***I have just had a chance to edit pictures, yay!***

So instead of pictures, I hope you'll be happy to read a bit about his birth, here is Dean's story:

On Wednesday evening, I had extreme indigestion, so bad that I could not lie down and put Georgia to bed (something I now regret as it would have been the last time, and had I known that...) so had Sven do it. Sven believes this was a blessing, because it caused him to be rested later that night. While I was waiting for the tums to kick in so that I could join Georgia in bed (I was still tired and sick), Sybille called to reassure me about some wording on Dean's ultrasound that had me worried. We ended up talking for an hour or more, while she told stories of her sweet Lotti and I said I was longing to finally meet "NB". Finally hung up and thought I should head to bed (remembered I was tired). Almost the minute I lied down, the ctx started. They were very light, and hardly noticeable, so I just listened to my HB CD and breathed through them. I'm actually not sure I finished the CD before deciding to get up and get in the bathtub. A sure sign of a false alarm, the warm water will stop any ctx that don't mean business!

I stayed in the bathtub for a while, relaxing as much as I could, but the ctx did not stop and did in fact, seem to start coming more often. I thought I should maybe get out and time them...So I got out and took a shower and got dressed. This woke up Sven and I told him I thought the 4th would be just as good as the 7th, then we'd have birthdays on the 1st, 4th and 14th...finally got out to start timing ctx and they were about 3-4 mins apart. I called Andrea, but since she didn't know that I might be calling in the middle of the night, she had turned off her phones. I called Cara and told her I was in pain and why? and cried a bit and asked her if it was time to go to the hospital yet? I didn't want to go too soon. I wanted to spend as little time there as possible!

Had Sven call the hospital just to check, although Cara was telling me to get that suitcase packed and go...and Sven sounded so uncertain on the phone, that the midwife insisted on speaking to me. She thought it was our first and that I only thought I might be having ctx. I had at least two while she was on the phone, making it hard to concentrate on breathing, and even harder to talk to her and tell her that I knew it was the 'real thing' and I just wanted to be sure of when to come in...

Got up, packed the suitcase while Sven showered (I did tell him he might want to hurry) and then slowly went about waking up my in-laws. They were both so sound asleep, they hadn't heard a thing and when I said 'it's time, we're going to the hospital' my MIL responded with: "what? I didn't understand you? WHAT?" and after i repeated myself: "oh dear god" and they were both up in a flash. FIL headed to our bed with Georgia and Sven and I were headed out the door, although I still had to get the carseat together (after reminding Sven why we needed it immediately!) and because he was still puttering about doing who-knows-what, had time to check my Email again. There was an EMail from Cara that had been sent at around 2:58am. Basically, that means we left for the hospital after 3am, and Dean was born at 4:20am...

Arrived at the hospital, had to go in at the Emergency entrance because of the late hour, were offered a wheelchair (I turned down) and slowly (due to more and more ctx) walked to the labor and delivery unit.

The midwife settled me right into a delivery room, hooked me up to a FHM and CTX machine and then Sven, thinking it was going to be a while, headed back to move the car out of the Emergency Zone. While he was gone, the ctx got steadily more intense and more painful. I was a bit depressed and worried by this, because you see, I had fully intended to use hypnobirthing and have a calm birth, but I guess I was too distracted and tense and no matter how hard I tried (and I tried!) I couldn't relax enough for it to go into effect. I managed to breathe through contractions for a long time, feeling the pain, but able to deal with it, up until the 'presswehen' started. At that point, relaxation flew out the window.

The midwife came in and asked if I was starting to feel pressure in my back (I was) and then said she hoped Sven made it back in time...a doctor appeared, the midwife examined my cervix (7-8cm) had me stay on my right side, thinking just a few more ctx and I'd be fully dilated and could start pushing. Shortly after that, my water burst, ctx were coming one after the other, it seemed without a break and the midwife stayed and checked the baby's progress through the next one. I was about 9cm at that point and wanting to push. Sven made it back just in time.

The pushing phase is probably why Dean was born at 4:20 instead of 4...my legs kept cramping up and I'd have to stop pushing because my legs were spazzing! Eventually, they turned me onto my left side and a few more pushes got my 8lb baby into the world with a loud cry (from him!).

The rest? Boring. We left the hospital 4-5 hours later and have been home since. So no, I didn't have a home birth (though it was close, and if Andrea had been reachable, it might have ended in one!!!) and I did not spend one single night in the hospital, I ran away as fast as I could. Questions?!