Happy Birthday, Mason!

Brace yourself, people - you're about to get A LOT of info and see A BUNCH of pictures (and by a bunch... I'm talking about 50+). I tried to reduce as much as I could, but I know that when I look back on this post in years to come I won't regret having this many pictures :)

I started having contractions on Friday morning and they continued throughout the day... but they were sporadic and not very intense. By bedtime on Friday night they were a little more intense, but I didn't think too much of it since my due date was still over a week away and I didn't think Mason would arrive that early on his own (plus, I was being induced on Monday and had big plans - like packing my bag and getting everything ready - for the weekend). By 4:00 a.m. on Saturday I was pretty uncomfortable, but tried to go back to sleep - thinking again that this was false labor. By 5:30 a.m. I called the doctor as the contractions were getting stronger and closer together and when my mom showed up at the house (to watch Luke) at around 6:00 I was attempting to walk Dave through my packing list while straightening my damp hair. hahaha

By the time we got in the car my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and SUPER strong. We got to the hospital around 6:30 and when they checked me I was about 4-5 cm dilated and almost 100% effaced. They immediately hooked me up to an IV (the WORST part of the whole process - they blew a vein and stuck me about 4 times before they could get it started) and gave me my first round of Penicillin (I had Group B Strep). Around 8:30 I got my epidural and was almost a 7 and then at 11:00 I got my second round of antibiotics, Dr. Sarah broke my water and I was ready to push.

This is THE WORST picture of me ever (hello, swelling!), but is the only picture we took before Mason's birth - no last belly picture (by the time I thought about it I was hooked up to everything and couldn't have stand if I wanted to), no pictures of hanging out before I started pushing, nothing - it was all pretty fast and I really wasn't thinking about taking pictures.

Dr. Sarah - this picture shows exactly why I was so excited about her being on call when I went into labor and pretty much captures the whole mood of the delivery room: My nurse, Sue (who happened to be Canadian and from the same part of Canada as my extended family)

If you're not into VERY NEWBORN pictures, then I'd skip the next few pics... 11:34 a.m. and Mason West McAnally is born!

He was pretty blue when he came out so I only got to hold him for a second or two before the nurse took him and started checking him out. They said that because my labor was really quick he didn't have a chance to get all of the fluid "squeezed out" of him (and he avoided the cone head)

Tiny hiney covered in all the "goo"

Crazy hair :)

Wide-eyed :)

I got to nurse Mason for a couple of minutes:

After he'd nursed for a few minutes it was time to meet some family:

Brothers meeting for the first time:

Sweet boys:

I love how Mason is checking Luke out:

MAson and Uncle Mark:

While they moved me to my regular room, Dave went with Mason to the nursery:

Very first bath:

When Mason got back from the nursery Jonathan, Tori, Lilly, Matthew and Stefan came by to see him:

Matthew and Stefan - meeting their new nephew and getting a sneak peek of their future :) (there's going to be ANOTHER McAnally boy in September!)

Uncle Stephen, his roomate Colton and Dave's cousin Caleb came by later:

Gibi and Luke came by after dinner to say goodnight:

Luke was telling Mason a story:

Luke loves it when we rub the bridge of his nose before he goes to sleep, so he decided to rub Mason's nose:

Sweet kisses:

Checking out Mason's feet:

Luke was SUPER excited that Luke was holding his hand:

It was a REALLY long day - but it ended perfectly :)