Caleb Has Arrived!

It's been hectic and I have no time to update this blog.

Here is Caleb's birth story:

As the time grew closer to my due date (Nov 6), Richard and I agreed we didn't want Caleb to come on a Wednesday or Friday because those were the days Richard delivers in Chicago. Ideally we wanted him to arrive on a Sunday or Monday.
Thursday, Oct 27 I felt awful all day. My belly had a slight ache and I was exhausted. I laid on the couch for 3 hours that morning while Christian watched movies and played by himself. He was so good. I started feeling better in the afternoon.
That night I couldn't sleep. Richard got up at 10:30 pm for work. He debated going in but he couldn't call in unless I was actually in labor. And I was showing no signs of labor. I fell asleep at midnight only to be woken at 1 a.m. by Christian wetting the bed. I stripped the bed and put fresh sheets on and Christian and I went back to sleep. At 2 a.m., I thought I was peeing my pants. I remember thinking "oh great, now I'm wetting the bed too." Then I felt the gush and realized my water had broken! I jumped out of bed faster than I moved in months and waddled to the bathroom.
I then called Richard who had just gotten off the highway in Chicago. He promptly got back on the highway and headed North. I then called my parents who were hoping Caleb wouldn't arrive until Sunday at the earliest as they had things that needed to be done on Friday and Saturday. When I called, they raced down to Cedarburg as it was most likely my mom would take me to the hospital. I then called Molly & Ryan as Molly was planning on being in the delivery room. However we all figured Caleb would make his appearence after Oct 30th. I told Ryan not to let Molly leave as I'm sure she had not been sleeping long and I didn't want her to drive the 6 hours exhausted, especially with Maya. I also called the nurse hotline for the hospital. The nurse wanted me to come to the hospital right away. I explained I was alone with my 3 year old and waiting for my parents. She advised I might have to call 911 if the conractions became intense.
The wait began. I read my book and kept track of my contractions. Christian woke up at 3 a.m. and after explaining to him what was going on, he was too excited to sleep. So he kept me company while the contractions steadily intensified
My parents arrived shortly before 4 a.m.. Christian raced downstairs and exclaimed, "My baby brother comes out today!" My parents gathered my things and loaded me in the car. Christian turns to my dad and says, "Papa, are you excited?"
We got to the hospital at 4:15 a.m. We walked into the emergency room and they were waiting for me.
When we got to the labor & delivery room, I was 3 cm dilated. I told the nurse I wanted an epidural when the contractions reached a pain level of 7 (they were at a 4 at that point). By 5:45, the contractions were at a 7. Richard arrived at 6 a.m. At 6:15, I was dilated to 4 cm. The anesthesiologist was called. She came at 6:45 to start the epidural. The pain was a 10. The worst pain I had ever felt. As the anesthesiologist was putting the epidural in, I felt the need to push with every contraction. It was near impossible to keep still.

The nurse checked me as soon as the epidural was complete. A minute later, I was pushing.

Caleb was born 15 minutes and 9 pushes later. The epidural kicked in about 5 minutes after that!

Caleb Richard Nelson

7 lbs 3 oz

20.5 inches