I was awakened around midnight on the 23rd to contractions. They were pretty far apart at first, so I slept in-between them. Around 1am I got up and started walking the floors in our apartment. I'd sometimes sit on the toilet, too. After a while it felt like something was hanging down whenever I sat, so I woke up Lee. It was about 4am. We had my parents meet us at the hospital to take Alex, and then I went to check in. They wouldn't let me go up to labor and delivery myself, but I had to wait for a nurse with a wheel chair. I thought that was pretty dumb, and it took her forever to show up.

Finally at about 5am we got to the room. The nurse told me to put a gown on, and then she'd check me. I don't think she really thought I was in labor. I went to get the gown on in the bathroom when a super-strong contraction hit me. Lee had to finish getting me dressed, and paged the nurse. They helped me onto the bed, and she checked me.

"Your about 9cm dilated!!" she declared. She yelled down the hall to get the doctor, and then she turned to me,"Don't push!" right when she said that I felt the urge to push. I couldn't stop it as much as I couldn't stop a freight train! The poor nurse literally held the head in until the doctor showed up. The doctor arrived, broke my bag of waters, and with one push Caleb came flying out at 5:16am. It was wonderful! no I.V.s, no monitors, just all natural.

Caleb was 10 pounds 5ounces, 22 inches long, and the spitting image of his brother when he was a newborn. He had such a calm to him. He hardly ever cried and was just a content and happy baby.