He's finally here!

It was quite the experience, but it was all worth it. It's actually a great story, so I'll tell the short story. We had been planning for a waterbirth, so for us to do that, Sam had to be at least 37 weeks along. So, as soon as 37 weeks came, we kept telling him that he could come any moment, and we'd be ready for him. There would be days where Sam would have Braxton-Hicks contractions for an hour to two hours at a time, but then they would always stop.

We hit 39 weeks and we found out that Sam's mom was sick and in the hospital, therefore we had to go to plan B. We had to start telling Amos that he had to stay in until Nana was out of the hospital. She was in there from Sunday night until Thursday night. So, Trisha picked her mom up in Bowling Green and got to Atlanta around 3:30pm on Friday afternoon. We had prayed and prayed that God would let Amos wait until her mom got here and now that she was here, we started praying that Amos would come anytime. Well, we visited a little that afternoon then got ready to go to dinner. For dinner that night we were going to a restaurant here in town that is known for their eggplant parmesean. Their eggplant parmesean is known for putting women into labor. The name is Scalini's and babies that are born within 48 hours of eating the eggplant parmesean and inducted into the "Eggplant Baby Club" (and mom and dad get a free dinner!!).

So, around 6:30 we got in the car to drive over there, and Sam had just started to feel some light contractions...but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Well, all during dinner she kept feeling contractions, but they were around 8-10 minutes apart and were feeling just a little bit different. While at the restaurant, I decided to call my parents just to tell them they might want to get things ready, because we might be calling them to come at any moment. Since they have a 10 drive ahead of them, they went ahead and started getting ready. On the way home from the restaurant, right before we got back to the apartment, that's when the harder contractions started. In fact one contraction came and Sam looked at me and said "I BETTER be in labor, because I cannot go through this again when it's the real thing!" So, we called my parents and they got in the car and headed over. Looks like God answered another prayer and 3 hours after her mom got there, labor started!!

We got back in the house and started timing all the contractions and they started around 8 minutes, and got down to about 5-6 minutes. We called our doula and let her know what was going on, and called the midwife too, so they could start planning. The contractions started getting stronger and stronger throughout the night. Our doula got here around 5:00am and helped Sam get super relaxed and walked her through every contraction. That's when I was able to get a little rest, because I knew that we had a LONG day ahead of us. Around 9:00am we decided to head to the hospital because the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart.

We thought for sure that since Sam had been in labor for 12 hours now and contractions 2-3 minutes apart, then it wouldn't be too much longer. We got there and the nurse checked her out and she was at 2 cm...but during the check, the nurse made it 4 cm. We couldn't believe it. We thought it would have been more than that. But we checked into the room and really got started. Sam labored ALL day and ALL night and around 8:00pm the midwife did a check and realized that his head was turned a little sideways and that was why he wasn't making the decent down. So, they got her out of the pool and broke her water and then the pushing started. That lasted around 2 1/2 hours and right before he came Sam got back in the pool and then he came out! That was an amazing experience. I got to catch him and was the first person to hold him. I handed him to Sam and then the bonding started. He came out wide awake and he just stared at us and we all stared back at him. It was crazy and surreal all at the same time. And I will go ahead and add that Sam is a superwoman because she labored 26 hours and gave birth without a single bit of medicine. Like I said...a superwoman!

Then we all got to celebrate. All the family came in and it was just a happy moment. Amos was 8lbs 10oz and 19 inches long and he was born at 10:35pm on July, 11th. He is such a good baby. He sleeps a lot and feeds great. We couldn't ask for a better little boy. Sam is obviously tired, but overall we are all doing great. Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts, well wishes, and your prayers. I will leave you with some pictures of the cute little guy. See you guys later.

This was the pool Amos made his debut in.

This is me catching Amos.

Our first moment as a new family.

I love the look on his face in this picture.

Wearing his first t-shirt.

I have arrived!

Ready to come home.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

I guess it's about time that we gave an update as to what's going on in our world. On this very day we are at 38 weeks and 3 days, so not too many left to go. We're definitely at that anxious state. We're ready to go at any moment with the bags packed and all, so I think that's why these last two weeks are creeping by. Plus everytime she has any cramps or contractions, I get excited that this might be the beginning...yet it never is...yet!!

But we three are all doing very well. We actually just recently bought a new home too. So, we have LOTS going on in the next couple of weeks. Amos is due on the 14th, our closing date is on the 17th, and we can move into the house on the 20th. Our lease at our apartment is up on the 31st, so we'll have about 11 days to slowly move everything in. With a new baby, I'm sure moving is going to be quite the hassle. But we've got lots of family and friends that are willing to help. We're excited to actually have a place of our own. We figured that now is the time to buy, so we did!

That's really all that I have to offer right now. But I did want to leave you guys with some pregnancy pictures that a friend took for us.

