Sam or Jane???

Well, after 40 weeks of dedicated incubating, Melanie finally laid our new egg. Melanie and I decided not to know the sex of the baby until Birth. I was sure that during one of the first ultrasounds I saw a penis though, and of course for the next 25+ weeks I reminded her that it was a boy.

We'd considered many names and agreed upon Jane Corinne for a girl and Samuel Carver for a boy. Other names considered by anonymous other people were Poppy (no, really), Roman, Cora, Thomas, "Kat"hryn, Doogie, Dweezil, and Jub Jub. (Can anyone pick out the Simpson's reference?)

The baby's due date, Monday, January 8th, came and went without much action. However, with the arrival of the 9th things began happening. I took the day off work to go to the scheduled doctors appointment with Mel. The doctor informed us that she was progressing (1 cm dilated) and that the grandparents should begin their journey to Charleston.

Following the appointment we ran some errands and got some movies to help time pass. At this stage you've already heard the agonizing sagas of many other mothers' deliveries (I think that one even told us she was 1 cm for a month). After getting home around noon on Tuesday, January 9th (one day late) I worked around the house in preparation for the arrival of the grandparents. I gave Mel the task of chopping the veggies for the shrimp fried rice I planned to prepare that evening. While Melanie was chopping I hopped in the shower. Minutes later Mel came in with this statement "This may sound crazy but I think my water just broke". "HUH?!?" was about all I could get out. So we called the doctor, got our bags and headed for the hospital. Throughout the evening I had been asking Melanie if she'd been feeling anything. "Just some light cramps" was her reply. I'd even asked "are they frequent, consistent, regular, or irregular?" "No, not really," she'd reply.

Upon arrival at the hospital Mel was examined and sure enough her membrane had ruptured. She was still dilated at 1 cm and feeling some light menstrual cramping (i.e. no change). Pitosin was administered shortly after and contractions began intensifying. At 10:00 pm on Tuesday evening the doctor gave Mel her epidural. At 11:00 Mel had dilated to 3 cm's and the doctor suggested we get some rest. I had no problem falling asleep (as usual). Not two hours later I was awoken to a room full of nurses telling me to get it together here comes the baby. I threw my shoes on, rubbed my eyes set my sights on Mel- looking surprised and nervous. The epidural was so good we had to tell her when the contractions were coming based upon the monitors. In about 10 contractions (3 BIG pushes per contraction) Mel squeezed out our new Baby Girl: Jane Corinne Crumpton

Note: The grandparents made it 10 minutes before the birth- No thanks to the icy roads west of Asheville, NC. Rumor has it that C.E. was doing 95 mph on I-526, an impressive play in the last minutes of regulation.

Tale of the tape:
Born: January 10, 2007. 1:24 am
Height (I mean length): 21.5 in
Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz
Reach: Just enough to tug at your heart strings

Thanks everyone for your visits and enjoy our posts.

Roamin'and Mel