Announcing....(finally!)

Samuel Christian McDonald was born on June 1st after about 8 hours of labor. He weighed in at 9lbs 3 ozs and was 21 inches long.

He has blonde hair on top and darker hair in back. His eyes are BLUE like all the other kids.

Mommy and Daddy were very excited to have him here.

He loves to be swaddled and held tight.

So many people were there to welcome him into the world....

Now for the details: I checked into the hospital around 7:30a.m. After 4 attempts at trying to get an IV in me, pitocin was started. I made it about 3 hours (?) without having an epidural- and getting the epidural brought tears to my eyes and a few screams. (small ones...) Seems I always have trouble getting those. BUT, it is so worth it. Dialating progressed slowly until about the last 30 minutes. I didn't have to push too many times. A few of the times my doctor, Dr. Irion, had me laughing while trying to push so it took a bit longer. There was also a medical student there to assist the doctor.

My parents and Spence's mom were with Spence and me in the delivery room, as well as my friend Jen to take all the fabulous pictures. The other kids were out in the waiting room. They had spent most of the day there at the hospital, trying to be patient until Samuel was born. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. I truly couldn't relax much with my kids coming in and out. I kept worrying that they were being disruptive in the hospital.

I stayed two nights in the hospital. Claire was lucky enough to get to spend the last night with me. She fell asleep on the couch in my room so we just let her stay. She was quite excited when she woke up and discovered where she was. She was so anxious to get to take Samuel home and wanted to get him dressed right away. She was quite a big helper to me to get everything gathered up and packed and ready to go. She even straightened up the room and asked me where a broom was to clean the floor! She has remained a good helper with him at home and has mastered making his bottles and has even changed a few "wet" diapers. She has gotten a dose of true motherhood by being peed on a few times by little Sam. :-)