Introducing Andrew Nicholas Onken

Early Friday morning, October 3rd, Jamie woke up with small contractions at about 4:30 am that nonetheless kept her from sleeping. The whole day we spent walking, timing contractions, and breathing (plus a stop at Cheesecake Factory for some Buffalo Blasts). By roughly 5 am on Saturday the contractions had become 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart, so we packed up the car and headed over to the hospital. There we found that Jamie was not dilated at all and we were therefore sent back home. It was a somber 6 minute car ride.

The rest of Saturday was spent waiting for the contractions to become longer in duration and perhaps less spaced out. In addition to our lack of sleep it soon became apparent that Jamie was having some intense back labor, which increased our anxiety. It wasn't until 10 pm Saturday night that we decided to head back into the hospital. A quick check showed that Jamie had dilated to 4.5 cm, and we were admitted. By this time the pain in Jamie's back had become unbearable and an epidural helped ease that. It turns out that Jamie is a natural pusher and was able to give very productive pushes despite not being able to feel a thing. Her spirits remained high throughout the entire process and she even cracked off a few jokes in between pushes. Accompanied by both grandmas and Jamie's sister Lindsey, Jamie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at 7:36 am Sunday morning, October 5th. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. And we're still deciding who he looks like.