Play by play of Calvin's arrival ... "sumo baby" lived up to his name

A whopping 9 lb 13 oz and 21 inches long! Born Fri Oct 16th @ 8:48pm.

When I woke up Friday morning, I wasn't sure if these cramping pains were contractions, or just gas, lol! Around 9am, I thought I should maybe contact Nate at school and just give him a heads up, it could be today. I had been to my Dr the previous day and they said I was 3cm and 80% and that the baby looked like he was still big, and had gained 3 oz from last sono, so he was expected to be 9lb3oz at that time. Dr Apgar said, i'll give you a 50% chance you are still pregnant next week ... guess he was being a little conservative on his estimate :). I end up calling the clinic and they said to come in to get checked out. Dad stayed with the kids, I took everything with me "just in case", picked up Nate and headed to the clinic around 10:30am.

At the clinic they monitored contractions, which were definitely happening, and he said if I was 4cm that he would admit me - I was. Before I got admitted, we ran across the street to Smoothie King - I hadn't eaten anything and knew once we got to the hospital that all I would be able to have was ice chips and popsicles at best. (SO glad we did that!). We got checked in @ 12:45ish. I was Group Strep B positive, so they wanted to make sure I got 2 doses of antibiotics prior to baby coming. So they took it slow, and didn't try to help anything out until that was done. I got an epidural around 5:30, at 6pm they broke my water. 7:15pm I was 5cm. While we were waiting, Nate got on Skype with Dave & Janie (two of our closest friends in MN). It was hilarious to be talking to them while I am in labor. Then Dr Tran came in at 8pm and checked me (Dave & Janie still on the computer with Nate) and she says "your at 10!" So we got off the computer and got ready to push.

The complete amount of time I had to push was only about 20 mins, his head came down very fast, barely had to even push to get him there. But he had "Shoulder Dystocia", which meant both shoulders were pinned in my pelvis. His heart rate slowed and before I knew it there were 8 or 9 other people in the room and there were 3 nurses standing on chairs next to me, pressing their fists into my abdomen as

hard as they could to dislodge this little pork-chop and get him out. As soon as they did, they took him to the table and immediately began trying to get him
to breathe. It took about 4 minutes for him to finally cry - THE most wonderful sound I had heard in my life! After 30 mins of tests, I finally got to hold my new baby boy - he was so purple and puffy from coming down so quickly, but he was still perfect.