Baby Samuel

Our long-awaited baby is here safe and healthy, and we couldn't be happier. Here's the story of Samuel's arrival...

Stickers compliments of Eliza and Grant :)

Once I hit 38 weeks, I started having contractions on and off and just felt big and uncomfortable and rather miserable. I spent the entire day on Tuesday (April 1) cleaning the house in anticipation of Nana coming that night. Her flight came in at 10:30 and Mark went to pick her up. I was so tired that I went to sleep and didn't even see her when she got to our house. But by 1:45 a.m. I was awake with pretty bad contractions. Before long I realized that my water had broken (just a little) and then the contractions were coming about 4 minutes apart. I had never gotten around to packing a bag for the hospital, so I started throwing some things together. By 2:30 I decided I'd better get going to the hospital. It's a funny memory for me now to think that I woke up my mom (whom I hadn't seen in 6 months), said hi, talked to her for a few minutes, went down and woke up Mark, and then headed off to the hospital. My mom kept telling me to hurry. I was making her nervous. But I just felt so relieved that she was there and we could leave and know the kids were okay--it all just seemed so perfect.

I was dilated to a 4 when they checked me at the hospital. I told them I'd progress quickly, but no one seemed to be in a hurry until they checked me again a while later and I was at an 8. Then our nurse, Empress (one of those Southern women you just don't argue with), got everyone moving for us. My epidural was just right--not too much but enough to take the edge off. I was so glad that Dr. Wheeler from the high-risk clinic was the doctor who was there for the delivery. She was awesome. By about 6:30, baby and I were ready to go. I ended up pushing for about 20 minutes, and little Samuel was born at 6:58, just in time for the doctor and nurses to head home from the night shift. This little guy just has good timing.

Nurse Empress and Mark

ready-to-go-home Dr. Wheeler, excited Mark, tired Aimee, and minutes-old Sam

We did it. He's here!

Dr. Hansen examining Samuel...

Yes, Mark even gave him a little eye exam

Samuel weighed 7 lbs. They measured him at 18.5 inches, but Mark thinks they shorted him a little, so maybe we should go with 19 inches. He's a little guy, at any rate. He has the same dark, soft hair and big eyes and pouty lips that all my newborns have had. He's definitely from the same mold as his big brothers and sister.

When the nurse laid Samuel on my chest seconds after his delivery, my heart was so full. After years of waiting and hoping, I finally had another healthy baby. He was wide awake but quiet and peaceful as he lay there. He reached his hand up by his face and started sucking on his thumb. He was so cute and wonderful and perfect. That is a moment I will always remember.

We had talked about the name Samuel once we knew this baby was going to be a boy. Mark liked it. The kids really liked it. (Eliza even has a baby doll named Sammy Duke.) I have read the story of Hannah and Samuel in the Bible so many times over the past years and have really come to love it. I gained strength from Hannah's faith in asking the Lord to bless her with a baby when it seemed an impossible thing, and I love her example of how she fulfilled the promises she made to the Lord. Her Samuel, her gift from God, hears the voice of the Lord as a boy and serves Him his whole life. Once I thought of naming this baby Samuel, I couldn't think of any other names I liked at all. So Samuel it was. The name means asked of God; he is our answer to so many prayers. And for his middle name we decided to name him after his wonderful Hansen grandfather: Jeffrey. Welcome to our family, Samuel Jeffrey Hansen.

The kids were so excited to meet their baby brother. Grant is curious about him and wants to touch him and hold him but at short intervals. Eliza wants to take care of him but is a little unsure just yet what to do. With a little training, she'll be changing diapers for me in no time. :) And Kimball is the most infatuated of all. He wants to hold Samuel all the time and insists on having the longest turns with him. It's fun to see them all with their baby. Nana hardly gets a turn to hold Samuel during the day--she has to take her turns in the middle of the night. She has been such a big help.

We've had happy days at home since we left the hospital. I opted to come home from the hospital a night early simply so that I could get some sleep! After only getting 3 hours of sleep the night Sammy was born, I couldn't handle another night of being woken up every hour or so. And my soft bed and pillow were calling me. It's so good to be home. Samuel seems to not mind the noise at all. I guess he's been listening to it for months now. :)

Despite the sad face, he actually really liked his carseat coming home

The kids were more than a little bit excited to have us home

The only sad thing about leaving the hospital was having to say goodbye to quiet hours with just Mark and Baby Samuel.

Mark is loving his boy. He loves to hold newborns. I am in heaven holding and caring for little Sam. He'll look right into my eyes when I talk to him, and I can feel his wonderful spirit. We have felt gratitude and love for all our babies, but I think we have a deeper sense this time around of just what a miracle it is to have a healthy, perfect baby in your arms. Thank you to everyone who added your prayers to ours for this baby. We love you all for it.