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Here's our little boy. =) (birth story too!)
His name is John Samuel IV. Since my actual labor was kind of short, I'll try to keep the birth story short as well. 
The contractions actually began on Thursday but at that time, I didn't know for sure that they were and a part of me was also in denial that I was going to have the baby that weekend. At my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, I was still at 1 cm and the baby was still high up in my pelvis so I didn't think there was a chance I'd deliver early. Plus, we still had soooo much to do at home to prepare for the baby that we were hoping he'd actually be a little late!
The contractions started coming regularly early early Saturday morning from around 3 a.m. I wasn't able to get much sleep because every 10-15 minutes or so, strong cramping in my lower pelvis and back pain would wake me up. I let John know and we decided that he'd spend the morning running errands and getting some last minute things for the hospital stay and baby.
We ended up going to the hospital at around 9:30 p.m. When we left the house, my contractions were still about 7 minutes apart but they were getting pretty painful and I didn't want to wait until they were 5 minutes apart because I wanted the epidural as soon as I got to the hospital. 
The walk from the car to the labor ward must have done something to speed up my labor because when I was admitted, I was at 3 cm and having contractions every 2-3 minutes.
I got the epidural at around 11:30 but I had a patchy one and could still feel pain on my right side. I was given another dose, which lowered my blood pressure and slowed down the baby's heartbeat. It was scary to see the baby's heartbeat dip on the monitor and at that moment, I started to think that maybe I had made the wrong and selfish choice to get the epidural and if something happened to the baby because of it, I would never be able to forgive myself. But after being given another medication to help raise my blood pressure and putting on an oxygen mask, things went back to normal. My legs were numb but I could still wiggle my toes and move my feet around. All the pain was gone, hallelujah!!!
After the epidural was in, I was checked again and was only at 4 cm. I was afraid that the epidural would slow down my labor but another check about an hour later and I was between 7-8! My water still hadn't broken but the doctor said that it was 'bulging'. At around 2:15, the doctor broke my water so that she could get a better feel of how much I was really dilated. 9 cm. At that point, John left the room to make a few phone calls to tell family that the baby would be born within the next few hours. When the doctor came back at around 3:00 to check me again, John still wasn't back but I was already fully dilated and the baby was at +2 station and ready to go. John came back to a room full of doctors and nurses getting ready to deliver the baby and was shocked that everything was happening so quickly.
Because of the epidural, I had no sensation at all down there so when the doctor asked if I had any urge to push, I said no. The plan was to let the contractions do some of the work to naturally push the baby out but they asked me to try to push, just to see if I could. Without being able to feel anything, I tried and heard the doctor said, "Wow, there's the head!"
Less than half an hour and 5 contractions later, little John was born at 3:42 a.m. I never imagined that it would happen that quickly!
As for the recovery, both little John and I are doing well. I had a 2nd degree tear but it's not bothering me anymore. Breastfeeding is going well considering it looks like he might be a little tongue-tied. When we took little John for his follow up appointment the day after we left the hospital, he had already put back some weight that he had lost since birth.
Oh, and we've been 'showered' on multiple times. Twice while we were still staying in the hospital and another handful of times since we've been home. Ah, the joy of taking care of baby boys. We're starting to get better at blocking him so hopefully we'll have less of these showers in the future.
I really feel like I was blessed with a very easy pregnancy, a quick and pain-free delivery (thank you epidural doctor!), and a quick and easy recovery. I'm just thankful that everything has gone smoothly so far.
We're in love with our baby boy and can't wait for each new day with him!
Re: Here's our little boy. =) (birth story too!)
I will have to tell my husband specifically NOT to do this, lol! He's actually been the one to step up and take responsibility for diaper duty when he's home so he's been the poor victim of all the sprays. And why is it that it always seems to happen at 3 a.m. when you're only half awake and not totally coordinated?
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Aw, cute little boy! Great birth story, too. =D
I hear ya about the showers -- Adrian peed on me right when he came out, which was confirmation that we had indeed had a boy. And today when we were doing a photo shoot, I got pooped on, too. Note to self: farting sounds and scrunched up red faces are warning signs to take cover. Fun times!
I think I've figured out his poop face already. He gets quiet and sort of scrunches up his forehead and looks like he's trying to some sort of complicated problem. It cracks me up! But the telltale sign is the noise... You can hear him when he poos! John got a scare this morning when he had him on his chest. He thought the baby was spitting up or something.
congrats again
love the screaming photo, great action shot 
i am sure that you both will take some awesome pics of him growing up! as an aside, i am super jealous of your labor!
oh and i miss the poo face!!! i loved it when miss A used to make the poo face
but yeah, she still makes a lot of noise when she poops since they're so explosive!!
have you seen the pee pee tee pees? LOL i am sure a small cloth wipe would work too
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Oh yeah, the noises... A lets loose the hugest explosions, but then we check him and the teeniest bit of poop came out. At least they announce when they need changing!
Congratulations, Mama! He sounds like a perfect baby.
I laugh about you wanting to get to the hospital to get the epidural started. I wanted to marry my anesthesiologist. I felt no pain there. Once she was delivered, I got up and took a shower. How amazing that he could numb one spot! If ever something could be considered a greater miracle than birth, it would be the genius who came up with the epidural).
I am glad that everything went so well for you and Lil John. Congratulations!
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LOL...Libby's done this too...not so much a spray as a gush!
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Lol yeah, Samara makes this 'splooooogy whooshy' noise when she poos too. It's like a bum hurricane whizzing through diaper-city.
Bah! I got so caughty up in the bum hurricane I forgot the real reason why I was posting...
CONGRATS Lisa and John, he's divine! I'm so glad you had a smooth delivery!
congrats again! He's soooo cute.
I feel bad talking about dirty diapers in the same post - haha.
I keep a cloth diaper close by to help with "showers" but he really doesn't let loose that often- I wonder how those tee pees could possibly work - Jack wiggles sooooo much a cloth diaper won't even stay in place. I guess they are for protection when he does start to pee? And if that is the case I would probably rather have something bigger handy to protect my hand, haha. My mom and sister are waiting for the day he gets me.
He does pee in the shower a lot, and he has peed on himself - he got his own face and it was soo funny - he looked around like, oh no what was that? haha. I give him naked time while I am getting ready. Our bathroom floors are heated so I just set him on a towel and he goes nuts and does occasionally pee but I figure if it's going to happen, it may as well be in the tiled bathroom for easy clean up.
You guys will think I'm crazy but often I know when he's going to poo so if we are home and I think I have time I can "catch" them in the toilet. We don't practice elimination communication (super early potty training) but if we are hanging out in my room close to the bathroom and I know it's going to happen I do set him over the toilet. I have no idea when he's about to pee so I wouldn't be able to catch his pees even if I wanted to.
Hey Lisa!
Love hearing the details of your birth story. Glad to hear that everything went smoothly and you were pain-free for the most part! Congrats to you and John! Can't wait to see more pics of your little monkey.
When you mentioned about the spraying, I thought about those pee pee tee pees. Hehehe and I found this...how appropriate would this be for your LO?
http://www.bebabean.com/product/pptp/monkey.aspx
Too bad they're out of stock. I would love to send some to you!
Congrats, Lisa. He's a cutie. Even though he looks so angry in that second picture. :-)
ah, yes, don't you love the showers?
We use a tissue to cover him up while we're changing his diaper. We did get one of those WeeBlocks, but it was too big and would get dirty automatically if it was a poo diaper.
Anyway, congrats on your little guy!
I haven't seen this before. That is hilarious that they have such a thing.