Jacoby Maxwell Dell Arrived!!!

He's here!!! We can hardly believe that he is here, healthy and we are so in love. Jacoby, or Coby for short, decided Tuesday the 13th was a good day to get the ball rolling. Contractions began around 3:30 p.m. and were about 10 minutes apart in my back. They weren't bad, so it took about four regularly spaced to convince me to really pay attention. I called my nurse and let her know, and she said I had two options: lay down and maybe they would stop (ha, ha) or go for a nice walk. So I called Mike, in tears, to let him know things were starting and then went for a big walk with my dad. By the time Mike got home contractions were regular at five minutes apart so he called the hospital and said we were coming.

Timing was perfect; we got there and got checked in. I was 4.5 dialated and the contractions were starting to pick up in intensisty. One of the doctors we had met on Mac 6 last year came in to talk to us and told us she was convincing the attending to keep us regardless of what this labor was producing. So with my dates in hand she went to get our birthday arranged, and she did! When she came back to tell us we both cried and she told us to stop because she was crying too. Then we got our first labor nurse, Leslie, who was incredible. She recognized how hard the loss of Max would be emotionally on the entire labor and delivery and did everything she could to help us through. She made sure when it was time for my epidural the best man for the job did it and promised he would do a good job - and he did. :)

Around midnight they checked me and decided to add pictocin to the mix. We were both able to rest for a while before we were checked again with little progress. So we napped for a while. I awoke with a start, a pop and a SPLASH around 2:30 a.m. My water BURST! I called my new nurse, Sarah, and she got the attending to check. Much to all of our shock, I was complete.....10 centimeters. Instead of having me push immediately, they told me we would wait until I could feel the urge to push. They sat me up and allowed me to labor down. I felt contractions and pressure, but nothing that reminded me of the intense pain from Nate or Max's delivery, so I kept waiting. Finally around 4:31 they decided it was time to push. I still did not have the intense pain from the contractions or rectal pressure, but pushed anyways. Progress was very fast and sixteen minutes later, Jacoby emerged into the world. He was plopped onto my chest, my dream since Nate's birth, and I got to see his dark, dark head ful of wavy hair, his ten perfect fingers and toes. I didn't feel any pain and I couldn't believe this was my birth story. It truly resembled something from TLC a Baby Story, and I honestly didn't belive those were possible. Jacoby weighed in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 18 inches long.

We are now the intensely proud parents of three beautiful angels. Two of those angels reside on earth with us to continue life's journey with all of its twists and turns. One of those angels is waiting for us when we are called to continue our journey in eternity. We truly believe he is here with us, watching and knowing our love for him equals that of the love we hold for our earth angels. He is one of the reasons little Jacoby is here in our arms. We hope you will enjoy these few first pictures, and thank you all for your support along this rocky journey.