Introducing..

Joshua Boyd Nelson
Born August 17, 2011
8:30 PM
8 LBS 5 OZ and 22 1/2 inches long

Wow, what a wild 24 hours. We are so happy that Joshua is here. He has already won our hearts.

Yesterday morning at around 3:30 AM I woke up with slight contractions and continued to contract every 10 or 15 minutes. They were uncomfortable. But, because I had done something similar a week or so ago and it turned out to be false labor, I didn't think much of it.

The contractions continued to weaken and I was able to go back to sleep. I probably wouldn't have gone in except that I already had an appointment with my midwife. So, my mom (Thankfully, my mom and dad arrived the night before) and I went to my appointment to learn that I was already 5cm dilated.

Because of my history of extremely fast labors combined with the fact that I needed to be put on antibiotics because I was Strep B positive, the midwife decided to have me meet her at the hospital 3 hours later. So, my mom and I went shopping, grabbed some lunch and some pinkberry, and then went home to grab my bag. We then went back to the birthing center at the hospital.

I was put on antibiotics. They didn't want to start laboring any more if possible until I had received my medication for 4 hours. We took a nap and hung out. At 5:00 they did a few things to help further labor along. I will spare you the details. Then at 6:00, they broke my water.

I thought I would start contracting right away, but It took a about 1/2 hour and then I was contracting 5 minutes apart for about an hour. So, at about 7:30, things started to get more intense. The pain started to be pretty unbearable. I was checked at 8:00 and they told me I was at 7CM. I was pretty discouraged, but remembered that with Gavin, when I was at a 7, I went to a 10 in 5 minutes.

Sure enough as we were talking about ways we could move the labor along, I started having contractions right on top of one another. I started feeling like pushing. I don't think my midwife believed me entirely. Sure enough, while standing next to the bed pushing down, the baby came sliding out, with just enough time for the midwife to catch the baby while Boyd was calling for the nurse.

It was all over and I had the most beautiful little boy in front of me crying. It was a beautiful moment. I was so glad it was over too.

The night was a little rough. He had a hard time settling in, so we were up most of the night until about 4 when he finally settled down.


We really struggled with naming Joshua. Joshua has been on our list since Gavin. We had chosen Gavin, Eli, and Joshua when we were pregnant with Gavin. We liked all the names, but chose them based on how we felt when we saw them. We were still considering Joshua with this baby. But, it never settled with us completely. About 3 weeks ago, Oliver was added to the list after I saw it on a birth announcement at my midwives office. I really felt attached to it. We thought we might name him Oliver. At the end of the day, we just didn't feel it would be his name. We had 3 names picked out at the start of our child rearing and it turns out we had 3 boys. Plus, Oliver would be a tongue twister with Eli. As, we put the name on the birth certificate, I was still hesitating, but now that we are home with him, Joshua feels so right even if I still feel a bit attached to the name Oliver.

The boys were so excited to meet him at the hospital. Boyd went home and picked them all up, including Grandma and Grandpa, where they met Joshua for the first time. I can tell they will be extra helpful. .

Because we gave birth at the birthing center, we were discharged this morning.

Boyd made a celebratory meal of king crab legs, roasted veggies, and cous cous.

We are so happy, but I admit I am nervous about being a mother of 3. Luckily, I have help for a the next few weeks. Thank goodness because we are moving to our new apartment upstairs in a week..

Thanks for all your prayers and support.