Welcome William Paul!

Well the day I thought would never come finally came. Saturday the 25th at 11 pm, as Kurt was finishing up his writing assignment for a credential class, my body decided it was high time to have this baby. I did most of my labor at home without knowing it--I was told to wait till the contractions were 5 min apart consistently for an hour before going to the hospital, and the way it actually played out was that they went from 6-8 min apart to 3-4 min apart and never really consistently. But at 5 am I decided that averaging less than 5 min apart was probably pretty much like being 5 min apart and called the hospital. By the time we got under way at 6:15, I was consistently 3 min apart (and in a good deal of pain).

Well, they admitted me right away--I was already 7cm--and then I had to wait an hour for the epidural since I got there right at the shift change. ouch. But you know it was such an amazing experience--as I prayed I felt the Spirit's comfort and presence, and in His strength I was able to focus through each contraction to the point where I didn't even change my breathing at the peak. Knowing His presence and care gave me perfect peace inside, and I am so thankful I didn't have the epidural sooner cause I would've missed out on that opportunity to know Him more closely. He is real and so very near!

The delivery itself was tough. Little did any of us know that my "little" William was 9lbs 10oz and face up (a much harder delivery no matter what the baby's size). After two hours of fruitless pushing, I was moved to assisted delivery in the OR, with the whispers of a possible C section. Not what I had expected at all! And the funny thing is that I thought I had no expectations about the labor. I had tried hard not to have any. But as they were wheeling me down the hall I realized that I had failed in that endeavor. The OR was quite a bit less welcoming feeling than the cozy delivery suite I had been in, and when I saw Kurt in full operating garb I was a little unnerved. But still the Lord was there comforting me.

It took another half an hour of work, but with the help of the vacuum and some strong pulling on the doctors' parts, William Paul Klein entered the world at 2:27pm on Sunday March 26th. And his mom, completely spent but in good spirits, gasped when she saw how big he was. Then she didn't feel so bad or like such a weakling for not being able to get him out the old fashioned way.

Anyway, I love my little boy! So does Kurt. Its fun to be a family, and I have had a great time transitioning to motherhood. I just can't believe I get to be with him all day every day!