Hope all is well with all of you guys, and I'm sure that the next time you hear from me, we'll be holding our little guy in our arms. See you then!

Well, we're bucking the trend these days and we're having a little boy!! We're both very, very excited and now we can start shopping. Of course the tech told us not to take the price tags off anything, but looking at the ultrasound pictures...I'm convinced!

Here they are...

Here is his little boy thing, in between his little legs.


Here is a picture of the cutest little foot I've ever seen.


And this one is a little scary, but pretty cool. It's a profile of the front of his face. You can see his eyes, nose, and mouth perfectly.


Thanks everyone for all of your congrats, well wishes, and prayers.

I got this from Deborah. I haven't seen anyone do it before, so maybe I can be one of the first. Or I might end up being one of the only ones if it's kinda dumb, and if that's the case then you can blame it on Deborah.

Here goes...

If you want to play, go to Google and type in your first name and the word/phrase that I typed in ALL CAPS. Copy and paste the first sentence/phrase you get that makes sense.

Clay NEEDS Tea.- Yeah, to sell at work!

Clay LOOKS forward to the mystique of Monaco as he heads to Monte Carlo for the World Athletics Gala. - That should be a fun trip. I am a world known athlete.

Clay SAYS Sayanora to Broadway. - Why didn't any of you come to my broadway play? I'm very disappointed.

Clay WANTS Another Baby. - How about just start with one...in July. (by the way...this is the second one that has to do with Clay Aiken. I'm getting a little annoyed.)

Clay DOES actually cover the "nazi" angle in the book. - You can buy it on Amazon. I'm a world known athlete and author. I'm quite the Renaissance Man.

Clay HATES Gene Simmons. - That tongue is pretty scary, so I guess that's why I hate him.

Clay ASKS Chrissy to look up. - If any of you know Chrissy, make sure you tell her I said to "look up".

Clay FORGETS his fiance, Catherine Marlow, when he meets Madelaine Collins, beautiful daughter of a father whose political connections could be useful. - Please don't tell Sam I'm also an actor in a Soap Opera. She would be jealous.

Clay GOES off on CNN. - I'm sure they deserved it.

Clay LIKES 45 LEGO creations. - If you want, I'm name them for you....

Clay EATS too much candy but is looking forward to his training starting next week. - Oh so true!

Clay WEARS a fringed buckskin outfit. - Don't you all wish you could see me in that??

Clay WAS ARRESTED FOR his part in a drive-by shooting. - Don't mess with me!

I've heard it over and over again, that pregnent women have terrible memories. Well, I'm here to say that it's definitely true! Wow, I'm actually quite surprised at how true it is. Sam used to be able to juggle all kinds of things. Work stuff, family stuff, church stuff...everything and keep it all straight. Now, she's lucky to remember to put the orange juice back in the fridge...which leads me to my first example.

Yesterday I decided that I wanted something to drink. I got a glass out of the cabinet and proceeded to fill it up with ice. What do find? I find the orange juice just hanging out in the freezer. That's at the end of quite an extensive list of things she has forgotten.

A couple of weeks ago, we went on a trip to Bowling Green for a friend's baby shower. We got back late Sunday night, and on Monday, Sam called me and was almost in a panic because she had just remembered that she was supposed to teach Bible class the day before. She completely forgot.

Then Monday night, she was supposed to go to a women's Bible study at another ladies' house from church, who she told the night before that she would for sure be there. Yeah, she completely forgot!

Then the worst is Tuesday night. I made dinner because I was off all day. Sam got home around 7 that night and around 7:30 we sat down at the table to eat. While we were eating, my phone rang. I looked at it and it was a friend from church. I said "That's weird, Ira is calling me." I answered the phone and at the same time Sam yelled "We're supposed to be babysitting Rosemary!!" Yeah, we were supposed to be at their house at 7:15 to babysit their daughter, Rosemary. She yelled so loud that it scared me and I accidentally hung up on him. Anyway, we literally walked out of the door in 30 seconds. We were about 40 minutes late. On the way there she told me to remind her of that story any time our babysitter was late!

So, I'm here to say that it is definitely the truth, when you hear people talk about how pregnant women lose their memories!

Lastly, I will leave you with a little warning that I read on the Weather Channel's website. Since it's been raining a lot here the past couple of days, I thought that I would check the weather to see when it was going to quit. Well, there was a flood warning out for our area. The very last paragraph of the warning was this...

"ALL PERSONS WITH INTERESTS ALONG THE RIVER SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS... AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT DRIVE CARS THROUGH FLOODED AREAS. IF YOU SEE FLOOD WATERS... REMEMBER TO TURN AROUND AND DO NOT DROWN."

So, thank goodness they reminded me to "turn around and do not drown" Yes, I copied and pasted that from the actual warning. Ridiculous!

Well, I guess I will be back in about a month to post again!