Our newest family member finally arrived this last Tuesday, September 20th at 9:33 am. We are so grateful he finally decided to come (6 days late!) and are so thankful for a relatively seamless labor and delivery. One of my big worries was that he would come so quickly, that there would be no time for an epidural or even worse, that there would a delivery in the car! :) Thankfully, I woke up to contractions at about 3 in the morning and by 4 am we were on our way to the hospital, thanks to a quick early morning response from Daniel's mom to come watch our kids.
We arrived at the hospital and they found me to be dilated to a "4". They called for the anesthesiologist right away, and he responded so quickly that he had to wait in the doorway while the nurse finished with my IV. It was so nice to have my epidural so early on (the last two I have been in soo much pain before getting it) and Daniel and I were both able to sleep for about an hour and we essentially waited for my doctor to get to the hospital. By about 9:15 I was pushing, and ten minutes later, our little Joseph was born. He was positioned posterior, but was able to turn and finally exit.
We arrived at the hospital and they found me to be dilated to a "4". They called for the anesthesiologist right away, and he responded so quickly that he had to wait in the doorway while the nurse finished with my IV. It was so nice to have my epidural so early on (the last two I have been in soo much pain before getting it) and Daniel and I were both able to sleep for about an hour and we essentially waited for my doctor to get to the hospital. By about 9:15 I was pushing, and ten minutes later, our little Joseph was born. He was positioned posterior, but was able to turn and finally exit.
An interesting aside, the next day I had been scheduled for an induction, and the doctor was planning on breaking my water to induce labor. I had resisted being induced, and had cancelled an earlier induction date, but had relented when I was getting to be so overdue. As the doctor examined the placenta and everything, she showed me how the umbilical cord had been more or less enmeshed with the membrane lining (the bag of water lining). She commented on how it may have created stress for the baby if she would have broken my water and then proceeded to have several hours of labor, possibly compromising the umbilical cord and blood supply to the baby during labor. I thought that was so interesting and I was so grateful that he had been born without that having to happen.
He was born healthy and calmly, weighing 8 lbs. 2 ozs. and 20-1/2 inches long. We were immediately taken with his newness and perfection and so grateful to finally be able to hold him. We feel blessed to have him in our family and can't express how much we love him. After some deliberation :) we named him Joseph Keith Marriott. Joseph for several reasons, it being Daniel's preferred name over the last few years and few boys :) and Keith for my wonderful father. Now for the pictures...
Holding the new new baby Joseph 
Right after he was born, we saw a lot of similarities to Grant and James
Proud daddy and great labor supporter, go Daniel! 
The boys check out their new brother
Proud big brother George
Tender big brother Grant
Joyful new big brother James 
The prize for 9-months of mom's suffering 
Peaceful, sweet perfect Joseph 
Now we're seeing a bit more George in him, but really just a perfect Joseph :)We're so grateful for all the love and support we have felt from our family, friends and neighbors. Thank you for helping this experience be such a wonderful one and we're so grateful to share our lives with yours. We're keeping our fingers crossed that some long stretches of sleep are coming our way one day soon, but for now we're deliriously sleep deprived and in love with our newest little son.
