The day Jacob was born.

Here is my last picture as a soon to be mom... 37 weeks!

Call me crazy, but I love a good birth story. Maybe it's because it is such a life changing day... whether it's the first child or the third child coming into the world, you know your life is about to change for the better in ways you could never guess. Each one of our children's birthdays are some of my most treasured memories.

Jacob decided to make his appearance 3 weeks early. His due date was 8-28-10, but I didn't think we'd make it that long. David was one week early and Jon was 2 weeks early, so I think it rather fitting that he came 3 weeks early! My ob, Dr. Markley, is amazing. She and her family are a huge part of our church and they are there every week, so when I saw her on Sunday the 8th, I told her about my contractions I'd had the night before... I almost called her because my contractions were about 10 minutes apart for 3 hours straight. Then they just went away. So, she said to let her know when I got to her office the following day for my regular weekly appointment. A lot went on during the morning of 8-9-10. They had me come in early, I was 3 cm, they monitored me, tried to send me home, she found out, told me to go home and eat lunch, then head to the hospital to be monitored by her. Therefore... I went home, ate a sandwich, threw the car seat base in the car, dropped the kids off at Eric and April's house until Mimi could get there, and headed to the hospital. By the time I was hooked up to monitors, I had progressed to 5 cm, so I was certainly staying to have a baby! Yay! Now, Trey and I were still a little shocked that it was actually going to be the day... but, we thought 8-9-10 would be such a cool birthdate. Ha, Jacob certainly had other plans!
I could sort of feel my contractions at this point, but nothing really painful. My nurse, Kelly, was incredible... she offered me the epidural within an hour or 2 of being at the hospital. I was never really in any pain. (By the way, Kelly and her family are now a part of Wellspring as well. They are a precious family and I'm so glad to mark J's bday as the beginning of a great friendship.) I got my epidural, they broke my water, and we waited. And waited, and waited. Dr. Markley started me on pitocin at around 10:00pm. I believe I was only at 7cm at that point... we were still holding out for 8-9-10 as his birthdate. But 12:00am came and went. I slept, my parents slept in the waiting area, and Trey tried to sleep in a chair. Finally at around 3:25 am I started to push. At 3:31am Jacob Daniel Kelly was born! He weighed 7lbs. 10ozs. He was 21 1/2 inches long. He looked EXACTLY like David! In fact, thats the first thing Trey said to me when he went to take pictures of him...




Jacob Daniel Kelly 7lbs. 10oz. of pure joy!

The best part about being in S.C. this time was that our parents were able to be there during the actual birth. My parents left work early the day I went into labor. They stayed until 4 or 5 am. It was really special to have them there this time!

Dee Dee and her 6th grandson.

He is such a great baby! He nursed right away, hardly cries, and is so happy. Truly a blessing! I'll blog about our hospital stay next... my favorite part of having a baby is the weeks following the big day :)!