Samuel Goodwin Rankin

Our little boy finally made his debut yesterday morning at 9:47 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and is 20 inches long. He has a head full of short black hair (nothing compared to my niece Elena). His eyes are blue-gray and will more than likely turn a brownish color as he gets bigger. When he first came out, all of us pretty much thought the same thing...he is Joseph's twin born 3 years and a little bit later. He seems fairly calm at the moment.

I was induced on Monday because they wanted to reduce the risk of the baby getting an infection because it seemed that my water had broken or ruptured, but the tests were not confirming the suspicions. At 8:17 pm, they induced me and so began the long night. My brothers were there, as were my parents. Alison and Ryan watched Joseph at our house, but come bedtime, he wanted mommy home. I got a phone call from Alison with Joseph sobbing in the background with him saying he wanted me. It was so heart rending I almost started to cry. Joe rushed home and picked him up. He fell asleep later on that night and my parents took him home to sleep.

At 2 a.m., I fell asleep for a bit. The doctor did tell me that my platelet count was too low and that I might not be able to get an epidural. Boy did that remind me of Joseph's labor. They drew more blood and ran a platelet test as well as something called a HELP test. The HELP test would let them know if I needed a c-section instead of a vaginal delivery. That came back negative, so I didn't need a c-section (thank goodness). At 4 a.m., I started feeling discomfort from the contractions. Not so much the contractions, but in an old injury (a pulled groin muscle) from Joseph's pregnancy. At 5:30 a.m., I got my epidural. It was a fairly low dose because I could feel and wiggle my toes as well as move my legs. When they were checking for dilation, the only thing I felt was my old injury. From 6 a.m., till about 8:30 a.m., I screamed and cried with every contraction because I could feel them coming on with my old injury. It served as a good indicator of the strength and duration of the contraction, even with the epidural. At 8:40 a.m, I requested a stronger dose of the epidural. By 9:10 a.m., I could not feel a thing (YAY!!!)

I had specified that Joe should not do anything but be my side. I pushed and the baby came out really fast. It was probably a little over 30 minutes. I did not vomit (Woo Hoo), I did not tear (Whew), and my babies head was smaller than Joseph's, which made this delivery a cake walk in comparison to Joseph's. I was in induced labor for over 12 hours, but the delivery was as close to "heavenly" as you could get. Thank goodness for priesthood blessings and epidurals. I asked Joe and my brothers for a blessing before they came in to increase the dosage.

Joseph and mommy excited to be with little Samuel. Adam and Joe thought Joseph was acting jealous of the baby, but more than anything, I think he just missed being and seeing his parents. He heard the baby cry and said, "oh the poor baby." Today he was wanting to kiss and caress his baby brother. I guess we will see what it is like tomorrow. Good night!!