Austin James

As the first winter blitz of the season unloaded upon us without mercy, so too did the ever increasing birth pains of labor. We crawled on the snow and ice-packed roads of Edmond and onto the freeway toward the hospital. The wind and snow made for low visibility while the ice taunted our tires.

We arrived at the hospital in time for the storm to grow even larger where it appeared to be a virtual tornado of snow, giving everything around it a thrashing and a nice shiny coat of ice. But we were here, safe and growing closer to what lay ahead.

The diagnosis was 5 centimeters upon arrival. About 45 minutes later, 7 centimeters. And as much as I'd like to say that dialation progressed in such a manner from that point on . . . I cannot. Seven centimeters was not the lucky number we would have liked to have been. Instead, it was a plateau or sorts. The steady un-anesthesized contractual endeavors (as I like to call them) grew in intensity and the dialation process seemed to be taking the night off.

Bring on the drogas! After 7 and a half painful hours of labor, we opted for an epidural. It was a valiant effort, but we could not do it any longer. And by "we" I mean, Heather couldn't deal witht the pain any longer and I could not watch her bear the pain any longer. After that, things were much calmer, as was the weather outside.

As the sun rose into the clear and calm morning sky, dialation was complete. We all moved into position and were ready to meet our boy. After a few quick maneuvers with the forceps and three easy pushes, the doctor pulled our son out and he was here. Another magical, emotional and absolute awesome experience. Words cannot describe.

Austin James weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. at 20 inches.

He is now home with us and we are adjusting to our new family. Madisyn is still "unsure" about the whole situation, testing us and her boundaries. She loves baby brother, but may feel a little left out despite our overwhelming her with love and attention. She will adjust.

Everyone is healthy and healing and God has blessed us once more by entrusting us with one of the greatest gifts he could. We are so thankful and excited to raise our now two beautiful children.