Henry William

The birth weight pic. A must have for any baby book.

"Momma and me" face to face at last. Another must have for the baby book.

Hank's first day home.


"Happy Birthday Mom!" Hank on my birthday--4 days after his. The best present ever!

Henry William Smart. He's here and he's a biggin'. That's right 9 lbs. 11 oz. 22 in. long. We are very happy with how things (labor and delivery) progressed. I labored for 10 hours--7:40 a.m.-5:40 p.m. There were a few hang-ups. He was posterior for a time which kind of slowed things down because he wasn't dropping into my pelvis--aside form being big. I was changing position a lot to get him to flip over; however, I couldn't stay on my left side too long or his heart beat would drop. After delivery we found that his cord was in a loose (THANKGOODNESS) double-overhand knot which was probably the cause of the "no left-side laying." The cord must have been in a precarious position when I was on my left side. The "no left-side laying" also meant that my epidural, which was primarily on the right side due to my screwy anatomy, couldn't "float" to the left side.

See, what happens when an epidural is primarily on one side more than the other is the patient lays on the side that the ep. is not affecting as much. Gravity kicks in and allows the epidural to affect both sides. So I went in to delivery with half an epidural, expecting a full epidural. But, hey women deliver with out epidurals all the time, right. I wouldn't choose it, but turns out 1/2 and epidural isn't too bad.

Now, if you asked Andrew he'll give you the honest truth about the situation. Truthfully about an hour before delivery I was emotionally exhausted, in tears, and wondering what we were thinking going through this again. Of course I am extremely grateful and don't doubt our decision one bit, it was just exhaustion talking. Once the show started rolling and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, spirits quickly turned. Funny how when our guard is down we become so....movable depending on the situation.

Hank is such a joy. Robert is a loving big brother. Sometimes a little too loving, but helpful none the less. We are so glad to have our family.