We had the baby!

Josh holding Jayden

Me and Jayden

Big sister wanting in on the baby action

Dr. Herman and baby

Our horrible attempt at a family picture at the hospital. It's a good thing that my folks were there and captured better ones that I can copy later!

The stork has arrived!! Late Sunday night I went into labor, so we hurried to the hospital thinking that we'd have only milliseconds before baby's arrival. I delivered the girls in record time so we figured that baby #3 would be no different. But we were wrong!! This little feller took nearly twice as long and lots of pitocin to come out. I guess it goes to show you that every pregnancy and delivery is different and that you really can't compare them.

Our good friend Rachelle came over and crashed on the futon to be with the girls so we could go to the hospital at 1:20 a.m. Talk about good friends who are willing to get out of bed and come over in the middle of the night!

By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were 3 minutes apart but then they gradually got further apart and less strong. I was so confused and a little frustrated. Josh and I got a couple hours of interrupted sleep before the doc came in around 8 a.m. to say that he'd break my waters around 10 a.m. and start an epidural at that point. (I gotta say, as frustrating as it was to have a labor that had been starting and stopping for days up 'til that point, it was really nice to be at the hospital with ample time for an epidural!!)

So that's what we did. He broke the waters and I got an epidural around 10. That still didn't get labor progressing very well so then they gave me some pitocin...and then some more pitocin...and then a little bit more. Hey, I didn't care, though! I wasn't feeling any of it!

Now this next part is the craziest thing of all. As a woman giving birth, I almost feel guilty for saying it. But after all that, I was so comfortable that I (and Josh over on the easy chair) actually nodded off for a quick nap! Yeah. I know. I'm serious. I NAPPED during the active and transition stages of my labor. I know. I know!! You can say it. I HATE YOU JOLIE.
Anyway, if you still like me at this point, read on...

Around 1:20 p.m. my doctor returned, checked me, and said, "You're ready to go!!" I could hardly believe him. I was fully dialated and efaced and I didn't even feel it. Man. Drugs are a gift from God above. Truly. Then he said, "Let's push this baby out!!"

At this point Josh woke up to a room full of people and the announcement that it was "go time". I pushed about 4 times and he was out!!!! When he came out we realized why the labor wasn't progressing very well. His position was posterior. In other words, he came out "sunny side up" instead of face down. So it's a great thing that I was all drugged up.

For about 8 months of the pregnancy we felt certain that we'd name this baby Jacob. But near the end we had a stupor of thought you could say and started thinking of other names. We really liked the name Jayden so we thought that we'd keep both names in mind when deciding what to name him. It still took us all day Monday to reach a verdict, but we decided that he seems more like a Jayden than a Jacob. He has lots of dark brown hair, long fingers, and is the spittin' image of Josh's dad!! He's healthy and beautiful, so we are filled with gratitude and love to add him to our family. We love you baby Jayden!!

Jayden Glen Ramsey
born Monday, Sept. 1, 2008
1:39 p.m.
7 lbs, 4 oz.
18.5 in.