He is finally here! I can't believe it. It has been a very long couple of days but he made it safe and sound. Here is the run down of the past day or two. On Wednesday, April 15th we came to the hospital. We were originally scheduled to check in at 7:00 pm, but they called us and asked if we could come in later. So we came at 9:00 pm. They checked us in and had us fill out all the necessary paperwork. Finally, at around 10:30 they implanted the cervidel, which is supposed to help soften the cervix. Amanda was hooked up to all kinds of monitors for her and the baby, including a blood pressure cuff that checked her every half hour throughout the night, thus waking her up every half hour through the night. She probably wouldn't have slept well anyway because we were so excited and because she had contractions fairly often as well. I too did not sleep well, plus we really didn't get ready and go to bed until about 1:00 am. We both got up on April 16th expecting it to be the day that our precious little boy would be born. Our doctor came in and examined Amanda, to our surprise she was still only dilated to a 1. We knew we had a long way ahead of us. At about 8:45 he broke her water and they started her on pitocin to induce labor. About two hours later Amanda got an epidural, she was still only dilated to a 2. It was a very long day, Amanda's parents and my mom both came in to be with us. Things finally started picking up steam at around 8:00 pm. Amanda was progressing nicely, she had reached a 5+ and was already 90-100 effaced. Unfortunately, by about 9:30 or 10:00 the epidural wasn't really helping anymore. The doctor re-dosed her a couple of times and it took away a little bit of the pain, but she could still feel most of it. By around 10:45 Amanda was completely dilated and we were ready to start pushing. The doctors and nurses got prepped and we started pushing with her contractions at about 11:00 pm. Amanda and I both were kind of hoping that we could have him born on the 16th. Amanda did an amazing job, I was very proud of her. Unfortunately, Logan just wasn't coming out. Finally, at 11:45 pm the doctor decided that we would need to do a C-section because he was not fitting down the birth canal. By this point the epidural really wasn't helping at all and Amanda was in a lot of pain. I put on my little operating room suit that they gave me and we wheeled Amanda over to the OR. They gave her a spinal block and that really did the trick, at last she didn't have to suffer through the pain. Even with the C-section they had a hard time getting him out. His head was down where it was supposed to be, but he was just too big. The used a vacuum to help pull him out, but he has a ton of hair so the vacuum wasn't working very well. When they finally pulled him out they had to rush him off to another room because he didn't start breathing right away. They got him stabilized just fine and his color came in and everything was just great. They let me go see him while Amanda got sewn up. I couldn't believe my eyes, he was a perfect little boy. I touched his little feet and legs and then he peed on me. I was told by the nurses that him peeing on me was a good sign, I was just happy to have him here. He was born at 12:21 am, April 17th. We just barely overshot the due date (16th). He weighed 9 lbs. even and measured 22 inches long. After they got Amanda sewn up I got to take him in to show him off, and we wheeled her back to our room where she got to hold him for the first time. For those counting, it was roughly 16 hours of labor. Amanda was so wonderful, even when she was in pain she never yelled or got angry; she just bore through it all for little Logan. By the time that they moved us to a post pardum room and I watched Logan get his first bath it was about 3:30 am. We got a little sleep, but we still have a lot of catching up to do. Thankfully, Amanda has been able to rest a little bit today. She and Logan are both doing great. Thank you everyone for all your support! We love you all!
Now here's what you're all really here for, some pictures of our little boy:
Now here's what you're all really here for, some pictures of our little boy:
Amanda was happy this day was finally here.
Near the end the epidural wasn't quite working. Those contractions hurt!
We had to go into the OR for a C-section. I'm the one that looks like the Stay-puffed Marshmellow man.
This is the first time Amanda got to hold Logan.
The new grandparents are aww-struck.
Our new little family.
He's so cute!
Getting ready for the bath.
Nice and clean with a new hairdo.
Precious.
The nurse described them as "Fred Flintstone" feet.
Look at that hair!
I'm a dad. Wow!
Logan with Uncle Sam.
With Uncle Andy.
The new grandparents. They're determined to spoil him.
Logan with Great Grandpa and Grandma Bradshaw.
The nurse came in to check him and he was doing great.
Our good friends Tony and Natalie. I think they were just as excited as we were, if not more.
Logan will be good friends with their daughter Callie.
We're so happy to have such great friends.
Logan with "Uncle" Chris and "Uncle" Tony. 
I made the memo board and the curtains. :)
Switching back to our pregnancy, I passed my 8th month mark. Here's the belly shot!
Gotta love my posture right now. Shoulders hunched, butt poking out. It's no wonder my back hurts! The other night we decided to compare my belly to a basketball. I'd say it's pretty close (excuse the jammies and no makeup)!
Benj with his basketball belly. You ARE seeing part of the nursery by the way. More pictures to come!
