right in. That's right I had been home 3 1/2 hours and NOW I could come in. Couldn't we have just have just done this when I was at the hospital in the VERY early morning Tuesday? Oh well. We headed back to the hospital laboring all the way.

At 8:00am they started the pitocin to help things move along. My mom arrived not too long after. At approximately 9:30am I was told that the anesthesiologist was going to be needed in a c-section and would be unavailable to give an epidural so if I wanted one I should get it now or it could be awhile before I would have the option again. After a couple more contractions I was convinced and had the epidural put in. He got it all in and asked me if I was feeling anything. I said my legs were going numb but that was about it. He then asked if I was feeling any contractions. I told him I would let him know when I had one. He said "you are having one right now." Well I guess it was working then! I had no idea!

The rest of the day I laid in bed not feeling anything. My dad came up to the hospital and him, Sam and my mom played games in the room all day while I talked to them, watched episodes of The Office and slept. It was really relaxing and so nice to have the pain gone.

That morning I had been watching my contractions on the monitor and they looked nice and easy on the screen despite how much they hurt! Later in the day on the screen they looked like pure evil! I was so glad to not be feeling those ones.

Sam's family arrived later that evening after work and school and came in and visited with us as well.

That evening the baby was not doing so well. His heartbeat was not recovering well from the contractions. We were nervous about this. The nurse was nervous also and spent quite a lot of time in our room adjusting the monitors and watching the heartbeat. Soon the doctor arrived and checked me and said it was time to get the little one out.

We kicked everyone out of the room and around 8:30pm began pushing. Sam stood at one side and the nurse at the other. Sam kept talking to me, saying basically the same things the nurse was saying. I wanted them both to be quiet, but figured the easiest one to get quiet was Sam. So I kept telling him to be quiet and at one point even smacked him in the chest to get the point across.

After just over an hour of pushing the doctor gave me a small episiotomy and then Brendan arrived at 9:42pm! Sam said, "It's a boy!! You were right sweetie!" He then cut the umbilical cord and the doctor put Brendan on my chest so I could see. I was bawling my eyes out it was such a wonderful moment. Sam says he nearly cried too, but kept them in.

They then took Brendan to the other side of the room to weigh him and check everything. He weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. His temperature was high and his heartbeat and breathing were a little fast. They thought it was probably because of the fever and possible infection I got while in labor.

Our family then came in the room to see our brand new baby boy! Everyone held him and took pictures then they headed home for the night. I was then able to try to feed Brendan before they took him off to the nursery.

While in the nursery Brendan had an IV put in his hand in case they needed to get antibiotics in him quickly. Sam says Brendan was tough in the nursery and didn't even cry when they put in the IV. His heartbeat and breathing were still fast and they planned on keeping him in the nursery for 24 hours. Luckily all his tests came back negative and very early Wednesday morning he was brought back to my room. From then on he was fine. They periodically checked his vitals and his blood sugar, but there never were any problems.

We decided on a name Wednesday afternoon, Brendan Samuel. We spent 2 days in the hospital recovering and had many family and friends come to visit. The nurses were great and the stay was pleasant, but by Thursday Sam and I were very ready to go home.

We left the hospital early Thursday evening and got settled in at home. Shortly after we got home my parents arrived. Sam and my dad went to the Utah vs. TCU game and my mom and I stayed home and oogled over Brendan.

All in all it was an incredible experience. So much better than all the horror stories I had been hearing for months. It was wonderful to come home with a happy, healthy little miracle. We are so blessed that the whole thing went as well as it did. And even more blessed to have such an incredible son!