Caleb's Quick Arrival!

There is nothing predictable about having a child. Though this is probably a truism, we were not at all prepared for what transpired in the wee hours of Sunday morning. For the past couple of days I had been having contractions, but they were irregular and, for the most part, weak. Of course the midwife said to wait to go to the hospital until they were 5-7 minutes apart. As Travis left for work Saturday night they were a bit stronger, but I decided to sleep through most of them, trusting that when we needed to go to the hospital I would know. I woke up around 2:30, but was still able to doze through most of them, so I held off on calling anyone until 4 am. I called Travis at work and told him that though they were 10 minutes apart, we might go to the hospital when he got off work at 7 since they were getting stronger and uncomfortable. He called me back 15 minutes later and said he would just come home now and we would all try and get some sleep "just in case". Thank God he came home when he did. Travis was home a little before 5, and since my contractions had stopped for 20 minutes, I figured we had plenty of time to rest.

However, at 5:30 I had a contraction that doubled me over in bed and I grabbed Travis' hand saying "maybe we should go now..." When it was over I decided to see how far apart the next one would be before I called the midwife to let her know I was coming in. The next was 7 minutes, but as I stood up to get the phone I doubled over, looked over at Travis and said, "You're not going to believe this, but I feel 'pushy'." I made my way to the bathroom, no later than 8 steps away, and felt a certain need to push. I tried to hold back, but my water broke as I told Travis, "The baby is coming now." He replied, "We have to go to the hospital." "No," I breathed, "I have to push now." He asked me what to do and I told him to call 911. As he did so he hopped around the bathroom on one foot, in a state of panic that actually had me smiling...or as close to smiling as I could be. He got on the line with the emergency responder at 6:00 and was giving them our address as our second son was born at 6:02.

It all happened VERY quickly and I soon was cuddling our new baby downstairs in the dining room as the fire truck and ambulance pulled in front of the house. At all of the commotion of people arriving at the house, Noah woke up, not upset, but delighted to have his own personal fire truck in his front yard. He didn't even notice the baby as he pointed out the window chattering happily, "fire, wee-ooo, fire truck." Of course as I climbed up on the gurney and was taken to the ambulance, he became upset, but Travis, in a moment of inspiration, grabbed him a doughnut, which Noah found just as exciting as the fire truck.

So, Caleb Adam Samuelson dropped into our world amid very unexpected circumstances. He is 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 18 and a half inches. Big brother Noah is still uncertain as to what is all going on, but I am sure when we return home tomorrow with the new baby there will be some surprise at how everyone's lives will be changing. We will be home as of Tuesday afternoon and we would welcome people to stop by the house for a visit in the afternoons over the next week or so between 2:30 and 6:30. You can also give us a call or an email if you would like to visit at any time. We can't wait to share our joy and excitement with friends and family!