Joseph is Born: How the Story Unfolded

Well, it's been a BIG day! We've been looking forward to this for a long time now, but we were both expecting for Darcie to get induced, so Joseph coming on his own was a very pleasant surprise! Many are asking the story about how it happened, so here's a quick rundown on how the day unfolded for us.
10:00AM - Darcie visits her OB for her last appointment. She was still dilated at a 3 and the Dr. confirmed her to be induced on Tuesday. Darcie left the appointment fairly certain he wasn't coming before then.
1:30PM - Nap time for Heidi means nap time for mommy. Only the nap didn't come so easily because she started having some mild contractions and cramps that she couldn't ignore. Needless to say, the nap didn't happen.
5:45PM - Being the trooper that she is, Darcie dismissed her contractions and cramps fairly quickly & easily assuming they would go away just like others had days earlier.
6:30PM - After eating dinner, the contractions had gotten 5 minutes apart (sometimes less) and become the much more intense. So, decided it was time to go to the hospital. So we picked up the house, showered (quickly), dropped off Heidi and made our way to the hospital.
7:45PM - When we arrived at the hospital, Darcie was already dilated to 5 cm and, thankfully, they admitted us and the race began!

11:00PM - After a good solid 2 hours of some tough contractions, Darcie made friends with the anesthesiologist and got an epidural. She was dilated to a 7 by that point. As much as the pain abated with the epidural, it also slowed her progress just a bit.

1:40AM - Darcie's water breaks and she's dilated to a full 10 centimeters. The nurse tells her to make one practice push and Joseph starts to crown almost right away, so she had to hold off until the Dr. arrived.

2:00AM - Dr. arrives and Darcie begins to push.
2:24AM - Joseph is born!

 

5:30AM - We leave the labor and delivery room and make it to the room where we'll be staying the night. After more visits and checks from Dr's. we get a glorious hour of sleep. It's been a long time since either of us have pulled an all-nighter.
6:30AM - More tests, more Dr. visits, and Joseph's first sunrise. The start of another BIG day.

12:00PM - Nana, Pops, Jodie and Heidi come to the hospital. Heidi and Joseph meet each other for the first time as brother & sister over a great lunch from Stanley's BBQ (thanks Nana & Pops!)

 

2:00PM - Darcie celebrates no longer having gestational diabetes with the one thing she's craved the most her whole pregnancy: a sprinkled donut! Great job, babe. You did so well! Now it's time for a nap. :)