Samuel Warren

 "Hi, my name is Samuel Warren and I'm 2 weeks old.  I have two silly older brothers.  This is what it looks like when they look at me: 

 

Here is the story about me...

Mom went to the doctor on Monday February 14 for an ultrasound to find out how big I was.  The tech estimated that I was 7lbs 7oz.  At that point, because big brother Elliott was "stuck" coming out, Mommy's OB was worried I would be too big and have a shoulder dystocia issue, also.  This can result in permanent nerve and severe shoulder damage.  Mom, Dad and the doctor decided I would have to come out at 37 weeks +2 days on February 22.  They were either going to induce Mommy after having to do another "size" ultrasound and amnio to check for my lung maturity, or they were seriously considering a c-section for my safety if I was "big".  I decided they were nuts and I would pick my own birthday (hee hee).  

On Monday, at her appointment, Mommy was already dilated to 3cm.  She had contractions off and on starting the Friday before, and they continued sporadically all weekend, and all Monday and Tuesday.  Mom decided she couldn't teach preschool while having contractions, so she canceled classes another week ahead of schedule, and she and Daddy finished organizing a changing area and my clothes in my future bedroom.

Tuesday night, after my big brothers were happily tucked into bed, Mom's water broke.  It was 9:45pm.  Daddy and Mom waited just long enough for Mong to come be on kid duty and then took off to the hospital.  Evidently, it was a busy night in labor & delivery at Providence St. V's because we were stuck in triage for several hours before we were admitted to a room.  (They deliver 5000+ babies a year).  Mom never had any organized contractions, and we were still "stuck" at 3cm with no progress.  The nurses were kind enough to let Mom & Dad sleep all night and just came in to monitor my heart rate, Mom's temperature & blood pressure, and check on any contractions.  Regardless of the lack of contractions, there was no turning back.  

Wednesday morning, I was still cooking in Mom's tummy and showed no interest in coming out.  Mom was allowed to eat a real breakfast and then the nurses started a pitocin drip to try and get contractions started.  FWIW, two attempts were made to start an IV before the "IV expert" team was called.  3rd time's the charm??  Anyway, pitocin did not really work on Mommy.  Then at 6pm, Mom's OB came to visit.  She re-broke Mom's water and cleared out any possible membrane so my head could descend where it was supposed to.  They also used an "internal" contraction monitor to measure what was going on.  Evidently, that's all it took and I decided I wanted OUT.  Things picked up and Mom labored from 6pm until 10:26pm when I was born.  Thankfully, I was only 7lbs 5oz and 19.5 inches long, so there were no shoulder dystocia issues.  My OB had about 5 or 6 extra nurses on standby to help with my delivery, but Mom was able to get me out in 2 good pushes.  

So here I am!  I was born just one day after Pop's birthday, and just a few days after cousin Ginnie's and Aunt Amy's birthdays on Wednesday, February 16 at 10:26pm.  I was 7lbs 5oz (only 2 oz difference from my ultrasound size measurement) and 19.5 inches long.  I was born at 36 weeks 3 days gestation and was the longest "hard" labor Mom has had at 4 hours 26 minutes.  The best thing of all is that even though I am officially a preemie, I don't have any preemie issues and am perfect in every way. Did I mention how much my parents and especially my big brothers adore me??  I can't wait to grow and have more fun with them."

"Oh yeah- and at my 2 week checkup, I already weigh 7lbs 15oz!!"