Liam David Gregory Samples

Our precious baby boy has finally arrived!!! He is named for Brian's dad David and my dad Greg, and we added the Liam so he would have a special name all his own. It's the Irish form of William, so that reflects some of his heritage as well. Here are some pictures!!!

Naked baby!!

Daddy's boy...

For those of you who have not heard it, here's the story of little Liam's birth:

As I mentioned above, I went in for my labor to be induced on Thursday. I began the Pitocin (the medication that starts contractions) at around 6:30 a.m. By lunch time the contractions were getting pretty intense and I requested just a little pain medication in my IV, which would be safe for the baby, last about 2 hours, and help me wait a little longer before receiving an epidural. I had planned on the epidural because typically induced labor is much more intense because of the medication. At around 1 p.m. I requested to get started on the epidural. I had to be given IV fluids for 30 minutes before the injection could be done, and my nurse instructed all of the family that it would be about 4-5 hours longer before I gave birth and told them all to go get some lunch, including Brian. I lay in bed waiting for the anesthesiologist to arrive, and things suddenly began to get very VERY intense. My pain medication from earlier had completely worn off. I was in some pretty fierce pain, and I realized that I was actually falling completely asleep between contractions, which is actually a sign of the transition phase of labor. My nurse came into the room to tell me that the anesthesiologist would be there very soon, took one look at me, and decided immediately to check my progress. I got out the words, "I need to.." and she said, "Push? Oh!!" While she was checking me, thank goodness Brian came back in, because I had progressed from 4.5 cm to 9 cm dilated in 45 minutes. Almost immediately I was at 10 cm and the nurse told me that an epidural would be pointless because I was ready to deliver the baby right then. With Brian and the nurse at my side, I pushed for just about an hour and our beautiful son was born!! My doctor helped just a little with the vacuum, which I had been completely against beforehand. My the time she suggested this however I was getting exhausted and was happy for the assistance once she assured me that it would not harm Liam at all. He turned out to weigh 6 pounds and 10 ounces, which is much less than we all expected, including my doctor. But thank goodness for that, because I cannot imagine giving birth to an 8 or 9 pound baby with no pain medication whatsoever!!! I'm still shocked at how quickly everything happened and how it all turned out, but very thankful too. He's healthy and that's what matters most!! I honestly am glad that labor did not take hours and hours, and I think I'd do it all again without the medication (except for the transition phase which was so tough). I have been warned as well that with our next baby I had better get to the hospital immediately or I might not make it in time!

I get to go home in the morning and then life with our baby begins in earnest. I'm looking forward to being back in comfortable surroundings but just a little nervous about having this tiny little thing to care for all on our own.

Thanks to all of my dear friends and family for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. It's great to know that Liam is surrounded by people who care for him so much!!!

Love to you all..time to go feed my baby!!

Lindsay