Samuel Rowland McLaughlin, III

Well he is finally here! Many of you have asked, so here are the details...


Wednesday morning I began feeling contractions and called my doctor. She explained to me how things would progress and that I just needed to wait it out until they became stronger. I began timing them around 10am and they came regularly for about 2 hours but I really wasn't in any pain. At 1pm, Sam and I went to the hospital so they could monitor my contractions to see how far along I really was. In an hour I was sent home because they believed the contractions needed to be stronger. Sam and I left, got a bite to eat for lunch, and stopped in the grocery store to pick up a few things. We got home and no more than an hour later, the contractions were coming extremely strong. I called my doctor's office again, and this time I got my favorite doctor on the phone. I was hoping all along that he would be on call when I actually did go into labor. At this point, the pain level was bearable for the most part, but I knew it wouldn't be for long. He asked me to come into the office to get checked out, but that he wasn't sure if I was in true labor. (He later told me at the hospital that he knew for sure that I was in true active labor over the phone but didn't want to frighten me) Sam came to the house to get me and off we went. It only takes 5 minutes to get from our house to the doctor's office, but on the way, I was beginning to feel quite a bit of pain. I had a few silent tears but really tried to be tough. I was just hoping inside that I was really in labor and wouldn't be sent home this time. When I got to the doctor's office I was immediately checked out, and sure enough, I was 6 cm dilated. My doctor was really sort of upset that the hospital sent me home to begin with. Apparently, I was most likely far enough along the first time to go ahead and have an epidural. Oh well. My doctor told me- "Do not stop, do not pass go, go straight to the hospital, now. Do not worry about your bags." It was about 4pm by this time so Sam and I went straight to the hospital and got checked in. It was just he and I at this point but both of our mothers were on airplanes headed our way. It took a little while to get everything together at the hospital. They had to hook me up on monitors and IVs as well as order the epidural (have to have that). By the time all of that was done, it was about 6:30 pm and I was feeling pretty good with the medications. My doctor checked me and I was 8 cm dilated. He said he would be back again at 8:30. By the time 8:15 rolled around, I felt the epidural wearing off. Sam was such a good sport with me. He sat right beside me, held my hand, and watched the monitor for me. He let me know when the contractions were peaking and when they were coming down. He stayed very calm and that helped me to stay calm. I have to say, for first timers, all alone, I think we did pretty well, considering we had no idea what we were doing. :) At 8:30 the doctor came back to check me and I was ready to go. He said he wanted to wait until 9pm to give the baby a chance to progress as much as possible to make it easier on me. By 8:45, I was getting uncomfortable so Sam and I prayed together that God would bring us a healthy baby, that I could be strong throughout the delivery, and that it would progress as quickly as possible. At 9pm the doctor was back. He took a few minutes to give me lessons on what was going to happen and how, and by 9:05 or so we began. It did not take long. At 9:18pm we were holding our beautiful, healthy, baby boy. All of our prayers had been answered. All I can say is, wow, what an experience. For two people who "thought" we did not want children...well, we were wrong. We love him more than anything in the world! Sam and I spent 2 nights in the hospital and were cleared to come home Halloween evening. We were SO glad to get home. Our parents have been in town with us for about 2 weeks and the help and support has been really nice. Sam's mom has especially helped me to catch up on some much needed sleep.



We have a good baby boy. He is very healthy and strong. He sleeps and eats a lot, but I think he may have his days and night mixed up right now. We are working on that. He holds his head up, rolls over to his sides, and one night I found him rolled over on his stomach. He has not done it since, so maybe he will forget about that for a while...it gave me a pretty good scare. He likes to help me hold his bottle too. He has a very strong grip and loves to make noises when he's awake. He also loves to rub his face against mine. He opens his mouth wide and tries to kiss me back. All of this is what has made the last nine months worth it. After all was said and done at the hospital (and nothing was as bad as I expected), my doctor asked me if I had changed my mind about baby # 2. Definitely not! :) I love this little one with all of my heart, but I think this is it for us. However, we also said we weren't having children, so we'll see what God has in store for us. It's all in His hands in the end anyway.

Sam has been AWESOME throughout all of this. From the morning sickness to the very end, he has been right by my side and helped me every step of the way, good and bad. He is such a great Dad.