Baby "C" makes three!

Wow!  What an incredible week!  To make a long story short, we finally had our boy; we'll call him "Baby C"!!!  I didn't think I could love someone other than Jennifer THIS much!  It truly is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me.  I don't think anyone can really put into words what it is like to be a part of a miracle that is created because of you.  All the waiting was worth it!

On Saturday morning, Jenn woke me up and said that she thought she was having contractions.  Sure enough, they were coming easily and pretty far apart.  After a couple hours, they stopped.  We slept a bit more, and then I got up and went to church.  Luckily, I had my brother in law, Jason, who is also a pastor, already scheduled to come and preach at my church.  He did an excellent job!

Jason, bringing the WORD!

Shortly after getting back home, the contractions started to continue.  We were in the waiting game, although the end was in sight now.  Our doctor was super cool and called to check on us a couple different times during the day.  As the contractions started to get stronger and closer together, we headed into the hospital at about 11pm.  Once we got our room, the contractions became REALLY strong!  We tried walking the halls and different breathing techniques, but nothing was really helping.  After talking to our wonderful nurse, we decided that it was time for an epidural.  Let me just tell you, #1, if you are a guy, having a wife in contractions is one of the hardest things to deal with.  I felt so helpless!  Jenn was in so much pain, and I couldn't do ANYTHING about it!  And, #2, if I was going to have a baby, there would be no debate about getting an epidural.  That needle would be in my back asap!  Even with all the pain, Jenn was a trooper and always was positive about it.

Just after a tough contraction!

The anesthesiologist came in about 3:30am and gave her the epidural, and then we were able to rest.  We slept off and on for a couple hours.

At 7:00am, the nursed checked Jenn, and she was fully dilated.  So, we waited for the doctor to come, and she started to push.  If you have never been in the room while a baby is being born, it is quite the experience.  Jennifer was INCREDIBLE!  The doctor said that he thought she would have to push for an hour or and hour and a half.  It took THREE hours for this little guys to appear!  She was exhausted.  In fact, the nurse said that she had enough energy because she was involved in endurance sports.  Triathletes make great pushers!    Finally, after a whole lot of effort (by Jenn), this little guy appeared on the scene on Sunday, December 9, at 11:02am.

I got to cut his umbilical chord...

And he was free!  It was a little funny, because I wasn't sure who to go with.  Forever, my concern had been everything about Jennifer, and all of a sudden, there was someone else that I cared about in the same way.  I was torn between the two!  After making sure Jenn was ok, I walked around the bed to see my son getting worked on.

He was weighed and measured... 8lbs. 5 oz., 20.5 inches

He got his first diaper...

 Then, I asked, "Can I touch him?" to which the nurses laughed and said, "He's YOUR baby!"

Finally, after he was a little cleaned up, he got to go be with his mommy.

Jenn and Baby from Matthew Smith on Vimeo.

I couldn't keep the waterworks from flowing down my cheeks!  It was just a most wonderful moment in my whole life!

It didn't take long before he was whisked away to get his first bath.  I went with him as they finished up with Jenn.

So fresh and so clean, clean!

The next couple days have flown by so quickly with family and visitors wanting to get a look at this little fella.  Our church has brought us a bunch of food.  Mindy, my sister, came last night and brought a ton of goodies to munch on too.  We even had a famous blogger stop by for a visit.  We've determined that there will be an arranged marriage between our kids if they have a girl.

On Tuesday, we were discharged from the hospital, and we loaded up the car.  No one ever told me that this would be the scariest ride of my life.  I was overwhelmed with the responsibility of having not one but TWO people that I loved so much riding along with me!  I was terrified, but we made it home safely.  

Kathy, Jenn's mom stayed the night with us and showed us the ropes of parenthood.  She is a pediatric nurse practitioner, so that works out well for us!  Jenn is doing so well with nursing, and Baby C is really doing well.  I hate waking him up in order to feed him, but I guess that's just part of it.  He got all dressed up in his VW onesie this morning to go for his first doctor's appointment and passed with flying colors.  

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on Facebook, text messages and phone calls to check on us.  We feel so loved by so many different people, and I'm glad that we could share our life with you!

So, are you wondering who won the contest of who could guess when he would be born?  My aunt Linda guessed December 9 at 4am, so she is the winner.  Just an FYI, I'll be posting another giveaway contest here shortly which would make a great Xmas present for some athlete somewhere!