The day you were born...

Just so I don't forget, I thought I'd jot down a few things about the day my kids were born...

Piper Jane- A good friend and I were planning on being in the hospital at the same time. You see... we were big American Idol fans and we wanted to have an AI watch party. The doc scheduled for her to have her wee one on Tuesday (28th) and she was going to induce me on Wednesday (29th). Well, you had other plans. I had a horrible sinus infection or strep throat or something yucky and felt awful so I had to call in sick to work on Monday. I began having pretty steady contractions that day but they were far apart. I took it easy because I was hoping to avoid going to the hospital so sick. Later that evening my contractions only got closer and closer together and I knew you were soon to arrive. Your daddy and I went to bed that night but I never went to sleep because I knew we'd have to leave soon for the hospital. Around midnight, I told daddy that I thought we should go ahead and call Grandmommy and ask her to come and watch the boys so we could go to the hospital (Your daddy was half asleep and said, "are you sure you can't wait?" - I forgave him). When we arrived, they said I had only dilated to a 1 and were going to keep me for a while to see if we would stay or not. We were pleasantly surprised that one of our good friends, Lisa, was on duty that night and was our nurse. We waited for a couple of hours and as the contractions got harder, I realized I was having back labor once again:(. I was in a lot of pain and you actually seemed to be having a little trouble. You were not moving as much as they would've liked so they moved us to a room. I couldn't get an epidural for a while because they were wanting to watch you a little closer. They did, however, give me demerol which helped me rest between contractions. The next time they checked, I had dilated to a 4. I finally got my epidural a little after 4:00 am. I was very, very thankful. I was still only dilated for a 4 a little before 7:00 am but soon after my water broke and I fully dilated within minutes. We had you at 7:19 that morning. We were sooo excited to see you. You were so precious and sweet. You barely made a sound the whole time we were in the hospital. Your brothers came to visit not long after you arrived and they loved you instantly. Andrew woke up before we left for the hospital because he was sick and as we were leaving he said, "Mom, will you call after you see Piper and tell me what she looks like:)". We were all excited about your arrival, it was a beautiful day! (Birth date - April 29, 2008, Due date - May 7, 2008)

Parker Isaac - My dear sweetie, you were the easiest delivery between the three of you. Since I had such a hard delivery with Andrew, the doc decided to induce so we knew your birthday would be February 17, 2005 (your due date was the 23rd). You were also our biggest baby 8 lb 13 oz. We also didn't find out if you were a boy or girl which was extra exciting! We got to the hospital early that morning to be induced and it all went pretty fast because I was already dilated to a 3. I only pushed for about 10 minutes and there you were. Poor daddy came close to passing out... he had to sit down for a while. He was really excited about having another boy. Andrew came to visit you and was super excited about getting a little brother and best friend. Andrew was kind of the reason you got the name Parker. He loved Spiderman and while your daddy and I were out watching Spiderman 2, I heard Spiderman's name Peter Parker and thought how fun would it be to name Andrew's little brother after Spiderman:). If you had been a girl, your name would've been Kori Grace.

Andrew Reagan - Your daddy and I were only married for 6 months when we became pregnant with you. You were an immediate blessing because I was told for years that I wouldn't be able to have children because of my endometriosis. Your due date was Sept 6, 2003 and you were born Sept 2. I was having contractions the day before, which happened to be labor day. We went to the hospital but they sent us home because they said it may have been false labor. They gave me a sleeping pill and said if I could sleep through the contractions then it was false labor. Well, there was no way I was sleeping through those contractions. It was horrible back labor. We didn't sleep at all that night and I was sooo exhausted and tired b/c I had taken a sleeping pill:(. We finally went back to the hospital at 4:00 that morning and I had dilated to a 4. I was able to get my epidural at about 6:00 that morning. I was so hungry! The nurses kept laughing because I kept telling them I needed to eat, my blood sugar was sooo bad. I was also very sick, I threw up over and over again:(. It was a really, really hard delivery. I pushed for a little over 2 hours and you were finally born a little after 11:00 am. You weighed 8lb and 10oz. The doc had told me he thought you'd be about 6.5 lbs or so... boy was he wrong. I had a long recovery ahead, too. I had a 4th degree episiotomy and had to stay in the hospital for 3 days, they actually wanted me to stay another day but we were eager to go home. I also cracked my tail bone from pushing so much. I was so proud of your daddy for not passing out. It was sooo fun to bring you home. It's also been sooo fun watching you become a big brother.