The Story (Jeff's Version)

So, once again, my wife is amazing. At about midnight on the morning of the 8th, Emily woke up and told me she thought her water might have broken, but it was really slow, so she didn't know for sure. She was pretty casual about it - kind of a "maybe, maybe not" attitude - so I didn't see too much reason for alarm. I figured if contractions started she'd let me know and we'd head to the hospital. But nothing happend (neither of us slept well the rest of the night, but weren't terribly concerned either), so I got up at the usual time and headed to work with the plan that Emily would call the doctor when the office opened and see what the nurses said to do. Since we were planning to stay in Tillamook this time, we figured there wouldn't be a huge rush.

Around noon, I called to see how she was doing, and Emily had set up an appointment with the doctor for 3:25. The doctor was going to "try to squeeze her in" around then. So I left work a little before 3 to meet Emily and Daniel at the doctor's office. I really at this point figured I'd be back to work the next day. Em had seemed so unconcerned that I figured it was no big deal.

So the doctor came in to do some tests and check things out. The tests came back with around a 50/50 chance of a positive water breakage. So, she did a check and, surprise!, Emily was 5-6cm dilated! So we ran home to pack our stuff (we weren't very well prepared yet, since we thought we still had 2 1/2 weeks to go) and to drop off Daniel with our friends Jeph and Leanne. Then we headed back to check in at the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 5pm. Emily had begun having contractions a little after leaving the doctor's office, and we had to keep remind the nurses that she progresses very quickly last time. So we hung out in the hospital room, just waiting for things to happen, and steadily Emily's body just did it's thing. Emily had made the decision to do everything naturally, so the nurses just started an IV in here arm in case it would be needed.

By 8:45 or so, the doctor had arrived just in time for Emily to feel ready to start pushing. Remember with Daniel, Emily had to push maybe 3 times and he was out. So this time, when the doctor was super relaxed, I kept thinking "you better get ready lady, or you'll have to catch this baby in your street clothes." But things didn't happen quite as fast this time. After a few pushes it was clear that thing were moving well, but just not as fast as before. So we all kind of guessed at the baby's weight (we all thought about 7lbs, since he was pretty early). But Emily had to continue pushing for about 45 minutes (I know some people do this for hours, but it still felt like a long time comparative to the first one).

So at around 9:30pm Levi arrived! We were all surprised at his size (remember this is 2 1/2 weeks early, supposedly). 8lbs 9oz it turns out. No wonder Em had to push more! The doctor and nurses all concurred that Levi must be full term and the due date was off a little. And he is healthy as can be, all his digits, good color, and now 5 days later, eating like a champ!

We feel so blessed to have another beautiful, healthy boy. And I feel blessed to have a wonderful wife like Emily. I am proud and amazed by her. I love you, Em!