Better Late Than Never: Gabriel's Birth

As you all know, Gabriel is our fourth child. And he is the first one to ever arrive late. However, every physiological indicator* led us to believe he would actually come early - teasing us. Laura's OB was surprised too (it wasn't just the impatient parents). My boss sent me home early on Friday (nearly a week prior to the birth) to keep Laura company. I believe everyday we thought 'this was the day' based on Laura having contractions for more than an hour 5-7 minutes apart. That sometimes happened more than once during the day and would have initiated a call, yanking me out of work. So, I'm glad I was home. Of course, each time, the contractions would fade, and she never ended up in 'active' labor.

We scheduled an induction for Thursday morning, and called the hospital, but they were too busy to let us in. We finally had one of those sequences of contractions again that allowed us to get admitted to the hospital (though I'm not sure Laura was actively in labor). We walked into the hospital around 3:30pm. We sat being 'observed' for just over two hours. Some progress was actually made, but not much. They started Laura on pitocin at 7:30pm to move things along. Nurses and the doctors were all saying she wasn't going to have the baby until midnight.

Laura believed them. I kept insisting that once things get going, they get going fast, but no one thought it was important to check Laura's progression. Laura thought I should go out and get a bit to eat before local places close, etc... I was very reluctant, but finally was convinced to get something around 8:20pm.

Thanks to Google Voice, our text messages just after ordering some food are recorded. Here they are below:

See the times? Needless to say, it was close. I walked into the hospital room at 8:48pm. Laura gave birth to Gabriel at 8:53pm. Yes - things move fast with Laura and her babies. Since I was able to get some food while out, Laura was able to enjoy a strawberry milkshake right after delivery. A needed refreshment!

Mom & baby were and continue to be happy and healthy. We're grateful to welcome this new little human into our lives and are excited to get to know Gabriel for the rest of our lives.

Enjoy some pictures of our new boy: