He's here!

Monday morning, we headed into the hospital, getting there about 10 am. It took FOREVER for them to get anything started. They finally started pitocin around noon, very slowly. They finally got the level up to a 6 in around 3 and I finally was starting to feel something but then they couldn't keep his heartbeat on the monitor, and when it did, it kept fluctuating so they backed off the pitocin to a level 3. UGH! They even started talking about a possible c-section if it didn't stabilize and sent the anesthesiologist in to talk with us.

When they finally got his heartbeat consistently for a while, they started cranking the pitocin back up. I have to admit that around 6 or 7, I was getting pretty frustrated and feeling like my body wasn't working so I was almost ready to say, just give me a c-section and be done with it. Our friends who were watching the kids, needed to get their kids to bed so Clay went and picked up ours and got the little ones in bed. After that, he headed back to the hospital and left Christina to babysit for a while. One of the young men from the ward came later and stayed on the couch so Christina could go to bed too.

Both of us were pretty tired so Clay made the chair into a bed and I got back in bed around 10ish to try to get some rest. They continued to slowly turn up the pitocin. Finally around 11:15 pm, I woke up to my water breaking. I got Clay up and things finally started heading the right direction. The baby was still in -3 position and I was at a 7. The contractions were finally what I remembered and productive. At 12:18 am (0018 military time), July 20th, he entered this world. He figured out his bottom lip really quickly and would cry whenever daddy used a flash or the bright lights got turned on.I love how they calm down so quickly when they hear mommy's voice.His cord was excessively long and was wrapped around his neck twice. Clay was able to help deliver him too. He weighed 7 lbs. 15.6 oz and 21 inches long.
Later that morning, Clay brought the kids back to meet their new brother.
I love this one. Samantha was fascinated with the new baby and kept pointing out all the body parts.
Jonathan and the baby.
Amanda (mommy #3) and baby
The proud big sister.
Daddy, Samantha, and baby.

So, after Clay took the kids home, he came back so we could finalize the name. We've decided to name our little babe, Ethan Isaac Stafford.
Ethan and I.