Faster than a Speeding Doctor

Well, it's official now. A majority of our children have been born without a doctor present at the time of birth. Yes, little bean finally decided to come out (and no, we aren't sure what his name will be, yet). Yesterday made a full week that Leslie was overdue and, as we had no special indications that anything was going to happen, I went to my morning meetings and we all went to church in the afternoon. That was something that Leslie was dreading, just because she knew how many people would be asking why she was there and not at the hospital or at home with a baby. Anyway, everything went as usual. We even had our home teachers over after church. About the time we started getting the kids ready for bed, though, we realized we would have a baby soon. For those of you who are here mainly for the pictures, the next paragraph is the short version of the story. Following the pictures is the long version in Leslie's own words (I really should have taken a picture of her sitting in bed, typing away on my laptop in her hospital gown).

Short Version: We were putting the kids to bed last night (10/26/08) when Leslie started having hard and fast contractions. Once Morgan and Emma were laying down we called a friend to come over and stay at our house. Then we left for the hospital. We walked in at 9:27 PM and little bean was born at 9:41 PM. Quick! But the nurses did manage to get Leslie's name in the computer beforehand (which did not happen with Emma). Anyway, he was 7 lbs., 3 0z. and 20 in. long. I bolded all of the important numbers for you stats fanatics.

Little Bean (soon to be named) first sees the world (or at least the surroundings in the labor and delivery room).

What a cute mom!

Father and son.

The proud parents.

He seems to have some good sideburns going already.

Sounding his barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

I brought the kids to the hospital to meet their brother the morning after he was born. Emma was very excited to hold him (she kept kissing the top of his head), and decided that we don't need to call him Little Cucumber (which has been her consistent vote for a name), as he doesn't look much like a vegetable.

One of Morgan's recent name votes was Talmage "The Boomer" King. We have no idea where he came up with the middle part. Maybe that's what starts happening when you live in Oklahoma.

Our first picture of the whole family, kindly taken by the lunch lady at the hospital.

He just kept getting cuter by the moment - it's true and it has nothing to do with me being his parent.

Two sleepy hands.

Long Version (in Leslie's words): "I had some contractions in the wee hours of the morning but they quickly slowed down and stopped so i went back to sleep. We had a pretty typical Sunday - gave the kids baths, went to church, went for a walk, made dinner, and baked cookies. I had some very mild contractions during the day and just felt generally crampy and yicky. Then at about 8:15 PM as i was frosting said cookies the contractions started coming and they came on hard and fast. I knew this was the real thing. Nate continued getting the kids in bed and pretty soon i could tell that not only were we going to have the baby that night we were going to have another close call making it to the hospital in time. Our good neighbor came over quickly and we rushed off to the hospital.

"We made it to the hospital just fine (it is just a five minute straight shot from our house). I was starting to get the shakys and knew that i was ready to push. We put the nurses into quite a tizzy trying to get the doctor there and gather necessary supplies. Nate did his best to help me breath slowly but honestly there is only so much you can do at that point. It was a scene that would make any medical TV show proud. A few pushes and he was out. It was wonderful to hear him cry. The doctor came in a few minutes later to clean up the mess we had made. Who needs a doctor anyway. It was another wild but great experience that left me exhausted and happy."