November 4-10 (40 weeks)
11/4 Sun- 2 mile trail walk
11/5 Mon - 2 mile trail walk
11/6 Tue - Baby arrives! 10:02 p.m.














11/7 Wed - Toronto Hospital
11/8 Thu - Baby comes home!
11/9 Fri - Baby's first outing
11/10 Sat -Muskoka day trip with Sister Tami

The Baby Boy Arrival Story:

Woke up Thursday morning after a few days of increased regular braxton hicks contractions which increased my hopes that maybe it was getting close! I was starting to think baby was never going to make his appearance. Woke up Tuesday morning with regular contractions about 8 minutes apart. Woke up the hubby and my sister Tami who had arrived the night before from California and told him I thought it might be the real deal and that it was time to make the journey to Toronto. We were in the car on the hwy withing 20 minutes. I think he realized it was really getting serious when I told him "No, we didn't have time for Tim Hortons (coffee) stop on the way." Wouldn't you know we ran into morning rush hour traffic (at 9:00 a.m.!) heading to the city!! By now about 10 minutes into our hour long drive the contractions were getting closer - 6 minutes apart and starting to get uncomfortable. We were all silently starting to panic!

As we approached toronto, inching our way (painfully) through rush hour traffic, the contractions kept getting closer together, we were starting to think we might realize every pregnant woman's worse fear was about to happen....a vehicle birth! I tried to remain calm while hubby veered between lanes and took the shoulder of the hwy when available. It was getting hairy! By now contractions were about 4 minues apart. As we approached the city we were all in a state of panic as traffic was pretty standstill. We passed a police cruiser and hubby flipped a quick uturn, pulled over and waved him down. He was thrilled to see it was an old police buddy of his (how perfect!) Jamie quickly explained the situation "my wife's in labor and we have to get downtown to the hospital now" and minutes later we were in a full speed police escort (yes, lights and siren action) all the rest of the way to the hospital. I had to laugh (through the labor pains) at the comedy of it all. Who would have thought this story would end up this way - it was just like in the movies.

Minutes later we arrived at our hospital and made our way to labor and delivery. As soon as I checked in with triage and lay down, the contractions slowed down in frequency. I was convinced this day would end in yet another false labor and that the baby was just never coming! Luckily triage nurses confirmed I was indeed in labor and wanted me to walk around for a while to see if I could get contractions to pick up progress again. They told me, unless I was in a lot of pain, to go walking and check back in a few hours. What they didn't realize is that me and the baby had not only been walking, but running for the last 9 months and I wasn't convinced that this was going to change anything as far as progressing labor. After walking countless laps of the labor & delivery floor, we checked back in with triage. I was still having contractions, but they were only about 5 minutes apart still. I was convinced they were not going to admit us, but send us home. We were waiting in one of the triage exam rooms for the next exam when all of a sudden I felt a pop and a warm gush. I shouted to hubby to go get the nurse because my water had broken. By the look on our faces when the nurse walked in a confirmed my suspicion, you'd have think we had won the lottery! We were so excited since we realized that yes, we would be having a baby soon. (Ok - back to just like in the movies.) Of course immediately after the water broke I was back in intense labor with the contractions coming on stronger and longer by the minute...and I realized "oh my goodness, I am going to have a baby now". My smile was gone in minutes as the real painful contractions kicked in and realization of what I was about to do. Things moved right along and the pace definitely picked up. By 9:00 p.m. the doc announced it was time to push when I was ready, and 5-6 contractions or about 16 minutes later, baby boy finally made his appearance! Overall the whole labor process went perfectly, no complications or problems with mom or baby. Baby weighed 8 pounds and was born with more than a full head of hair! Wow! He is the love of our lives. We spent tuesday night & wednesday in the hospital and were thrilled to be released to come home yesterday.

More photos & videos coming soon!