Found a Peanut!

Okay, okay....I know its taken a while to finally post this....I'm sorry! So...here's the scoop...(if you're uninterested in all the gory details, skip ahead to the stats and slide show at the bottom)

The peanut was "due" on May 10th. On May 12th, we had an ultrasound that predicted he'd be about 9 and 1/2 pounds. Taking into account the possible 22% margin of error on either side of the prediction (read: weight range of 8 to 11 pounds), we decided to induce. We got the call on May 15th at 5:30 AM to come on in. By 9 AM, the induction was underway. Nothing happened, nothing happened....contractions started and eventually got to 2 min. apart, but not terribly uncomfortable. The biggest obstacle to labor was that the Peanut had not dropped AT ALL! Around 3:45 PM, I decided to roll over and take a nap. At that moment, my water broke and the Peanut began to drop.....

By 4:15, I had an epidural, but it took about 30 minutes to kick in and I was still very uncomfortable. By 4:45, I convinced the staff that they should turn up my epidural. By 5, I was "complete" (meaning the Peanut had dropped all the way and was ready to be born NOW!) By 5:20, I was pushing (right around that time, the extra-strength epidural begin to kick in, Praise God!). My parents strolled in around 5:25and Andrew Lindquist Cook arrived at 5:35. Apparently, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and his heartrate dropped fairly low, necissitating the use of suction device on his head to immediately finish his delivery. His quick descent also bruised his face and popped some blood vessels in his eyes. He came out looking less than peachy, but absolutely perfect in every way.

The stats: Andrew Lindquist Cook (Drew)
Birthday: May 15th, 5:35 PM (Shel Barker, you owe me a pedicure!)
Weight: 10 pounds and 1.3 ounces (you read that right!)
Length: 21 and 1/2 inches
Head and chest circumferences: 14 and 3/4 inches

More commentary:
I really feel like with each baby, God has given us the opportunity to make some important choices about their birth. I feel like he's given us the best answer every time also. With Jackson, I "opted" for no epidural. When he was born, it was apparent that he'd been stuck in the birth canal and because I'd had no epidural, I was actually able to stand and twist and walk (in what the nurse-midwife said was "an unusual" way)and I was able to unstick him. Otherwise, it could have all ended in a C-section. (I have plenty of friends who've had C-sections, so I'm not knocking it; I'm just acknowledging that it's major surgery and a hard recovery.) With Delaney, I opted for an epidural and had as pleasant a delivery as I can imagine, other than getting the epidural about a week in advance. She was more than 9 and 1/2 pounds, so again, I'm grateful for the pain meds. With Drew, I feel like if we hadn't induced, he would have just kept getting bigger and bigger and the delivery could also have ended in C-section. I'm so grateful for 3 healthy children.