SURPRISE- Baby Owen makes his debut--- 4 WKS EARLY!

Well...when I last posted on Feb. 11th little did we know my back pain was not sciatica, but LABOR!! The days before Owen was born were filled with activity for the Shope's - Brian had a conference on organic church planting and I was busy here at home organizing and cleaning (nesting). We were moving things around - testing out the crib in different areas- and I had a list of things that needed to be done- cleaning out the refrigerator, etc. We spent Sunday walking Maggie, talking about Brian's conference and enjoying milkshakes from Rick's. I guess we should've known something was up when later that day I was cleaning the bathroom and began vacuuming the walls. Hmm...

Monday I went to work as usual and didn't feel well- I hadn't slept much Sunday night due to back pain. Monday I came home from work and Brian took care of getting me as comfortable as possible. I took a bath, layed on the futon, and watched old episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I was still having a lot of back pain and couldn't get comfortable, but we had no conception that this could be labor- we still had 4 wks.

My discomfort continued Monday night and after 2 more baths and countless tries with the warm heating pad I still couldn't sleep and began searching the baby books for info on pre-term labor. We know that the baby would be ok at this point- we were 36 wks., but I wasn't totally sure that I was having contractions. Then I started having more and more pain that was wrapping around my belly from my back and I woke up Brian- this is at 4am. We discussed possibilities and I eventually convinced him that this was labor- even if it was false labor and we needed to start counting the contractions. He blew up the birth ball and I rocked back and forth on all fours to try and get some relief. We called our amazing childbirth educator at 6am (if you are interested in natural childbirth in Pasadena Kathy is the way to go and we can get you her info- her classes were invaluable to us and will be so in future births as well!!!). She listened to my breathing at this point and told Brian I was in labor and gave him a quick lesson on pushing to be passed along to me- we hadn't had that class yet. :)

We labored at home until 8:30am when I called my dr. and told them we wouldn't be in for the appt. we had schedule at 9:30am because I was in labor. They told us to go ahead and get to the hospital and we also called our doula Amanda to give her the heads up.

When we arrived at the hospital (after missing the exit- Amanda had called Brian's cell right as we were coming upon the hospital exit and we missed it because we were too far over in the left lanes (we have seven lane highways here, remember) and ended up getting off the 210 further down and Brian had to try and back track without any directions. Our lives are so crazy! :)

Once we arrived at the hospital they checked me and found I was 3 cm dilated and we began the work before us. Brian and Amanda were amazing!!!!Brian was incredible- we had no pain
meds and I NEVER could have done that without him- he put almost constant counterpressure on my back which was the best relief ever! Amanda was our doula- she's a Fuller student- and she was so encouraging and helpful. She really helped Brian better care for me and offered
great advocacy for all of us and friendship in the most intimate of moments.

The hospital staff was great- esp. our L&D nurse, Nicole. Our dr. knew we wanted as few interventions as possible and they allowed me to stay in my own clothes, walk around, get on the birth ball, eat and drink, and only have intermittent monitoring for 20 min. every 1-2 hrs. I didn't have an IV and I was free to totally move around- we had music and danced and swayed and I breathed and sounded out the contractions. It was intense work and I still can't really believe I did it- but it was totally amazing- even the parts when I started to feel like I couldn't go any further. I really believe it was such a great experience because of Brian firstly, Amanda's help, and the plethora of family and friends we had praying for us as we labored throughout the day.

At noon I was 6 cm. and moving right along! Yeah! At 3pm I was 7.5/8 and I stayed there for a while. This was a bit discouraging, but we worked to break my water naturally through movement and exercise. When my water still hadn't broken at 5pm we decided to go ahead and have the dr. break it. This felt amazing, but really intensified the contractions and I had no break in between. This was the hardest hour from 5-6pm - I was totally exhausted from lack of sleep for several nights and little food (I had thrown everything up- fun. fun :)). Right about the point when I was crying to Brian and Amanda, "I just need this to be over now, ok???!!! (think of a most pathetic voice) "I just really need to meet our baby!" Amanda smiled and said- I think you're at 10 cm now and sure enough, we were!!

Pushing began around 6pm with the dr. on his dinner break. They told me to wait, wait for the dr. and I told Nicole our nurse that she could just catch the baby- I was fine with that. Brian sat behind me and supported me through the pushing and I collapsed back on him in between contractions.

Owen Benjamin entered the world at 6:21pm Tuesday February 12th at 5 lbs. 12 oz. and 18 in long. His Daddy cut the cord and gave him his first bath and changed the first diaper. : ) We were immediately in love, which continues to grow each day for Owen and each other after experiencing this miracle together! We are both so incredibly thankful to be participants in this life and have been thanking God daily for each other as partners in this work to care for our son. WOW!





Owen is very healthy - he saw the pediatrician Tues. and has alreadu surpassed his birth weight! Yea!! He was born with a cleft lip, which is purely cosmetic and will be fixed with surgery at 2mo. old. I am recovering nicely- a little sore, but feeling very well. He is latching well and so far nursing has been good-they were a bit concerned at first with his ability to solely nurse due
to his lip. We are enjoying every moment as we meet our son in this new outside the womb
environment- Brian and I are enthralled by his every movement and have spent the days since his birth giving thanks for this precious gift ( and trying to carve out as much time for sleep as possible!!!)!

Here are the first of many, many pics- we have taken over 250 pictures and he's only just over a week old!!!! Check back for frequent updates- we will also be putting several pics on flickr as soon as I get everything together in the next few days.



Thanks so much to everyone who has sent meals, packages, phone calls, and prayers!! We are so thankful for our community all across the country who have celebrated and continue to celebrate with us! Owen is a very lucky boy to have so many amazing people in his life - we love you all!