HE'S HERE!!!

To our overwhelming joy, our son has arrived! Findley James Smedshammer was born nearly 3 weeks early on July 14th at 7:35PM. He was 6lb 12oz, 19inches long, and had a head size of 13.5 inches (ouch!) :) He has light brown hair (just a little bit of it) and big blue eyes. He has his daddy's nose and ears and his mommy's chin.

Findley James Smedshammer


I woke up at 2:30 AM on Tuesday morning with contractions. I started timing them at 4:15 when Dru got up - they were about 4-7 minutes apart. Because I had tested positive for Group B Strep (a benign bacterial infection for me but potentially very dangerous to our baby), I wanted to get to the hospital before my water broke in order to get IV antibiotics. So, we headed in around 6:30 AM. At that point my cervix was 4cm dilated and 90% effaced, and my contractions were irregular, so they had me walk around for 1.5 hours then re-checked me. I was now 5cm dilated, so they decided to admit me and start the first round of IV antibiotics. Here's a shot of me during the early contractions.

Early Contraction


My contractions continued to be irregular (every 4-10 minutes) but increasingly strong. I got my second round of IV antibiotics at 2:00PM after which I was 7cm dilated so my doctor (who happened to be on call that day and was there for the entire delivery!!) broke my water. Once that happened, my contractions were immediately fast, regular, and strong (every 1-2 minutes, lasting 1-2 minutes each). I labored in the bath tub for about 3 hours, which helped ease the pain a bit. Dru was amazing and was an incredible labor coach through the entire thing. Here's a shot of us in between contractions.

Between contractions


Around 6:15, my contractions were even stronger and right on top of each other - some overlapped even, which prevented me from getting a break between contractions. This is the lovely stage of labor called transition, when you feel like you're losing grip and get to the "I can't do this anymore" point. Dru and the nurse, Darci, who'd been with us the entire day and was absolutely fantastic, walked me through it and helped me breathe through the pain. At 6:30, I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. I can't describe to you how incredibly powerful the pushing sensation is - I was absolutely amazed at how STRONGLY I could push. I pushed for over just over an hour and at 7:35, Fin's head, shoulder, and then body slipped out. We had done it, and all without any pain medication at all!!! Fin was placed immediately on my chest so that we could bond. I had a postpartum hemorrhage which required immediate attention - they gave me an injection of a medicine to help my uterus contract strongly and my doctor had to massage my uterus HARD - it hurt almost worse than the pushing. Once the hemorraging was under control, my doctor then had to stitch me for an hour - I had a 2nd degree perineal tear. But in the next few pictures you can see why it was all worth it.

Immediately After Fin's birth - Our Family


A tired but overjoyed mommy






Our Little Family


After I was done getting stitched up, Fin breastfed for about 30 minutes. He had some trouble getting the hang of it, so we had to use a nipple shield, but he drank well. Then we enjoyed some time with dear friends of ours from church. Finally, around midnight, it was time for bed. Fin slept very well the first night - he only woke to feed once and had the whole breastfeeding thing down much better the second time around. We spent a relaxing day at the hospital, and rested in between our many visitors and well-wishers. Dru took a nap with Fin cuddled in his arms - I couldn't resist taking a few photos! Dru is brand new to this whole baby thing, but he's doing a great job. Yesterday, he received two lessons in diaper changing from the nurses - he conned the nurses into doing both the changes: "Could you show me just one more time?" But then, when we were alone, Fin made a loud, wet sound from the area of his diaper. Dru's immediate response was, "Oh no!" after which I couldn't stop laughing even though I was so sore. I wasn't much help, so Dru knew he was on his own - sure enough, he had to change Fin's poopy diaper all by himself, but he did it and did it well.







Today it was time to go home. Fin got circumcised this morning, which neither Dru nor I could bring ourselves to attend. But it went well and it's already healing nicely. Then it was time to get him in his little going-home outfit and into his carseat for the first time!

We're going home!




First time in the carseat




Leaving the hospital


We're Home!!!


We are now home and doing well. We all took a nap - Fin fell asleep in his new crib. We can't stop staring at him and marveling at the fact that he's ours. Every little sound he makes, every little twitch of his eybrow, every purse of his lips is amazing to us to behold. We are enamored and feel so blessed that God entrusted us with this little life.

Fin in his new crib