A week ago today . . .

this sweet little guy came into the world . . . This is going to be long, but here is how Vince's BIRTH day played out at the DeHoog house . . .

Last Wednesday morning (my last day at school) I woke up and something felt different. I wasn't exactly sure what was different, just that things were different. I mentioned it to Tom as he walked out the door, but I know neither him or I thought it would really be THE day.

I started having contractions during the morning while I was at school, about 8-9 minutes apart, but I could talk through them and the kids never knew anything was going on. I finished up at school at noon, picked Grace up at my Grandma and Grandpa's and we came home. Grace took a nap, and then at about 2:00 we ran a few errands and got back home around 3:30. By this time, the contractions were much more intense and around 4-5 minutes apart. I called Mom to see if she could come home from work so we could drop Grace off, finally called Tom at 4:00 to tell him that he needed to get home NOW and called the doctors office. The gal said that since we lived aways from the hospital, that we should head in, just to be safe and that Dr. Kaepernick (who delivered Grace) was on call.

The last half hour or so before Tom got home are a blur . . . the contractions were painful beyond belief and I couldn't keep track of Grace. By the time Tom got home, she was naked, wearing only her princess shoes and sunglasses. Of course I had NOTHING packed because we weren't supposed to be having this baby until Friday so I was hunched over the dining room chair, telling Tom what to pack and in between contractions, packing things myself. We got out the door and to Mom's about 4:30. I had been having serious anxiety about leaving Grace and saying goodbye, but honestly . . . she was the last thing on my mind as we pulled in. I had my heart set on a "last picture of our family of 3" but told Tom as we pulled in that I couldn't do it because I didn't think I could get out of the car and for him just to bring Grace in to Mom's. As he was walking back out though, I couldn't let it go and being as obsessed with documenting everything as I am, in between contractions, I got out and this is our last picture as a family of 3:

Yes, that smile is FAKE. :)

We gave Grace a quick kiss and off we went . . . the contractions were getting closer, about 3 minutes apart and my foot was up on the dash for most of the ride into Bellingham. On Sunset, as my eyes and teeth were clenched, Tom started hurling expletives. Yep . . . we were being pulled over. The officer looked in and Tom told him that I was in labor and the officer bent down and looked at me in the window and asked if I was . . . I think I grunted something and he told us to be on our way. Nope, no police escort . . . Tom was ticked.

We got to the hospital, waited at the front desk checking in (even though we had already pre-registered) for about 5 minutes, got taken back to a room at 5:40 . . . more questions . . . the nurse finally decided that she should check me. This is where it gets crazy . . . she started laughing and said that I was at a 9 and a half! I had told Tom to cross his fingers that I was more than a 3 because I didn't want to get sent home. Dr. Kaepernick was in a few minutes later, checked me again and said she hoped I hadn't wanted an epidural because there wasn't time. There was no relief in between contractions and I started to push . . . 4 sets of contractions with 3 pushes each and at 6:18, a mere 40 minutes from when we got into the room, Vince was born.

I was induced with Grace on a Thursday and didn't end up having her until Friday afternoon, so to say that this was a different experience is an understatement. With Grace, they kept telling me I was close and finally after 5 hours of pushing, she was born. I knew not to get excited that this baby was really coming until they started flipping down the baby bed area and taking apart my bed and when they started doing that immediately, I knew it was go time.

Tom screamed like a school girl when Dr. Kaepernick said, "Look, look!" as she held Vince up. I asked Tom what his name was . . . there was still a little debate about whether it would be Thomas or Vincent if it was a boy and Tom said, "Vincent Thomas".

There is no moment, no emotion, no love like meeting your baby for the first time. My heart was filled with love for this sweet baby from the first second he was placed on my chest, arms reaching, eyes searching, heart beating. I cried tears of relief, thankfulness and joy that our baby was healthy. And there he was, a perfect little boy. My boy. Dr. KaepernickTom holding his SON for the first time . . . Tom's Mom and DadTom's Mom, Aunt Karen and Grandma JessieGrace's first look at her new brother . . . I love the look on her face in this one . . . She didn't say anything for a long time . . . She finally perked up and started to "pat pat" Vince . . . I can't believe these 2 sweethearts are MINE!I had a present for Grace to open . . . new Dora and Princess jammies. Just in case she didn't want to leave (which she ended up having no problem with), I thought I could tell her that she would get to wear her new jammies when she got back to Nama's house. Our first picture as a family of FOUR!

Of course she had to put the Dora jammies on before they left . . . Mom and Dad said she got a little sad on the way home, but did really well considering it was her first night away from us.

Yep . . . life is pretty amazing.